baccarat_king

I was also quite surprised. I've posted about a number of my successes with SWUs in my market and consistently received comments that were not positive.

The biggest winner is definitely a primarily domestic flying (non-JFK transcon) Diamond; who takes one or two leisure trips a year to Europe, where they can use the Global Upgrades. Biggest loser is definitely international flying Platinums who used the SWUs (internationally) for upgrades. But, remember, Platinums still only received four of these upgrades (but, that's still 100K miles worth).

Of course, until we understand how easy (or hard) it is to use the Global Upgrades, it's rather difficult to comment on their value (or lack thereof).

anbhc

I am in the same boat. If I had known about the new SkyMiles Benefits changes I would not have selected the $200 voucher and 25,000 SkyMiles DM 2014 benefit last month. Once you select your choices they will not let you change, even if a new benefit choice has been introduced. Why not offer those DMs that already selected their 2014 Choice Benefits without knowing about the changes perhaps 1 Global Upgrade Certificate as a courtesy to try out this new feature.

Also what happens when routes like DTW-SFO, DTW-LAX, DTW-SEA and other longer routes for instance get retrofitted with the new business elite seats in the future. Will we also lose these complementary upgrades as well

BusTrav8yrs

Agree that it is a little late in the year to announce these changes but why should you get an extra perk just because you picked early. If they were going to "give away" an extra GWU it should be to all DM's not just those who already selected.

The announcement is a "draw" for me, I like the new upgrade certs but hate losing the UG on JFK-LAX. LAX-OGG/HNL is nice but probably would not risk a comp UG on that route anyway, it already fills quickly when I fly (Feb), My flight in two months already only has 4 open seats in F.

I like the free Global Entry option, will probably pick in a couple of years when mine expires.

anbhc

I agree that Delta should give one GWU to all DMs as a welcome to say try out this new Choice Benefit.

Here is a cut and paste from a TTU regarding the new Choice Benefits:

"Thank you for contacting us about Choice Benefits.

If you are eligible for 2014 Choice Benefits and have already made your
selection, you will not be able to switch to Global or Regional
Upgrades. If you have not already made your selection, you will have
until February 28, 2014, to select the current Systemwide Upgrades and
beginning March 1, 2014, you may select Global and Regional Upgrades as
a Choice Benefit.

We understand that customers who have already made their 2014 Choice
Benefit selections would have liked more advance notice so they could
weigh these new options, but we were unable to announce these options
until now due to the number of systematic changes that will need to be
made before March 1st. We want to make sure that this new program is
launched without difficulty, so more advance notice was not a
possibility. We regret the disappointment that this causes, but we trust
you understand our position.

Thank you for your support as a Diamond Medallion and Million Miler
member and for trusting your business to us. Be assured, we will make
every attempt to serve you well; we are focused on the future and look
forward to our continued business relationship."

Xeno

MSP earlier drew attention to those of us like she and I that will lose in the new math. In 2013, I did 8 international trips and all the tickets were M+ and my 10 SWUs are gone.

I need as many SWUs as possible and I don't need to be fighting over what little OP inventory one can find these days which has become incredibly complicated with the lose of EF monitoring this for me.

DaChief

There has been no inventory to use SWU on AF for some time. I have tried on a number of occasions. I do agree on your last statement though as pretty much the only benefit based on my travel patterns

bubbashow

Originally Posted by Sez_Who View Post

Very surprised to read how many Plats are bothered by losing SWU’s since there are hundreds of posts in this forum about how ‘SWU’s are worthless’. In this thread, only disappointment that they will disappear.

Comical, isn't it? LOL.

Crazyhotelguy

While the Global upgrades sound nice, I will skip them this year pending feedback on usability.

WC-HI upgrades are a positive.

I have flown one T-con JFK-LAX, so while this seems like a dumb tradeoff (due to late clearance of ug), it really does not impact me much... unless those regular flyers start connecting in ATL/CVG/DTW/MSP instead....

bennos

I think I've settled on my strategy, as TCON upgrades were the only thing making me consider renewing DM (after the loss of usable SDC, the downgrading of the SkyClubs, the fine print on MQD, difficulty of redeeming award tickets, etc): I plan on dropping to GM (since SP and international lounge access are about the only two remaining benefits of status).

Effective March 1, my TCON flights will go to "best fit", which I suspect will mostly be B6. My non-TCON domestics will stay on DL (at least for now), and should be enough to get to Gold. My INTL will go to "best fit", which will typically be whatever carrier offers W on the route I need, or maybe DL where it makes sense (eg: JFK-DUB which is too short to matter, or perhaps a TPAC if I get the global certs as my "going away gift").

I don't have the interest to match to AA and sit through that merger. (And let's not forget that AA's international flagship is a 10-across-in-Y 773.)

5khours

At the risk of drawing peoples' ire, I will say the only international flyers who benefited from the old SWU's were those flying YBM. Very few people bought YBM with their own money, and in many cases, people were taking advantage of corporate travel policies by deliberating booking last minute or on busy days when cheaper (non YBM) fares were not available.

IMHO the previous SWU scheme was largely a scam and generally resulted in higher fares and fewer UG opportunities overall.

I think the change will be an improvement for most international travelers

rylan

It'll be up in the air as to weather the new global upgrades are in the same boat... but lets consider a few things we know and what is on the table.

-The primary complaint about SWUs was having to put up a pile of cash and not having advance inventory to confirm, so having to go on the waitlist and the chance of sitting in the back on a 5k+ ticket. However, most often these cleared ahead of time or at least before going to the airport list.

-Delta removed the ability to view and get alerts for upgrade inventory, making it more difficult to use SWUs. Global certs would also apply here since it will be difficult to find what flights have upgrade availability.

Logical extrapolation would suggest that advance upgrade inventory for the globals will be tight and more difficult to use, since practically any DM in Y on an intl flight would be using one of these to try to get up front. The same complaint about absence of advance inventory will almost certainly be true with the new certs. The difference being, if you're stuck in the back you still only paid for your low bucket ticket and not an M. I can still see pax being upset because they try to use a cert but don't clear in advance and end up not clearing at the gate with an upgrade that list looks like a domestic flight.

FlyAO2

There are few people who did actually make use of these things, so in their defense I could see why those would be annoyed.

Personally, I never found a route where an M fare made sense (Z was generally cheaper) so I'm not troubled.

What is bush league is the removal of Medallion Upgrades on the Transcons... While rare, there are instances where Medallions are getting upgraded at the gate. Is DL is just going to let those seats go empty or are they going to put those seats up for sale like they do when there are leftover J/F seats on the domestic routes??

bubbashow

You are right on the money. Many of those posting anti-DL on this one are the same folks that complained about SWU being a scam. Doesn't matter what happens - with some it's anti-DL vitriol. The bottom line is DL is re-aligning its business to diminish the low value traveler's role, and upgrade the right people. Once this shakes out and all the right people are in front of the curtain, I believe we will see service improve.

bennos

Given that GUCs only go to DMs, only to those who choose them, and they only get 4, I just don't see those upgrade lists getting that long. But when J sells out, being #1/0 open still means sitting in Y.

Yeah, this is the other aspect of this change that I don't get... the people who were able to use 6 or 10 SWUs were spending serious $ to use them. It's unlike DL to give that up.

BER Flyer

Just noted another "down side" on the T&C for the Global upgrades: the lower fare classes are only applicable for DL OPERATED flights, not codeshares. On KL/AF flights the new global certs carrying the exact same restrictions as the current SWU: Y/B/M ( or S/W on AF ) only.