Bradhattan

My Dearest Delta:

First, this is not a Dear John letter that so many profess on this site. In fact, I will achieve FO in May for the first time (yes had a great time in Australia in Jan. '13 - also, thanks for also expediting that little MQM matter with Virgin Au - serious).

Now, with a few 5000+ MQM MR's available for less than $200, I am gunning for Gold! Probably hit around October!

Anyway, here is my wish list. I offer these suggestions because frankly, on a corporate level, you seem cold. You can very cheaply turn up the HEAT!

Let's start with a free travel voucher raffle for those eligible but not getting an upgrade! It's FUN gesture that says, "Hey, we tried to get you upgraded, but to show you we appreciate your business, here is $200 voucher." Maybe not every time, but an occasional dole-out wouldn't hurt. I think you would find that the receivers use it to purchase more expensive tickets!

Next, food please! I understand having to be a lean mean fighting machine but come on! Now there are only 3 of you to get our business! PAMPER ME damn it! Some of your segments are 3 hours long without food service in FC. Ridiculous! We all remember the Seinfeld episode with the Hot Fudge Sundaes!

Last, I hate a la' carte pricing! If I want to hit the dollar menu, I will fly Southwest or, god forbid, Spirit/RyanAir - j/k - NEVER! Wrap it all into one price and give me a good, dare I hope, great product! We don't all want to fly in a snack dispenser where we swipe the card to get a treat!

Please note that I do not want nor expect any compensation for the implementation of these ideas. They are provided as a benefit to all your customers and I encourage you to use them as you see fit.

I remain your,

Butt in seat!

sfozrhfco

Dear Bradhattan:

Thank you for your suggestions and now we have some for you. Save your money on MRs as in the future you will not be able to get status buying cheap tickets. If you need food, there are farmers markets, grocery stores, and literally thousands of restaurants out there just waiting for you to buy some food. We still have over $10 billion in debt we are tying to pay off. As you can understand, giving away free things to MR status earners is not going to help us in getting this debt paid down.

Have fun staying at home and let us know about your next visit to an establishment that sells food. We hope you have a good experience.

Sincerely,
Your friends at Delta

Bradhattan

Why would you even be on this site? I understand the new MQD's - thank you very much but it will carry me GM until FEB '15.

I love farmers' markets and use them all the time in my home town. Unfortunately, they seem to be in short supply at 35,000 feet! Sorry that I don't have time to prep my own food before the flight....oh wait, I am not sorry because I am contributing to both the global market and my local market....hmmmmm? Seems kinda win -win to me!

Bye!

javabytes

This is exactly why there is less and less of a need to pamper you, damn it! Running out of places to go if you don't like the way you're treated = less reason to bother treating you well.

You may get your wish here. Airlines are working to bundle products back together and sell you an "experience" as opposed to just a ticket. They are trying to collect and data to predict which add-ons a customer might want and create targeted offers. Only problem is, these are airlines we're talking about, and the idea won't be to save you money. So be careful what you wish for, because a lack of transparency will probably lead to you paying more than you pay today a la carte.

Bradhattan

Thanks for your viewpoint! I appreciate it! I guess it is the illusion of value I may be searching for! HA!

HongKonger

OP must be joking. Everything you suggest that could make the experience better, DL is going to do less, not more, and with regard to the crumbs that are left, they're going to charge you more, not less.

Bradhattan

Viva la' Regulation! Wouldn't that be a dream? I know careful what you wish for. Something crappy will result.

indufan

What are you smoking?

doubleA

You've got people on here hitting 1x/2x/3x the requirements for DL DM status... Nobody listened the moment they heard you hit FO for the first time.

They don't listen to us at the PM/DM level either... sometimes they do, but our singular voices are not enough to impact their strategy.

The mock reply you got is pretty spot on for their objectives as a business right now. Incidentally, they just brokered a practically exclusive agreement with my company for travel (yay for me it wasn't OW/SA!). They're locking in business, they're making profits... If I were them I'd say "Let's keep doing what's working and eliminate what isn't" and that seems to be exactly what's happening.

BearX220

If there is one airline that doesn't need to do anything along the lines the OP suggests, it's Delta. We're down to four serious airlines in this country. One is domestic-only and has no F. Another is a seething mess, dedicated to mediocrity, repelling elites and corporate customers right and left. Another is about to put its customers through an indeterminate period of merger chaos / upset / misery. DL is the beneficiary in all cases. Why should it do anything it doesn't have to?

HongKonger

Because when you think you are on top of the world is usually when hubris kicks in and you make a few dumb moves that lead to your downfall. Someone hasn't read his Greek tragedies or his Shakespeare.

HongKonger

You'd have a much nicer experience but pay much more for it.

Sabai

And did you bring enough to share with the class?

5khours

Dear Bradhattan,

Thank you for you suggestions. Frankly, however we quit smoking that stuff in the 70's and we think you should too.

Dick, Jeff and Your Other Friends at Delta.

BearX220

Macbeth and Antigone were in a lot weaker positions than Delta.