ND76

I could hit it if I chose to buy FCM tickets on every trip; rather, I choose to try to pay $300-400 RT to the west coast, and $700-800 RT to Europe. I'm largely able to book my travel at least three weeks in advance, and I live in an area where I live 100 miles or less from six different airports (IAD, DCA, BWI, CHO, RIC and MDT) and 140 miles from a seventh (PHL), so I can usually find a bargain, even on short notice.

jamesteroh

sorry misread the post to mean people could go shopping at Costco using the jewelry/expensive online purchase return trick to get the $250K spend in I guess that wasn't Delta people were doing that trick with anyway a few years ago since they could process an Am Ex return in the store

ecaarch

Other big losers are those that fly international on lower tier partners.

ffI

The number of PMs will increase, so PM will not see any real benefit as it will now be based on fare type for each flight.

A high spender who had loyalty to Amex and DL can switch to any F class in any airline and be better off, so it does destroy loyalty to the old Card / Airline miles / Airline Status combo.

I kept my Amex through 2007-12 using the DL cards as they gave me status benefits on DL. I hit DM the first couple of years and PM since by using my cards MQMs on top of my flying.

That option will not change. But if I can use the spend on SPG or my Chase Club card with 50% bonus, I may overall get a better value from that than by staying with DL miles. So as I use my Amex less, I will fly DL less as well. and just focus on the cheapest F class fare.

Already after the DL/US swap at DCA my DL flying is down. This will make DL like SW for my flight choices. AA has worse planes, but a bad F seat is better than a seat in economy on a better plane.

rylan

The spend increase is pretty silly being 250k now. Basically excludes pax who use the card for personal purchases to get the waiver.

Not sure why some are saying its a good thing for PMs either... since this change is going to cause the PM ranks to expand more from DMs that don't make the spend.

RobertS975

Naive! My wife and I have been DM every year since its inception and never have spent $15K.

Uncle Lars

Yup! Even trapped in a place like SLC, have averaged only $11-12K a year with 130-140K MQMs, as I do a lot of cheap international flying...

Zeeb

It doesn't really impact PMs or lower. In fact it is a slight benefit for PMs since anybody who was using the waiver to make DM will now be a DM and depending on fare class you could now be ahead of them on the upgrade list.

kop84

You are right on the $$$

On average, the people most ticked about some little perk going away, are also the easiest to "buy" back in a downturn.

1973 Ford Pinto

Even assuming the total number of medallions stays the same, it's much better for current PMs to have fewer diamonds and more PMs. And if that PM earned it via real MQDs, he's probably not buying many X fares.

Which again, is great for current PMs. Every one of those "dime store DMs" that starts playing the field is good for them.

RobertS975

Bad news also for Delta and Amex. Good news for JetBlue, Southwest and Alaska. Last time I change planes in ATL heading for FL.

dmann33

Seriously? I am fortunate to spend the $250K+ on my DL Amex cards, but I cannot fathom flying private. I am indeed interested in the airline's elite status. There are not many of us here that will meet the $250k spend while only reaching $1500 in MQDs, so I can fully rebut your "pointless" remarks. I'm not an uber 1%er either, just an average business owner who buys supplies and pays property taxes with Amex. Heck, I can barely afford to fly coach!

Frankly, I don't have a reason to earn MQD except for the annual Coach TATL + GUC. I've got tons of miles and I really don't fly as much as most diamonds, so I am not filling the clubs and taking that many, if any, upgrades away from others (I only fly a few tourist routes per year).

What irks me, is that

1) I may not be able to sustain the $250k Amex spend indefinitely, and I was banking on the fact that I could rollover diamond for a couple years when I stop earning boost MQMs.

2) I have redeemed/planned my GUC redemptions based on the fact that I would rollover 2019 DM as of Jan/Feb 2018, now I guess my 2019 GUCs won't be available until I can get to $250K spend and that will be too late for my 2018 TATL. Basically, I claimed my 2018 GUC in early 2017 to get the nearly 2 years worth of "gift Gold" status to spouse. (2017 to end of 2018).

I would speculate that DL has calculated that they get enough kickbacks on $250K spend to justify the DM status - so yes we earn it. Question is... for the miles flown DM haters out there, how many of you are actually paying for your $15,000 MQD with your own money vs the corporate employer you work for? Kudos if you are, you deserve it, but for the others? I'm not so sure they really earned anything, yet they call us credit card MQMers freeloaders. In the end it is just a game we all play. Rest assured, DL gets paid one way or the other.

javabytes

The more I think about it, the more I agree with those who posit that DL doesn't intend for anyone to hit the $250k threshold. The number of people who can put $250k/yr through a card is limited pool to begin with. The number of people who can put $250k/yr through a card AND happen to fly 125k MQMs on Delta AND don't hit MQDs has got to be infinitesimal. Why they don't just drop the waiver altogether, we'll never know... whether it's due to the agreement with Amex or some other reason.

Statman

I hate to break it to you all, but if you all are the exact passenger type that DL is trying to weed out.

Your fares barely cover the fuel used to transport you and if you are obtaining DM benefits on top of that, then you are costing DL money.

CrazyEddie

Is there still debate about whether the increase is no longer a rumor?