Dec 29, 2018, 2:47 pm
Last edit by: LoganFlyer
Select your PM/DM choice benefits here:
https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/medallion-program/choice-benefits/choice-benefits.html
https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/medallion-program/choice-benefits/choice-benefits.html
Deadline approaching for selecting old DM/PM choice benefits
Dec 29, 2018, 11:45 pm
#106
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: San Diego
Programs: IHG Spire Amb, HH Diamond, DL Diamond and 1MM
Posts: 3,610
Prefer Skymiles Selection over Skyclub Selection
Plat selections (pick one) include 20,000 Skymiles.
Diamond selections (pick once, twice, or three times) include 25,000
Skyclub membership used to be included as part of the normal Diamond perks. About two years ago, Delta took the club perk away and gave us a third Diamond pick. That worked out good for me because I prefer two 25,000 miles picks over Skyclub + one 25,000 miles pick. (My third pick is the four GUC's.)
In 2019, a Skyclub membership will cost $545 for the whole year or $29 per admission with a Delta Amex card. Breakeven for buying a $545 membership is nineteen $29 single admissions. In all of 2018, I think I only paid for six $29 single admissions, and that included my wife.
I can usually get 2 cents per Skymile value, so for me 25,000 miles are worth $500. If I really used Skyclubs a lot for myself, then using a Choice Benefits for an annual admission is worth a selection that might otherwise be 25,000 miles.
However, I think me and few other flyers use Skyclubs that much: Let's go low and say a Skymile is worth only 1.5 cents. Then 25,000 miles are worth $375. $375 divided by $29 gives 13 single admissions for breakeven. That is a lot. I consider all the times I get in free for international travel (Skyteam Elite Plus status), the few times I use a Priority Pass lounge (free with some credit cards), and all the times I have short connections. I'm never close to breakeven for any price one can assign to a Skyclub membership. Don't have a Amex Delta Reserve card for the same reason.
Diamond selections (pick once, twice, or three times) include 25,000
Skyclub membership used to be included as part of the normal Diamond perks. About two years ago, Delta took the club perk away and gave us a third Diamond pick. That worked out good for me because I prefer two 25,000 miles picks over Skyclub + one 25,000 miles pick. (My third pick is the four GUC's.)
In 2019, a Skyclub membership will cost $545 for the whole year or $29 per admission with a Delta Amex card. Breakeven for buying a $545 membership is nineteen $29 single admissions. In all of 2018, I think I only paid for six $29 single admissions, and that included my wife.
I can usually get 2 cents per Skymile value, so for me 25,000 miles are worth $500. If I really used Skyclubs a lot for myself, then using a Choice Benefits for an annual admission is worth a selection that might otherwise be 25,000 miles.
However, I think me and few other flyers use Skyclubs that much: Let's go low and say a Skymile is worth only 1.5 cents. Then 25,000 miles are worth $375. $375 divided by $29 gives 13 single admissions for breakeven. That is a lot. I consider all the times I get in free for international travel (Skyteam Elite Plus status), the few times I use a Priority Pass lounge (free with some credit cards), and all the times I have short connections. I'm never close to breakeven for any price one can assign to a Skyclub membership. Don't have a Amex Delta Reserve card for the same reason.
Jan 1, 2019, 4:09 pm
#107
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: San Antonio
Programs: DL DM, Former AA EXP now AY Plat, AC 75K, NW Plat, Former CO Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 27,042
Plat selections (pick one) include 20,000 Skymiles.
Diamond selections (pick once, twice, or three times) include 25,000
Skyclub membership used to be included as part of the normal Diamond perks. About two years ago, Delta took the club perk away and gave us a third Diamond pick. That worked out good for me because I prefer two 25,000 miles picks over Skyclub + one 25,000 miles pick. (My third pick is the four GUC's.)
In 2019, a Skyclub membership will cost $545 for the whole year or $29 per admission with a Delta Amex card. Breakeven for buying a $545 membership is nineteen $29 single admissions. In all of 2018, I think I only paid for six $29 single admissions, and that included my wife.
I can usually get 2 cents per Skymile value, so for me 25,000 miles are worth $500. If I really used Skyclubs a lot for myself, then using a Choice Benefits for an annual admission is worth a selection that might otherwise be 25,000 miles.
