rcurry01

Here is my situation. I started a new job in September and began traveling a lot for work, mainly between the Boston and Salt Lake City. I currently have over $6,000 MQD and just hit 25,000 MQM. Delta recognized my new travel pattern and without asking threw me a little love with Complimentary Gold. I needed to fly two round trips in two months to retain the status… done.

I have had the status for 3 round trips now and I just keep asking myself what is the point. I book my tickets no more than two weeks in advance. I fly on Mon/Fri, so I have never been less than #20 on the upgrade list. I end up in a middle seat 50% of the time. I got an economy comfort seat once. My company has a deal with Delta and I already had access to the “premium” seats. I don’t check luggage. I wasn’t there right when “priority access” started boarding one time and had to gate check my bag, adding time on the other end.

What is the point with sticking it out for Platinum next year, for few domestic upgrade certs, when all these people with Amex cards who spend ½ of what I do on a few cheap TPAC flights are Diamond.

At least the planes are clean and the flights are on time. That is more than I got from UA or AA.

I am seriously considering switching to Southwest from MHT. The connection only adds 1 or 1.5 hours each way, and I won’t be stuck in traffic all the way home on Friday. Plus I won’t be stuck in a middle seat every time. Chicago in the winter can be a bear though.

javabytes

There is less and less benefit to being elite.

Monetization of the front cabin is targeted at 70%, and once they get there I doubt they'll stop pushing. Upgrades will increasingly go only to upper tier elites (who will still find their upgrade percentages drastically reduced) and those who fly on slow days (Tue/Wed).

Economy Comfort sales are being pushed just as heavily. Booking 1-2 weeks out you're much less likely to find such a seat available, especially one that isn't a middle seat.

Free bags can be obtained by having a credit card.

Same Day Confirmed can be had for a fee on the occasions you need it.

If you're a PM or a DM, you get Choice Benefits, which are useful. But otherwise you're pretty much left with quicker access to agents on the phone as the only thing you can't get other ways.

yojimbo

I had solid upgrade success as a plat, a bit less success as a gold (got upgraded yesterday/Monday LAS-JFK).

I usually end up in EC, though on my recent JFK-LAS leg, I chose a emergency row aisle rather than an EC middle seat.

All in all, I'm happy with Delta elite program......will endeavor to earn gold status in 2016 for 2017.

BOSTransplant

I'm a little bit confused here. You say you mainly travel between Boston and Salt Lake, but you're considering switching to Southwest? If you're traveling for work, so the money isn't coming out of your own pocket, it seems odd that you would rather connect on Southwest than fly the Delta nonstop. It seems like you're setting yourself up for a lot of Friday nights stranded at MDW.

For the rest, there aren't a huge number of DMs in Boston, though you're certainly right that peak business travel times such as Monday morning will always be tough upgrades to get. Still, you'll get a lot more upgrades flying out of Boston than you will out of ATL or MSP. Also, you say that you get stuck in middle seats typically. Do you pick from the seat map at the time of purchase? I was a GM for my first year and a half in Boston, and I would usually book two to three weeks out, and even on Monday morning BOS-->ATL, which is always a full flight, I could always snag at least a window or aisle (you won't be able to pick C+ at the time of booking as a GM, but you should almost never end up stuck in a regular economy middle seat, and you should be able to get a decent amount of C+ upgrades at the 72 hour window).

As for whether or not you should switch, it's tough to say. Depends on what you value in a program. You'll earn more free flights on Southwest, and the companion ticket can be a big saver. I personally prefer Delta because I find the IROPS handling to be first rate, and I've always had great experiences with the staff. Also, I enjoy traveling internationally for fun, and Southwest has very limited international options, as they aren't in a major alliance. If you're looking at nonstop service from Boston, Southwest has 13 year round nonstop destinations and two seasonal destinations from Logan. Delta has 20 year round (19 if you combine JFK and LGA) plus seven seasonal options. I guess Southwest has slightly better options if you fly to the midwest all the time, but otherwise Delta has more attractive destinations, imo.

Also I think you're underestimating how easy it is to get DM. The normal plat Amex gives 20k MQMs a year, so to hit DM, someone would still need to fly 105k miles, which is a decent chunk. Flying to major hubs during business hours is when you'll spot the most DMs, but I am upgraded on most of my non-peak segments out of Boston, even going back to when I was gold.

rcurry01

I live along the I-95 corridor in southern NH, so I am equally distant from MHT and BOS. I picked Delta because of the nonstop to SLC and the elite benefits. The benefits I am getting from being elite are marginal at best. Battling the garage at 6 am in BOS is no fun and the traffic home on Friday can make a 50 minute drive over two hours.

