You are assuming that this is about lounges, upgrades, or bag waivers. I suspect that the lost revenue from elite bonuses has more to do with it than anything. And, yes, WN has those.

Tianjin Airlines, then.

Got it.

So the Antitrust Task Force of the House Judiciary Committee and the Aviation Subcommittee of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee were pissing in the wind?

Richard Anderson shouldn't have bothered.

pb....that seems to be the part the soon-to-be-eliminated folk seem to ignore. I will use that great IST run as an example. The group of trash I came across in the lounge were all bragging about the 27.000+ banked miles they were all getting on their sub 500 RT tickets. CRAZY. That is not sustainable for ANY company. Another reason the low-rev elites need to go away. Yes, you were abiding by the rules. The rules will change. You can still be a cheap diamond....just not that cheap any more.

Yes. That whole separation of powers thing. Congress passes laws, they don't enforce them.

Maybe he wanted to visit DC? minibar is one heck of a restaurant...

And the geniuses who put that fare on sale did not accomplish whatever they set out to? And they continue to do it...This is the same crew you believe is dead-on with this program?

WN suffers from not collecting bag fee revenue while offering elite companion passes.

Neither is bedeviling Delta.

As the first legacy with a spend component, DL is the one that banked on rollover miles to gin up revenue. You have to be blind not to see a connection. Or enjoy standing in SkyClubs.

Half the pax had "SKY" boarding passes on my last transcon.

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A very wise man once said to me...

"Never use metrics like a drunk uses a lamppost."

Do we know how many of those passengers, err trash, flew DL instead of AA or UA for the rest of the year on profitable fares because they were able to use their status to pad their accounts with some cheap miles? Don't most retail businesses run loss-leaders to bring in business from time-to-time?

Someone mentioned earlier in the thread—which didn't get much play—that with fewer elites competing for upgrades, it could become easier for the remainder to upgrade on lower fares, changing purchasing behaviors. Whether the probability of losing that fare competition within elite levels, plus the lost revenue from some lower CPM flyers moving away from DL, equals or exceeds what DL expects to benefit from introducing MQDs, hasn't yet been quantified by anyone.

Everything said so far that this change was something DL "needed to do", while still selling MQMs on their website, is simply conjecture at this point, no matter how happy it may make some at first reading.

No...revenue management put that fare in largely as a result of UA/CO entering the market (and DL temporarily ceding the market).

The SkyMiles folks put in the changes to the program. Yes...I believe they are dead on with the program.

The IST fare was another example of an airline sending a message to another airline and hoping it can make the route unprofitable in hopes of another carrier dropping out. Mileage runners were using a valid fare and valid FFP rules to a combination that was never intended by anyone. There is NOTHING elite about somebody riding back-and-forth to IST (or anywhere else a loss-leader fare exists) for the sole purpose of obtaining high status.

Someone mentioned earlier in the thread—which didn't get much play—that with fewer elites competing for upgrades, it could become easier for the remainder to upgrade on lower fares, changing purchasing behaviors. Whether the probability of losing that fare competition within elite levels, plus the lost revenue from some lower CPM flyers moving away from DL, equals or exceeds what DL expects to benefit from introducing MQDs, hasn't yet been quantified by anyone.

NOT if DL expands FCM. I think what we might see is an improvement in the F class product on the domestic side. I have long said that I wish they would go to AA's system where only a DM would get a free upgrade (and I am Platinum) and use that to improve the F cabin.

I agree, however, DL has no one to blame for dilution but themselves.

27,000 MQM's for less than $500 is DL's fault and was a way for them to generate revenue.

Well, the unintended - or intended - consequence is that there are too many elites flying on cheap fares.

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Really? You're going to use this as a reason why the Medallion program needs to be overhauled? If DL hates people buying sub-$500 TATL fares so much, I'd say it's more of a reason they should fire the analyst that published them, or the analyst that planned so much excess capacity that necessitated the fire sale.

This is the trap. They have duped you into believing that the experience will be better so you will pay more (through loss of benefits) and I am 1000000% sure there will be no such improvement. I am also sure there will be no shortage of "elites" fighting for those same tired seats.

:confused: I don't feel duped. I know exactly what I am getting for the money I pay.

Two of my biggest complaints.