Dick Ginkowski

I think it's more possible that people will spend $15K+ but not necessarily 15K MQD. It depends on the route. Let's say you're on a route where the usual fare is $300, give or take, RT, and a normal trip earns 2500 MQM. That's 50 round trips but you're not likely to hit 15K MQD.

cliburn

Just cancelled by business Reserve. Amex didn't blink an eye and neither did I.

Jump

I'm with others where what I don't get is the amount. If you've flown 125,000 and spent $250,000 on your AMEX I'd have to assume there is a 99.9% chance you've hit the $15k MQD spend regardless and you're probably paying for First anyways so none of it matters.

Why not just be honest and state that Diamonds don't qualify for an AMEX spend waiver.

$250,000? To quote a line from the movie Dumb and Dumber, "So you're telling me there's a chance."

MSPeconomist

I think the $250,000 waiver is worse than no waiver at all in that it generally benefits only those who do extreme MS or those who can put lots and lots of business expenses onto their DL AmEx cards. We'll still have the people who make DM with super cheap tickets, but now we're thinning the herd of them to those who are willing (and able, but I want to emphasize the word willing here) to do an enormous amount of MS. Sensible people who fly a lot and buy moderately priced tickets are the big losers, while many who buy the rock bottom tickets and/or keep DM based using MQMs from multiple DL AmEx cards are the big winners. Plus, I'm not convinced that DL will really thin the herd versus giving special MQM/MQD/outright status offers to certain lucky residents of the next targeted focus city.

dilbertsdaddy

DING DING

This is just a way for them to not have to say they eliminated the waiver.

Does not effect me, but I still think it is pretty lame.

If you are spending 250K on credit cards, you have a lot more options than one point per dollar..........

readywhenyouare

Exactly. There is no reason to reach for status anymore. For me if it happens then fine, but if not then no big deal. I just buy the GAP fares now.

MSPeconomist

I could see DL creating an additional tier at 100,000 MQMs after the number of PMs becomes too large. It would be similar to other legacy carriers adding a new tier at 75,000 status miles.

javabytes

Yeah, I saw that. I commented on his post that was absurd. If you're going to MS, there are plenty of things more worthwhile to do that for than an MQD waiver. I also think he overestimates how many of his readers - even those that come to learn MS tricks from him at the Chicago Seminars - are going to pump through that volume. MS is risky enough and/or often carries at least a small cost that still needs to be justified, and the number of people who can or will take it to that extreme are few.

MSPeconomist

Don't forget that MQDs and DL AmEx spend aren't the same as profitability.

aspenedelen

I'm one of those that spent $8,492 last year to reach 127000 miles which made me DM. I'll make DM again this year by spending roughly about $10,200. Am I concerned about this, absolutely! Am I worried about it, not at all because it's going to save me a a lot of money because I would fly these trips on the whim just to get the rush.
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I guess it's time to find a different Hobby

Dick Ginkowski

I don't think this move will do much to affect DL's bottom line, one way or the other, but then remember that I once told Ted Turner that nobody would watch a 24-hour news channel.

Seriously, I think some folks may be right to look at options, particularly if there is a continued devaluation of FF benefits (real vs. potential). Just as DL crunches numbers so do (or should) customers. If you don't feel your business is valued then maybe the option will be to simply purchase the lowest fare which DL often isn't (and surprisingly, WN is sometimes pricier than DL). Anecdotally, a couple of times recently I had schedule conflicts and wound up flying Spirit (and paying $40 extra for the "big front seat") one-way (and DL back). I have a bag that fits their guidelines for a free personal item and got acceptable service on flights that arrived on time. Cost me $6 for a couple of sodas and $9-10 to buy food at the airport to bring on the plane (which I often have to do on DL anyway). Am I going to "defect" to Spirit? Hell, no. But I will consider occasionally flying them if I can get a great fare and a good seat vs. a high fare on DL and no benefits. I think where that may affect DL is when someone who has "no light in the tunnel" after reaching PM may decide to fly other carriers for the remainder of the year if they can score a better flight and/or fare.

readywhenyouare

This should also help with clearing out the Sky club since there will be fewer DM'S. That is still a huge problem.

enviroian

How does one fly 130K EQM and spend only $7800??

Here I was saying to myself reading this thread is why are all these people complaining-- if you're flying the required 125K miles of course you're going to meet the minimum MQD or whatever DL calls it.

You might be the lone exception.

iflyalexair

No. He said it was confirmed that there would be no waiver for DM status. Like times past, it was fake news.

MSPeconomist

Yeah, this benefits PMs who purchase high fare classes and is roughly neutral for PMs who buy the lowest fare classes (and probably rarely get upgrades anyway). It hurts former DMs who will now be PMs and purchase cheap fare classes.

However, note that fare class isn't very well correlated with fare or the cost of tickets. You can see lots of low fare classes associated with expensive coach fares if you're a hub captive.