The miles are not that valuable to me. I have been at the game a long time, I get more than enough each year from credit cards to travel internationally.

I am considering Southwest from MHT, because they are the only airline with flight times from MHT that work. DL, AA and UA connections to SLC are not good. I would be giving up a nonstop and elite benefits and gaining an easier travel experience.... As long as there are not IROPS.

yohanson

No TPAC for me this year and I have only been booking direct flights all year unless I absolutely have to book a connection. I flew every week the first 6 months of the year except for 2 weeks. Now I'm back to basically being only home for a day or two a week until the week of Christmas. I'm going to end up with about 185K MQMs this year.

Having said that, I've found upgrades more difficult this year than I have in years past but I'm still pretty successful. It's tough for everyone. But, I would hate to be anything other than DM.

SFTNYC

I'd remark to the OP that it gets better once you hit PM, get access to C+ at booking and theoretically are higher on the list for upgrades. The thing you have to realize is for markets like LGA-MSP, BOS-ATL (and indeed it appears BOS-SLC) during peak times even a good number of Diamonds are sitting in back. During off-peak times and for personal trips I've experienced a very high upgrade success rate.

I travel weekly and rarely book more than a week out myself - if you keep an eye on the seat map you can usually get something decent in C+.

davetravels

Agreed.

Is there a 12 step program for (us) recovering Diamonds?!?

yohanson

I have a feeling that retirement flying will all be purchased F and J with hours of time spent finding the cheapest GAP fares...if they still exist then.

injera

I'm an NYC based GM who has a ~50% UG success rate. I've had an option for Economy Comfort on every single flight, though dont always take it if i'm already in a nice exit row thats not too far back on the plane.

SDS has been used many a time and has resulted in significant cost savings (ie booking the 7am flight that was $100 cheaper but going standby on the 10am flight).

Delta has bent the rules for me on several occassions, notably when 3 friends and I were headed to St. Maarten, one of them realized the week before we were supposed to leave that his passport had expired. Delta waived the change fee for all of us so that we could travel to Puerto Rico instead.

I can think of one flight i've taken this year where Delta was, and yes I paid the extra $125 to take Delta to Phoenix vs US Air/AA (NK is always cheaper but i wont fly them). I've easily gotten more than $125 of value from being a GM.

And as people like to say here, GM sucks, so i can only imagine the perks of being DM.

sethb

It really depends on your travel pattern. As PM/DM in NYC, flying to MSP a lot, I get very few upgrades. (Most of my other flying is to SFO, so medallion upgrades don't apply.) Other flights I have a fairly good, not great, success ratio.

bennos

I think you're overestimating the number of people getting DM with "cheap TPAC flights" and an Amex -- even with the MQD waiver you need about 8-10 "cheap" TPACs to make MQMs. As others have pointed out, travel at peak times is terrible for everyone.

I'd agree that generally the benefits aren't worth it, except given your typical route of SLC and BOS (two cities that get hit with winter weather) as soon as you get trapped by WX you'll appreciate the priority handling you get as an elite. During one winter storm when the general public was waiting 17 hours for callbacks, I got through in 7 minutes and got the last remaining seat on the flight I wanted.

nikitta28

I end up in a middle seat 50% of the time.
How is this with access to premium seats?

I got an economy comfort seat once.
You don't know how to play the seat hopping game on your phone app, scratching and clawing your way forward?

What is the point with sticking it out for Platinum next year, for few domestic upgrade certs, when all these people with Amex cards who spend ½ of what I do on a few cheap TPAC flights are Diamond.
****cough****

Enjoy Southworst! I fly them 5-6 times a year, I think they are great for family travel to MCO or a quick direct intra-California route but weekly grind BOS-SLC..........

mpheels

I'm always amazed by Gold+ medallions who never get C+ seats. I've been FO for two years, and have near 100% success getting C+ window or aisle when traveling alone. If I'm traveling with a companion, it's harder, but still at least 75% success. Just be prepared to check the seat map right at T-24 (or T-72 for GM). If I don't get C+ then, I start check the app periodically - C+ seats open up as people SDC. At worst, ask the GA if s/he can move you to a C+ seat as s/he processed upgrades.

nikitta28

I know right! The years I was gold I could always scratch and claw my way forward by just checking. No fairies come down to magically carry you forward into EC.