Esltroy

I was set to make diamond this year; I have made platinum for next year already. Even with the revenue based mileage program, I was planning on sticking it out with Delta. Then, this week I tried to book two trips, one to BOS from MSN on August 27-29 and another trip from MSN>ITO>HNL>MSN from Aug 17-22. We use concur to book the travel, but my company throws a red flag if comparable flights are more than 100.00 cheaper from another airline. The cheapest Boston flight is over $100 more expensive than United or AA. The Hawaii flight is 800 more expensive than AA And UA.

So debating a status match. I am in MSN so I have a lot of choices as a small regional hub. I never expect direct flights.

I would love to stay with delta, but I like to only date one airline at a time.

I also would like to get the highest status to get the most upgrades.

Not to worried about cheating on delta through the end of the year to see if I can find a better airline that:
A) I get lots of upgrades domestic
B) flights that are not 100s-1000s of dollars beyond what my company can spend
C) a place where I can use my miles for one or two pleasure trips to Europe a year.

Thoughts? Has anyone else jumped ship?
My other thought is to just get diamond status this year then leverage it for status match 2015 with another airline. I will be flying a ton between now and the end of 2016.

davetravels

I'm guessing, by the above question, you haven't seen this very recent thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...dm-united.html

It'll be an eye-opening 90 posts for you to read, I believe.

Esltroy

I did read that thread, but I don't have much of a choice. I can't continue to exclusively fly with delta since they are so much more expensive than UA or AA.

So I am wondering which one to switch to soon.

Within a few years I will be FO on all three airlines. I would prefer to be top on one. Since I have three HI flights coming up that I can't do delta, thought it may be time to do a status match. I won't get upgrades unless I match and delta is not even a remote option at the prices of the tickets.

Esltroy

I was leaning towards AA also. Not revenue based like the changes to UA and DL.

davetravels

Of course, I have no idea what you're doing - dates, etc, but, Delta RT from MSN to HNL from Aug 17-22 is showing $974. If you add on a RT from HNL to ITO on HI, it's as low as $150. So, . . . .

$974 + 150 = $1124. I don't think AA & UA could be $800 cheaper.

tom911

Can your corporate travel person make that happen with AA? If not, you're probably going to have to pay for a "challenge" like anyone else coming over. That requires flying a certain amount of points (not miles) in 90 days.

WIRunner

Is mke an option?

lamont2718

Unless DL prices are consistently uncompetitive on flights out of MSN, I would not switch airlines over just a few fares.

Esltroy

I agree. The only issue is that I really would not like to have to fly coach on the log haul to Hawaii. I really don't care on the short flights.

Here are the dates for the flights to Hawaii.


Dave Travels, I like how you think I may be able to come up with something that will not cause the bean counters to raise a red flag. I could create an itinerary that would still allow me to use delta.

These are the exact dates.
Leave August 17 MSN>ITO Leave ITO on August 20 to HNL> HNL to MSN on August 22.

I could do a MSN to HNL>HNL to ITO>ITO to HNL>HNL to MSN.

indufan

Given these rules, you aren't going to be able to fly anyone regular enough. Delta is more expensive on some. United is more expensive on some and American is more expensive on some.

howtofreetravel

Be careful prices change all the time

ridepow

Don't want to steal away from you, OP, but I'm in the same boat. All my clients have me book through Concur and I'm hitting the red flag every time I book. DL has been consistently $100 to $1100 higher than AA/US/UA!!

I'm doing my first AA domestics and TPAC next month because of this (been exclusively DL for 7 years). So, I'm trying to grab FO with AA for next year and have GM with DL (after 8 years of DL PM/DM). The MQDs and revenue deals have me leaning towards trying things out with AA. And, just to be clear, I'm not complaining, I get it...it's all business, but the DL pricing this summer compared to others has been crazy.

Esltroy

I am so glad you said that. I have been able to get a cheap flight and then to SDC so I don't stress too much about really bad flights. I don't even have that option anymore.

I can't fly out of MKE because we don't have a reliable bus/train service. I hope that some sort of public transport will happen before too long. Besides, I really don't want to take a bus when I live 6 min from the MSN airport. I could just switch airlines. It was not a bad suggestion. I even tried to find flights through MKE, but didn't find anything that was cheaper than MSN.

indufan

Just for giggles, I checked a random set of dates (Oct 13-17) from MSN


LAX-Frontier cheapest in market by > 100
SAN-Frontier cheapest in the market by > 100
SFO-Frontier cheapest in the market by > 100
PDX-Frontier cheapest in the market by > 100
PHX-Frontier cheapest in market
SEA-Frontier cheapest in market
DEN-Frontier cheapest in market by a lot
BOS-American cheapest in the market
LGA-Delta cheapest in the market
JFK-Delta cheapest in the market
EWR-Delta cheapest in the market
PHL-United cheapest in the market
DCA-United cheapest in the market
IAD-United cheapest in the market
MCO-Delta cheapest in market
FLL-Delta cheapest in the market
RSW-American cheapest in the market
TPA-Delta cheapest in the market
HNL-United cheapest in the market

Just for continued giggles, three international markets
LHR-United cheapest in the market
CDG-United cheapest in the market > 100
FCO-United, American, Delta, British Airways, and Iberia tied



I profess absolutely ZERO scientific madness to this survey. What I am demonstrating is that sometimes markets are higher and sometimes they are lower. If you find specific markets that you fly that they aren't competitive on then do what you have to do but their is no evidence in the record that Delta is always higher. So, if you have a diverse route pattern, the date one airline and the beyond what a company can spend are incompatible.

Kacee

Exactly. We get threads all the time on the UA forum complaining about how UA is "so much more expensive" than everyone else.

A very small sample size (like two flights) provides zero insight into larger pricing trends.

btw, if you want complimentary domestic upgrades, particularly ex-ORD, which is where you'll be connecting from MSN, UA is probably not the airline for you.