hockeyinsider

Here's the short story. I booked a flight (YYZ-ATL-NRT-MNL-NRT-JFK-ATL) that seemed too good to be true but I took my chances. At check-out, Delta.com said I'd get 65,868 redeemable miles and 18,495 MQMs. Well, when it came time to posting I received my 18,495 MQMs but only 6,600 redeemable miles. I wrote Delta and complained, they responded saying the "mileage calculator is not guaranteed it is an estimate."

What should I do? I have screenshots.

NoStressHere

The big question is: What SHOULD the redeemable miles be?

Actually, that is the only question since that is what you should get.

hockeyinsider

Delta claims 6,600, which is a huge discrepancy. What concerns me is they claim the stated figure we all see at booking is "not guaranteed." By that same logic, nothing is guaranteed. The unofficial calculator at http://fly.qux.us/smcalc/ says 41,895 at a Diamond.

jrl767

how much did you pay for the ticket? as DM, you should see 11 RDMs per dollar

Often1

If the 41,895 is correct, I would go back and ask DL for that. Or call in and ask for an explanation of how the 6,000 was calculated. Forget the screen shots, all that matters is the correct answer.

vgb2001

as simple as that if all flights were on delta stock (except for tax)

https://www.delta.com/content/www/en...SM_15_announce


For Delta-marketed (flight numbers that include the �DL� airline code) or Delta-ticketed (featuring a ticket number beginning with �006�) flights, SkyMiles members will earn miles based on ticket price, at the rate of 5 miles per U.S. Dollar (USD) spent. Ticket price eligible for mileage accrual includes base fare and carrier-imposed surcharges, but excludes government-imposed taxes and fees. Members with earned Medallion status will earn an additional Medallion mileage bonus per USD spent based on their status at the time of travel. Silver Medallion members will earn 2 additional miles per USD (for a total of 7 miles per USD). Gold Medallion members will earn 3 additional miles per USD (for a total of 8 miles per USD). Platinum Medallion members will earn 4 additional miles per USD (for a total of 9 miles per USD). Diamond Medallion members will earn 6 additional miles per USD (for a total of 11 miles per USD). Members who receive complimentary Medallion status are not eligible to receive the Medallion mileage bonus for the complimentary Medallion year (excludes members who receive complimentary annual Medallion status through the Million Miler� program or Choice Benefits gifted Medallion status) unless the member earns Medallion status through the required MQMs or MQSs and MQDs, in which case the mileage bonus for the earned tier is applied. For example, if a member is awarded complimentary Gold Medallion status, then earns Silver Medallion status by earning the required MQMs or MQSs and MQDs, the Silver Medallion mileage bonus will be applied.

hockeyinsider

Canadian $800.

DELTA 2467
MAIN CABIN (X)
TORONTO, ON
7:25am
ATLANTA
9:49am

DELTA 295
MAIN CABIN (X)
ATLANTA
10:57am
TOKYO-NARITA
3:35pm

DELTA 473
MAIN CABIN (X)
TOKYO-NARITA
5:55pm
MANILA, PHILIPPINES
9:55pm

DELTA 172
MAIN CABIN (L)
MANILA, PHILIPPINES
10:55am
NYC-KENNEDY 1
4:45pm

DELTA 4072
MAIN CABIN (L)
NYC-KENNEDY
9:02pm
TORONTO, ON
10:55pm

Pay with Miles or Upgrade with Miles
$ 951.35 CAD

CHARGES
Air Transportation Charges
Base Fare
$800.00 CAD
Carrier-imposed International Surcharge (YR)
$380.00 CAD
Taxes, Fees and Charges
Canada - Air Travellers Security Charge (CA)
$25.91 CAD
Canada - Airport Improvement Fee (AIF) (SQ)
$25.00 CAD
United States - September 11th Security Fee(Passenger Civil Aviation Security Service Fee) (AY)
$15.00 CAD
United States - Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Fee (APHIS User Fee - Passengers (XA)
$13.40 CAD
United States - Immigration and Naturalization Fee(Immigration User Fee) (XY)
$18.60 CAD
United States - Custom User Fee (YC)
$14.60 CAD
Japan - Passenger Security Service Charge (OI)
$11.40 CAD
Japan - Passenger Service Facilities Charge (SW)
$22.80 CAD
Philippines - Passenger Service Charge (LI)
$15.60 CAD
Canada - Harmonized Sales Tax (RC)
$3.25 CAD
United States - Passenger Facility Charge (XF)
$6.00 CAD
TICKET AMOUNT $1351.56 CAD

Fare Difference - $399.79 CAD
Taxes, Fees & Charges - $551.56 CAD
Service Charge - $0.00 CAD
Total Charged - $ 951.35 CAD

vgb2001

$800 canadian, is $600 US, x11 for DM => 6600 SM.
All good, they're right.

(btw, so cheap ^^^)

ashill

Was the fare closer to $600 + taxes (6600/11) or $6000 + taxes ($66k/11)?

ETA: I see you posted the answer while I typed. Indeed, the fare was about $600 + taxes, so you got the "right" number of redeemable points (calling them miles is pretty absurd at this point) given how Delta advertises the program.

However, you should have gotten redeemable miles for the C$380 YR surcharge, so it looks like you were shortchanged about 3300 SkyPesos, depending on the exact exchange rate.

hockeyinsider

I thought is was x12 when you use a Delta American Express card?

Even if 6,600 is what I should have received, to me the big issue is Delta conveyed I would receive substantially more.

akcae

Aren't RDMs calculated on base fare + carrier surcharges (i.e. YQ/YR)?

In that case, the OP should get (CA$800 fare + CA$380 YR) x 11, assuming DM, which is $882.86 x 11, or total of 9,711 Sky"miles".

Zorak

Using a Delta AMEX gets you 2x miles on the cost when the credit card spend is posted from AMEX to DL (vs. the normal 1x miles for other spending). It doesn't increase the RDM bonus that Delta gives you for the flight.

I'd be interested in seeing the screenshots...

Zorak

The chart clearly says "per USD"

http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...ith-delta.html

EDIT: sorry, didn't actually look at the numbers

ashill

I'm not sure how the x12 is awarded; does that just mean the SkyMiles you get for the spend itself (ie marketing gibberish), or is it supposed to be on top of the SkyMiles for the spend?

It's true that it's frustrating that Delta's calculator could screw up so badly on a fairly simple calculation. But the estimate was nearly an order of magnitude high, and that was obvious; if you get 11 (or 12) SkyMiles / US dollar spent excluding taxes and fees, getting about 50 Skymiles / CAD dollar spent including taxes and fees (66k/C$1300) should have been a red flag that the calculator was wrong. In fact, you said in your original post that you thought it was too good to be true, an indication that you realized something was wrong with the calculator. Given that, I would have checked the calculation myself and complained to Delta at the time. I would not have taken a calculator that was obviously wrong with a disclaimer saying it may be wrong (and tough luck if it is) as a binding commitment.

ashill

Right, which is the calculation akcae did (though the post didn't make explicit the conversion from CA$980 to US$883).