xliioper

To clarify, it would be 2 mi/$ on full purchase price, plus 2 mi/MQD (base fare + airline surcharge).

StayingHomeIsBetter

My read on this is that you are correct.

I initially fell into the trap of assuming that the 2x more for AMEX was a new benefit. But there is nothing new here.

StayingHomeIsBetter

I don't see anything that indicates a doubling up. Where do you get that?

cptlflyer

I think this issue of the typical consultant is actually a good point of discussion. I get that, for a long time, one of the perks of the lifestyle was the ability to enjoy the awards you accrued as a byproduct of the company (or client) spending. When you're away from home, family, etc., four days a week, that's no small thing... and I get that.

But, taking a step back for a second, in most cases it wasn't the traveler's dime spent on the trip for which those miles were accrued. The airline (or hotel, car rental agency, etc.) was rewarding you for your company's spend... which, when you think about it from the airline's point of view, doesn't make much sense.

Delta's marketing strategy is all about corporate accounts. If they can lock-in corp business by providing incentives (in the form of negotiated fares) back to the business, isn't that a better strategy from a business perspective for both Delta AND your company that pays for travel?

Delta doesn't need EVERYONE's business to do well... they just need enough of the right business. Maybe they've consciously chosen to focus on customer acquisition and retention at the corp level rather than the individual level... which, just thinking about it as I type, is probably a lot more efficient.

AKABrownBear

You are right that it isn't our dime spent on travel but I don't think you have the correct thought process here - I, like most consultants, book my own travel (I do have guidelines but on a given week I have my choice of carriers and hotels). All my company cares about is that I get to work on time and that I am not charging in outrageously priced flights.

So the consumer the airlines should be appealing to are the consultants themselves. Because if there is one thing we are obsessed about, it is maximizing our travel perks because, as you said, the job has it's downsides.

I also think what Delta needs is to fill their planes more than anything else and they aren't going to fill them with high-fares alone. If they could, they would just increase the price of all seats.

What I am trying to say, and have been almost repeat posting here, is that I really don't get at all why people think this move shows a shift to appeal to corporations, it doesn't. Corporations don't want to pay higher fares, they want to pay as little as possible. And employees of corporations don't want their benefits to be reduced and those who value them will change their purchasing decisions accordingly.

indufan

Try again....WAAAAAY lower.

morrisunc

Delta better hope that this sticks with UA and AA. I realize that Delta thinks they are like Apple or Google, but at the end of the day their only advantage is that they completed their merger before UA and AA. Once all the dust settles I think Delta is going to be far less "premium" - if that's what you want to call it - than either AA or UA - they just don't have really good real estate. Aside from Atlanta and NYC(do they even make money in NY?) , most of their hubs aren't in "premium" markets - Detroit, Minneapolis, Seattle(which is questionable if this can work as a hub) and Salt Lake City??? They are 2nd to Asia- are they 1st in anything? Their alliance is garbage - I mean not a premium player - except maybe Korean Air - in the whole mix.

Once AA/US are done they will have the only competitor to Atl in CLT - they have MIA, JFK, LAX, ORD, DFW and even PHL (which isn't the best but has to be more "premium" than any of Delta's hubs besides ATL and NYC. All of their hubs except PHX and CLT are premium. One world is far more "premium" than skyteam.

UA has all the financial centers - ORD, SFO and EWR - plus DEN (better than salt lake) - IAH, super premium, LAX - they are number one to asia and have imo the best alliance.

So while I think this is a great program for "premium" flyers - at the end of the day I just don't think Delta will continue to capture them once the other mergers are completed because they just aren't that strong in any premium markets besides ATL and NYC. And they only dominate one - ATL.

I do hope this catches on with UA and AA though.

mudbug31

Even at this late (or not so late) hour there are 700 people currently visiting this forum!

Howste

Since I track my mileage with a spreadsheet, I just calculated the difference for my mileage earned so far this year. For my $6290 MQD spend so far in 2014 I've earned 83,783 RDMs. With the new 2015 plan I would have earned only 69,190 RDMs. The difference is -14,593 miles for a 17.5% reduction.

If I can actually redeem the miles for low 25k tickets it still could be OK, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

rylan

Don't forget that with the new system, those pax who are spending company money with big corporate contracts are getting a significant discount over published rates... and therefore will also be taking a big hit from earning less miles since their tickets cost a lot less.

jason2380102

.....

rollyo11

OK something isn't clear to me. It is clear that non-delta operated flights credited to Skymiles will accrue some sort of mileage based formula of points. But what if I fly on a Delta ticketed and operated flight but want my miles posted to my Alaska Mileage Plan account instead of skymiles? Will I get the dollar based points or the mileage based ones?

Xyzzy

There are two new things, a new method of earning (or nt) RDM and new award charts (announced without any detail) for spending them. Everything else is the same.

GUWonder

Indeed. Something like a small fraction of one percent. Way more customers. are and way more than that are going to get fleeced by DL as DL intends to do so after all the waivers and favors the country's government has given DL. Welcome to the results of a market and government bought out by corporate interests and their lobbyists and too few caring about such matters too.

The country has got the airline and airline industry which the people deserve.

cptlflyer

For travelers who, like you, aren't guided in your airline choice by corp contracts, I think it's probably a wash for the airlines... at least at present. Unless you are JFK or ORD based, you're going to probably fly with your city's hub carrier because of convenience (if there is one). Otherwise, for every consultant who is mad at Delta and goes to United there's probably one doing the exact opposite.

There are a lot of business travelers who don't have the freedom you do... so perhaps Delta just isn't focused on the niche you fall into.

I have no data here, I'm just theorizing based on Delta's pattern of decisions... many of which were decried on FT but haven't sunk them yet.

Here I disagree with you entirely. In fact, that's exactly what airlines are doing -- cutting capacity to drive-up fares. Quality over quantity. That's the crux of what has made them profitable as of late.

There will always be some seats that cost less than others, but the legacy carriers in particular are deliberately trying to shed as much of the low-yield traffic as they can... or find new ways to move it (like US has done in many markets, although we'll see what happens to their strategy now).

I think you missed something in my earlier comment (or I was unclear). Of course, I agree corporations don.'to way to pay more... which is why they negotiate fares with airlines in exchange for volume commitments. Doing so saves the company money... that it may eat away at the employee traveler's FF perks is of no business interest to either the airline or the corp in that case. I think it's likely you (your demographic if not you personally) have a lot more freedom to spend the company/clients' money than most corporate travelers.




Personally, I think the experience flying Delta is so much better than UA today that the quality alone is why I give my money to Delta. And, I'm not married to Delta -- ten years ago, I would have avoided Delta like the plague when CO was, by far, the best ride in the (U.S.) sky. I go where I get the best VFM.

In the past year, I've flown US, WN and LH from DTW when the bang for my buck was better than DL in that particular case. I actually think the service on WN is probably second to Delta right now in the US (though I look forward to having B6 as an option, too, very soon!)