bdschobel

I agree with rylan. No matter how high you are on Delta's "HVC" hierarchy, someone else is always higher (except for Delta's version of Tom Stuker, United's 20-million-mile man). If you want Delta to drop all the people below you to Platinum, then you better hope that the guy right above you isn't urging the same thing, because you could share in the experience. I really don't believe that Delta's planes are so crowded that thinning the herd will make any difference. The real problem is programs like FCM, which remove first-class seats from upgrade inventory before any of us has a real chance at getting them. That's not going to change.

Bruce

TheHorta

bdschobel

Well, the biggest advantage of being Diamond versus Platinum is where you appear on the upgrade list. If almost nobody is getting complimentary Medallion upgrades, then it doesn't matter.

Bruce

TheHorta

bergamini

"No amount of facts"? You do realize what a fact is and what hearsay is, right? Hearsay can very well be true but IIR at one point the only screen shot was a foreign one which was suspicious.

I called the DM line and asked, since I like facts and not hearsay. It was confirmed that for certain DM customers this would be granted. I asked if I would be granted it and she confirmed yes but that it looks like I wouldn't need it after she saw my upcoming travel but said she could process it. She claimed it was essentially a soft landing because they want to "reward customers like you (me) who spend their travel dollars on Delta" but didn't want a huge upheaval the first year by disenfranchising those who don't spend as much. I totally disagree because if I wasn't on FT, I would have never known and a lot of domestic road warriors are in that bucket. With that said, I found out I need to be in HKG twice in December and may skip a few leisure trips (DL PS and VS PE) that were gonna put me way over for MQD. I still think I'm going to because I'm at $12.5K MQD and will have MSN>HKG, HKG>MSN and MSN>HKG in Dec all booked at relatively last minute but since I'm way over 100K already, I could conceivably benefit if I elect to request it and those fares don't pan out. I'm just not sure if I could stomach doing so since I strongly believe in following the rules.

As to all the other discussions, TheHorta -- DM's do deserve some free but not all upgrades. It's part of our contract and expectations. We get up to 12 certificates just to make those happen. For all the people concerned about changes to the program and all that, DL is a business and they will do what they want. I do FCM not because WFBF but because the SDC is too lucrative an option at many FCM prices. When I got frustrated with NW and LUV came to MKE, I switched to them 10 years or so ago since it was only a 75 minute drive from my home (MSN is literally 10). DL got me back with a Plat challenge in 2014 after I had to take them on some ANC trips. I would legitimately like to see them through my MM qualification in 2019 but beyond that, they can do what they want with their travel program and then I can do what I want with my travel dollars. And I'll rely on my friends at FT to figure out what's best and how to hit higher requirements if they apply. I became a NW Platinum at the age of 26 and kept i from 2000-2004. I can assure you that being DL DM the past 2 years has been way better except for TATL/TPAC award pricing in premium cabins and I can live with that. The benefits are comparatively fantastic.

With that said, I do strongly believe that change fees should be part of MQD. It's pure revenue. I spend $1-2K per year in change fees because of other people's choices and I'm quite sure those are the most profitable dollars I spend with DL. But now I've become the person who is asking them to tailor their program for me so I'll stop

pvn

Whether we want it or not is irrelevant, either the bar is going to go up or benefits are going to go down. It's inevitable until a major downturn in passenger traffic.

iflyalexair

dinanm3atl

Not to be a negative nancy but your blog(and you flew it) used extremely low fares on AeroMexico to capture Diamon in the first month of the year, correct? If so this is considered 'the hard way'?

Renes Points

Harder than simply sending an email and being told: "sure, no problem'o"!

...and it took till April for me to be Diamond for 2019.

gooselee

I thought Rene pumped up Amex spend early in the year to get to $250k. Or maybe I'm just remembering the early $25k spend from past years.

I have roughly 20k MQD this year as well but it is all from 006-ticketed and DL-marketed flights (and mostly domestic as well), so... :thumps chest:

mikeef

I've always thought that the appropriate threshold for the highest status should be exactly 1 MQM and 1 MQD below what I achieved for the year. It would, of course, change from year to year based on my flights and spending for the calendar year. I'll make my results public on FT just to give you guys a leg up on knowing what to hit.

Ah, great, one more blog that I have to read now.

Mike

captiveguru

Wait. There are waivers available? Wish I had known this earlier in the year. I would have easily made it to the 125K MQM goal line had I used my AX cards and traveled on Delta as I had during the past five years. When I heard about the $250K spend requirement I moved my spend to my Visa Sapphire card. I now have $5,000 in travel credits and free Priority Pass.

Delta and AX both lost business. I will be PM for the first time in 10 years, and will use those travel credits to purchase FC.

rylan

Maybe I'm confused or missing that part? I've never been a proponent of raising qualification thresholds or making cuts etc.

But I do take advantage of FCM where it is advantageous and worth it, and also I utilize DL's very good customer service service when needed.

iflyalexair

Yep. It's not a published benefit by any stretch, but I just asked received. I was no where near the 15k in MQDs. I will likely finish the year with about 220k in Amex spend. Nice to have another year of diamond, but on the day my waiver was granted, I'm now purchasing a better priced AA J seat on the 777. Delta/Alitalia are 2x the price.

TheHorta