However, I think me and few other flyers use Skyclubs that much: Let's go low and say a Skymile is worth only 1.5 cents. Then 25,000 miles are worth $375. $375 divided by $29 gives 13 single admissions for breakeven. That is a lot. I consider all the times I get in free for international travel (Skyteam Elite Plus status), the few times I use a Priority Pass lounge (free with some credit cards), and all the times I have short connections. I'm never close to breakeven for any price one can assign to a Skyclub membership. Don't have a Amex Delta Reserve card for the same reason.
Diamond selections (pick once, twice, or three times) include 25,000
Skyclub membership used to be included as part of the normal Diamond perks. About two years ago, Delta took the club perk away and gave us a third Diamond pick. That worked out good for me because I prefer two 25,000 miles picks over Skyclub + one 25,000 miles pick. (My third pick is the four GUC's.)
In 2019, a Skyclub membership will cost $545 for the whole year or $29 per admission with a Delta Amex card. Breakeven for buying a $545 membership is nineteen $29 single admissions. In all of 2018, I think I only paid for six $29 single admissions, and that included my wife.
I can usually get 2 cents per Skymile value, so for me 25,000 miles are worth $500. If I really used Skyclubs a lot for myself, then using a Choice Benefits for an annual admission is worth a selection that might otherwise be 25,000 miles.
However, I think me and few other flyers use Skyclubs that much: Let's go low and say a Skymile is worth only 1.5 cents. Then 25,000 miles are worth $375. $375 divided by $29 gives 13 single admissions for breakeven. That is a lot. I consider all the times I get in free for international travel (Skyteam Elite Plus status), the few times I use a Priority Pass lounge (free with some credit cards), and all the times I have short connections. I'm never close to breakeven for any price one can assign to a Skyclub membership. Don't have a Amex Delta Reserve card for the same reason.
Jan 1, 2019, 4:31 pm
#108
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,404
There are people who qualify for DM on segments based on a couple domestic flights every week. For them, the SC membership could be very valuable at $29 times 50-100 or more visits per year, although of course in that case it would be worthwhile also to simply pay to purchase a SC membership.
Jan 1, 2019, 5:03 pm
#109
Join Date: Mar 2016
Posts: 1,884
Plat selections (pick one) include 20,000 Skymiles.
Diamond selections (pick once, twice, or three times) include 25,000
Skyclub membership used to be included as part of the normal Diamond perks. About two years ago, Delta took the club perk away and gave us a third Diamond pick. That worked out good for me because I prefer two 25,000 miles picks over Skyclub + one 25,000 miles pick. (My third pick is the four GUC's.)
In 2019, a Skyclub membership will cost $545 for the whole year or $29 per admission with a Delta Amex card. Breakeven for buying a $545 membership is nineteen $29 single admissions. In all of 2018, I think I only paid for six $29 single admissions, and that included my wife.
I can usually get 2 cents per Skymile value, so for me 25,000 miles are worth $500. If I really used Skyclubs a lot for myself, then using a Choice Benefits for an annual admission is worth a selection that might otherwise be 25,000 miles.
However, I think me and few other flyers use Skyclubs that much: Let's go low and say a Skymile is worth only 1.5 cents. Then 25,000 miles are worth $375. $375 divided by $29 gives 13 single admissions for breakeven. That is a lot. I consider all the times I get in free for international travel (Skyteam Elite Plus status), the few times I use a Priority Pass lounge (free with some credit cards), and all the times I have short connections. I'm never close to breakeven for any price one can assign to a Skyclub membership. Don't have a Amex Delta Reserve card for the same reason.
Diamond selections (pick once, twice, or three times) include 25,000
Skyclub membership used to be included as part of the normal Diamond perks. About two years ago, Delta took the club perk away and gave us a third Diamond pick. That worked out good for me because I prefer two 25,000 miles picks over Skyclub + one 25,000 miles pick. (My third pick is the four GUC's.)
In 2019, a Skyclub membership will cost $545 for the whole year or $29 per admission with a Delta Amex card. Breakeven for buying a $545 membership is nineteen $29 single admissions. In all of 2018, I think I only paid for six $29 single admissions, and that included my wife.
