Why so much argument about how bad this is. WHY DON'T YOU JUST PAY YOUR PORTION? I am asking that honestly...not to be a pain in the a$$....but honestly. What do you bring to the table as a DL elite if you can't pay this INFINITELY SMALL MINUMUM?

Pax that fly KL/AF TATL do not just give the money to KL/AF. The money goes into the Joint Venture and DL will be sharing the profits. So yes, DL will get $$$, regardless of "DL-coded", "DL-marketed", or "DL-006-ed".

Ok then tell DL to stop selling MQMs and other extras. This is an attempt by DL to see if elites will spend more to keep status--if it works, all the better for DL. If not, MQDs will be gone quicker than you think.

I have to say this has been an interesting thread and to be honest, I'm not quite sure how I feel about these changes at this point. A lot of posts seem to put people in one of two groups - one that loves the changes because they choose to spend the highest price for tickets and one that hates the changes since they've been loyal to Delta, like to fly but look for the bargain rates. Both groups think that they should be considered a "valuable" customer and that the other group is either elitist or riff-raff.

There is a third group of us out here that love to travel, look for the lowest fares BUT will pay a higher fare if needed and prefer to remain loyal to an airline. This year I actually consider myself to be in this group since my company has cut back on my travel and now it's mostly on my own dime. How is this going to impact those folks in the middle? In my case, I'll just have to wait and see. I'll most likely get the miles and have to track the spending to see where I end up. If it looks like I'm going to fly 90,000 miles but only spend $7000 and thus be considered only worth Gold status, then that may be the end of my loyalty to one airline (Note: I've been a loyal Northwest/Delta flyer for 25+ years). As I said, it too soon to tell how this will impact me and I'm sure others are in the same position.

Delta seems to want to target the people that spend a lot with them and I don't begrudge them that. They are business and businesses like to make money. The problem I have is that with this change they may throwing the baby out with the bath water by now factoring in the almighty dollar into the equation as to who's their most valued clientele. Here's a hypothetical situation that I'm not sure was part of the consideration in making these changes.

What if:

Two people fly Delta 125,000 miles and spend the minimum $12,500. Each are awarded Diamond status because they are the most "valuable" customers. They flew the pre-requisite miles AND spent $12,500.

Four other people fly Delta 125,000 and spend "only" $10,000 each. Sorry Charlie - you're not our most valuable customer since you didn't spend $12,500. As a consolation prize you get Platinum status. (Note: I don't consider Platinum a consolation prize - I'm perfectly happy at Platinum)

The four "others" check out the competitors and find that their flying habits would have gotten them top elite status in the competitor's
FF program and all of the benefits that go with it. After looking at the products offered and determining that there is no significant difference, they decide to switch to flying the competitor airline.

In the end, Delta gets to keep the two people who flew with them and spent a total of $25,000 because these are their valued customers. Delta loses four people who were loyal to them because they're no longer considered to be their top valued customer. Those four people spent a total of $40,000 combined. Net result: Delta loses $15,000 in revenue.

The above is just hypothetical but it is a possibility. It may have been taken into consideration and determined to be a non-issue since the airline thinks the changes won't stop people from flying them and they're not going to lose a lot of elite members. Based on what I've seen in some of the posts, some people think that it's only going to cause a 1-2% reduction in the number of elites. If that's the case then the above scenario may not be applicable. If, however, a significant number of people open up their options and start flying other airlines because of the change, then there is the possibility that Delta may find themselves losing money in order to focus on people who spent more individually rather than the combined effect overall.

Just something for folks on boths sides of the debate to think about. It will be interesting to see what the net effect is on revenue after this change has been place for a year or so. It could be that Delta was on the mark and it ends up increasing revenue. It could also be that by focusing on $$ as part of who was the most valued customer may end up hurting the bottom line. I guess at this point only time will tell.

To hell with DL. I don't care whether they listen or not. As a FT member, I am curious as to whats on the mind of other FT members whether they will stay with dl or not.

Giving people 2 (or more) cpm back on a 5 cpm fare sounds sustainable? That's a 40% rebate on the trip.

I think you've summed it up perfectly. I may end up spending 7500 to retain the PLAT status that I will undoubtedly reach this year, but will I choose to do so? If AA or UA does not match, I can potentially reach their highest tier with my international trips (fly to Asia at least twice per year).

I have options and I can choose a domestic carrier and/or an international carrier--

and is your spend (MQD) from your own pocket or is it not? If its not coming from your own pocket, then I bet its not such a big deal.

Wrong. Delta loses the whole $40,000. There aren't two new $12,500 flyers coming out of the woodwork to replace the four $10,000 flyers who left.

Bruce

and the loss of thousands of Delta's loyal customers will come running back?

Suggestion that nobody will listen to: What if the MQD were only enforced for PM and DM? There is already a natural break in services provided between GM and PM. This way, those of us with lower spend that remain loyal to Delta could be incentivized to maintain our loyalty, while higher level elites would see their ranks thin and thus have better service, more upgrades, etc? I don't see the value for Delta having less silvers and golds....is it to get more baggage fees and EC fees our of us? I suppose that would raise a bit more revenue, but would this not be off set by the loss of loyalty?

Virtually all my spend is from my own pocket and I don't consider it a big deal.

exactly ^^

to your other point--I was responding to his point that DL was thinning elite ranks. DL will continue to sell bennies if they can make a buck, including selling gate upgrades.

I am a business traveller and my company takes all the NS flights no matter how much more they cost than connecting... so Delta does benefit from this strategy. And if they can fill the rest of the seats with connecting passengers, they win.

Question. A ticket bought on Air France for a flight on Delta metal from JFK to CDG and then on Air France metal from CDG to WAW, would it earn MQM's?