ubernostrum

What I gained from FT was not learning how to get status in odd ways, but how the various programs really worked, what to do when there were problems, etc.

What bugs me about this thread -- as a former AA EXP/DL PM now in year 2 of solid WFBF -- is the expectation that Delta should provide a workaround. They seem to have looked at the books and decided that someone who doesn't hit a certain spend threshold isn't, on average, worth providing the DM benefits to (since those benefits come at a cost to the airline). And I'm not seeing people really coming up with "workarounds" so much as I'm seeing a lot of people complaining that Delta hasn't left them a workaround to keep rolling over status year to year.

The airline loyalty game is cyclical. When the economy's OK and enough people are buying tickets, loyalty alone isn't worth much to the airlines and they let you know it.

syd999

Haha, I've seriously considered that before but the 2 year expiry was a deal killer !

EditingFX

No one's mentioned slipping the GA a $50 to get F, like a room upgrade at the hotel... that works, right?

BusTrav8yrs

I realize that you get a kick out of making the comments to get a rise out of others but I will respond to others who might read this and think you make sense.

When rollovers were introduced as a benefit I looked at it as an opportunity to bank miles to maintain status for years when I may be close but can't attain the 125K that year. It is for this reason I continued to earn MQM's over DM every year because I knew with the AMEX waiver I could use them.

DL has yanked that benefit away and I now have over 320K MQM's that are almost useless. I know it is my fault I had faith in DL that they would not do this to me but I am still irritated that my past loyalty is negated like this.

So that is why a workaround is an appealing idea.

kitkat77

So much in agreement with this!!

Some just like to make sure not just that they get things, but specifically take pleasure when others are denied them.

liuenci

How about actually buying more tickets and flying more. After all it is a "frequent flyer" program not a frequent credit card program. If you want one of those get a Yonkers card.

puddinhead

You can use the funds for regular flights but if you can't won't spend $15k then $50k isn't going to be in your plan either.

Bicoastal Local

Can you use that $50k to pay for family members' tickets? If you spend a lot flying kids, grandparents, etc. around, right now that counts towards their MQD, but not yours.

NecessaryIndulgences

When your employer is paying the bills, I would agree, as you have no incentive to do otherwise.

When you're spending your own money, it's not hard to hit 125K MQM without getting anywhere close to $15K spend:

I'll finish 2017 at 190K+ MQMs (includes 45K rollover MQMs from last year) and about $1K MQDs.

syd999

Using that logic, any credit card or dollar spend should not be part of the qualification criteria and we wouldn't need workarounds.

jamesteroh

Or the same with giving out hotel status with the credit cads. Why really gets me is there is at least one poster that thinks this is great for diamonds who fly delta a lot and meets the MQD requirement yet posts on the Hilton forum about having gold status through their credit card, isn't that taking away hotel upgrades from people who actually stay in Hiltons?

syd999

That's a great point, that might be worth while to some folks here. I tried calling them but went to voicemail (yep, seriously. they have voicemail!!). Anyone know the answer to this question (whether you can use delta private jet credit to buy tickets for someone else)?

yohanson

I'm DM the hard way with Hilton and am wondering what is this hotel upgrades thing you are speaking of. Hell, I can't even park in my reserved parking spots at Hampton Inns because they are always occupied.

kitkat77

Let me fix that for you:

"'How about actually buying more <expensive> tickets and flying more. After all it is a 'frequent flyer' <'frequent flyer AND buyer'> program not a frequent credit card program. If you want one of those get a Yonkers card."

Frequent flyer assumes flying only. Flying only has not given status since 2013/2014 when they instituted MQDs. Feel free to be snarky, but at least be accurate.

On a side note, I have no idea what Yonkers even is (a store, I assume), so getting their credit card seems like a highly regional thing.

Grogs

Can you elaborate on how you managed to pull off nearly 120k MQM with less than $1k MQD? Is it just a terrible MQD multiplier on a low-tier partner? I wouldn't think you could get anywhere close to that on DL metal as it works out to less than $0.01 per mile.