I can usually get 2 cents per Skymile value, so for me 25,000 miles are worth $500. If I really used Skyclubs a lot for myself, then using a Choice Benefits for an annual admission is worth a selection that might otherwise be 25,000 miles.
However, I think me and few other flyers use Skyclubs that much: Let's go low and say a Skymile is worth only 1.5 cents. Then 25,000 miles are worth $375. $375 divided by $29 gives 13 single admissions for breakeven. That is a lot. I consider all the times I get in free for international travel (Skyteam Elite Plus status), the few times I use a Priority Pass lounge (free with some credit cards), and all the times I have short connections. I'm never close to breakeven for any price one can assign to a Skyclub membership. Don't have a Amex Delta Reserve card for the same reason.
I hit DM for the first time in 2016 - prior to that I bounced back and forth between FO and GM. I think I paid the $59 for lounge access once or twice in 5 years or so. When I started flying all of the time I initially got the Delta Gold AmEx - mostly for the discounted SC entry. It turned out that I didn't use SC any more often though, because I really felt like I needed to stay at least 2 hours to make the $29 cost worthwhile. When I finally hit DM in '16 and got the free membership, I found that I stopped by the lounge any time I had 20 minutes to spare. I usually arrive at my home airport 60 minutes prior to departure, so I check my tool bag, slide through security, and stop in the club for a bagel and banana and a quick email check on my way to the gate. I had a slow year in 2018 with only 121 segments, but I bet I visited the lounge 70 times or more.
My point being that it is much more realistic to calculate against how many times you would have used the lounge if it were free, rather than how many times you would have paid for it. Since the automatic membership went away last year I have started to carry the Reserve card. I take the 25k miles as a Choice benefit instead, which offsets at least $250 of the $450 annual fee, and the value of the Companion Certificate easily covers the remaining $200. As an added benefit, of the times that I have on the Upgrade List for a gate upgrade last year, my *worst* position was #5 (once), and I was #1 55% of the time.
Jan 12, 2019, 2:02 pm
#110
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: ATL
Programs: DL SkyMiles PM/2MM, AA Plat, IC Diam. Amb., Peninsula regular, amanjunkie
Posts: 5,848
Now, I'm DM for program year 2019. If I went in today and selected the SkyClub upgrade to Executive for this program year, it would be valid through Jan. 2020. That's good, full year of validity of the benefit. But I don't want to select another slate of GUC's now; I'd rather select them later this year and have them be valid deeper into 2020. So, can I solve this timing problem by selecting one DM choice benefit now but not the other two I'm entitled to, then come back later and pick the others? Or do I need to select all three DM benefits at the same time?
Jan 12, 2019, 2:08 pm
#111
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Now in SLC
Programs: DL GM 1MM, MR LT Titanium
Posts: 4,116
You can select your 3 DM benefits at 3 different times. So you can select the SC benefit now and wait to pick the others later.
Jan 15, 2019, 7:56 pm
#112
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Body in the CLE, soul still in New England
Programs: In 2023? Does it matter? SPG/Marriott: Plat; DL: Plat; B6: Mosaic
Posts: 2,979
Thanks for this reminder. I banked last year's and this year's 20k mileage benefits..so most of my outbound vacation to STT was just paid for. Woo hoo!
Jan 15, 2019, 8:14 pm
#113
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,404
About eight hours ago, I got an email from DL reminding me to select my choice benefits by the end of January.
Jan 15, 2019, 9:20 pm
#114
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: So Fla & NYC
Programs: DL DM/2MM, UA MM, BV LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 23,766
Jan 26, 2019, 3:55 pm
#115
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,404
I selected one PM and three DM choices yesterday, all of which were going to expire, and received the email confirmations very late last night, about seven hours later.
Jan 30, 2019, 11:31 am
#116
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,404
About 36 hours left for most people. Time to stop procrastinating.
Jan 30, 2019, 3:15 pm
#117
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: So Fla & NYC
Programs: DL DM/2MM, UA MM, BV LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 23,766
I promised myself that I would do them on the last day possible but I chickened out last night and did the 2018 choices for both of us.
Jan 31, 2019, 8:13 am
#119
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Arlington, VA
Programs: DL DM, 1.5 MM; AS MVP Gold 100K; HHonors Diamond; AMEX Platinum
Posts: 487