saturnsk

Whether or not I am impacted by the change to full-revenue based frequent flyer program by Delta, I am still going to refrain from flying them and move my business to American. I'm sure United will follow suit on the revenue-basis, but this change is just pure business to them, so I will take my lucrative business elsewhere. This is what I did when Southwest changed their program, and haven't regretted not flying them since.

MAMOHT

You can also stop going to Walmart. Or Target. For variety of reasons.

flyingweekly

Here we go with the forum trolls who will knock everyone on here. I think we take it one step further, form a LLC that and put money towards a full page ad in the WSJ, NYT talking about how DL doesn't value their most frequent flyers!

That would get their attention!

Mr. Tickets

What you feel is lucrative business and what Delta thinks, may surprise you.
As someone pointed out, with fewer carriers out there, they don't need to keep things the same and they won't. My guess is the changes have only just begun. Eventually, most of the airlines will follow Delta's lead. The good old days are gone and I think we all need to start adjusting to that. Consumers have fewer options as is the case in so many industries now. The rewards are bound to be less appealing than they once were. Just my opinion.

injera

I'm still failing to see how this isnt Delta valuing their most profitable fliers, but for myself, in comparing the benefits btw AA Platnium and Delta Silver Medallion (will probably drop from GM in 2015) I see enough to warrant the switch. I'm less concerned about upgrades and more concerned about the same day standby and priority security.

I guess the question is - what changes will AA come up with btw now and 1/1/2015....

TProphet

Hard to say what AA will do, but it's not going to be any picnic for their frequent fliers given the difficulties that will inevitably result from the merger. I wouldn't put anything past Doug Parker, but it seems likely that they'll try to remain competitive and not rock the boat too much.

Delta seems to be positioning itself as a premium product for which the loyalty program is less important as a differentiating factor. This is a legitimate strategy. And something has to give: there are too many miles chasing too few seats. Two devaluations in rapid succession apparently weren't enough to solve the problem, so slowing the rate of mileage earning and an additional devaluation is in the cards.

How will I respond? I'm going to shop for Delta fares the same way I do on Chinese carriers or Aeroflot (yes I really do fly both): assume that I'm not getting any miles at all, and I'm going to have to fight for any credit (and probably get screwed out of it) even if I theoretically should get it. I won't use Delta or any SkyTeam carriers based on any assumption of earning miles. It still makes sense to fly without any mileage credit if the fare is low enough or if there isn't another logical schedule option. And I'll be looking to burn all of my Delta miles this year. It is possible, if you're redeeming on partners like Alaska and Aeromexico and going places like Ketchikan and Quito. China Southern availability is also pretty good if you can stomach paying the fuel surcharge.

azeckel

Lol, it's days like today that make me love FT. The sky is literally falling and mbw is cold calling poor workers at AA looking for a status match.

Read DL's annual report. They list out risks to their business and at a high level they are fuel, labor, and safety (in that order). The mention of competition is focused on B6, WN, and international carriers. The people here that are moaning the loudest are the ones that really aren't that profitable for DL. I'm sure DL would love for AA to have you.

Let's say you buy a TCON on a T fare for $350. Less taxes and whatnot, that's something like $300 in revenue for DL (round numbers for easy math). The problem is that they don't get to record $300 in revenue because they have to subtract out whatever miles they give you as a liability against future travel. Only when you redeem those miles, do they get that revenue. So a DM on a T fare adds less revenue from that seat than does a kettle on the same fare. DL is willing to make that tradeoff because of the volume they get from DM customers (just like how 48 rolls of TP at costco is cheaper per unit than 4 rolls at the corner market).

More closely aligning FF liability to revenue creates more stability in the revenue stream. Based on the new system, they will still allocate more miles for loyalty. It will take a couple years to shake out - they have a current / non-current split of about 40/60 for FF liability, so you can assume a roughly 2.5 year turnover for their $4.4 billion in deferred revenue. That means it's about $1.75b / year against $33b in recorded passenger revenue in 2013. Roughly 5% deferral on average, but medallions certainly generate much higher percentages.

spsguy

Why would I stop flying Delta in protest? This is the most logical change they have announced in the past few years. Most of my tickets are purchased within 7 days of travel. I pay a premium to sit in the middle sit on about 10% of my flights; I'm glad that delta is able to recognize that, if not with an upgrade than with additional miles.

I am sure that this is bad news for people who purchase their tickets well in advance at reduced rates (I'm one of those people when it comes to leisure travel), but I also recognize that when I purchase a $300 fare to JFK, for leisure, delta isn't making a penny on me so will gladly accept that reduction in miles for the reduction in fare.

It has been said many times on this forum that airlines are a business. In the end, all businesses have to figure out how to maximize profitability. I assure you that United and American may not take this approach, but their respective shareholders expect them to deliver ever increasing profits. Delta just happens to be the first out of the gate with changes that will ultimately drive more profitability. United and American will follow with some sort of address to the problem of abundantly rewarding flyers who deliver little to no profitability.

bubbashow

I just booked 3 P class tickets from DTW-LAS in March, but thanks for the suggestion.

bubbashow

THANK YOU! Got to get those SkyMiles off the books somehow!

Ysitincoach

If anything, today's announcement will cause a huge rush to redeem SkyPesos, if anything people will be flying DL more than ever in an attempt to cash out!

Or, things stay about the same as the amount of protesters will be so minimal.

I gotta run, my flight's about to depart and I gotta get to work.

javabytes

I just booked a ticket on AA. My thanks to OP for the suggestion as well.

azeckel

FWIW, DL stock is up about a 1/4 percent today (was up almost 2% earlier) while AA and UA are down over 1%. Discount carriers seem to be up as well. Looks like the market reacts to news like this positively for DL and negatively for other legacies.

eponymous_coward

I will continue to enjoy flying DL and crediting AS like I have for years, so thanks for your offer, but no.

Beckles

So, you don't know the impact on you with your 'lucrative business', but you don't like change and you're going elsewhere, sounds like you're making a very informed decision.