yaychemistry

I spent a few years as an FO. The perks aren't many, but I found them incredibly useful.

For me, being able to select Exit Row is the best perk since I'm tall enough that regular economy is very uncomfortable. I book fairly early, so the Exit Row is almost always available at purchase.

Zone 1 has some benefit as well because I could usually find bin space and wouldn't have to check a bag. Zone 1 is more valuable than a free checked bag IMHO, since you usually have to check your bag at the gate anyway if you're in Zone 3/4, but then its free.

For my flying habits, those two perks are worth going out of my way for FO, but YMMV. As chunky649 suggests, it's totally dependent on how much you'll fly next year. If you only think you'll have a few DL flights, it's probably just cheaper and simpler to buy C+ on those flights and forget about status. If you're going to put in a full 25k MQM and earn Silver again (or higher), then it could be worth a mileage run or dumping a bunch of spending on the DL Amex.... maybe.

Upgrades to F are incredibly rare for me, and then I only got them on lousy short hops (OAK-SLC, MKE-DTW) around the holidays. C+ upgrades were slightly more common, but honestly not much of an upgrade beyond Exit Row.

vincentharris

As someone who spent many years at FO I can tell you that it indeed is worth it. I have had to fly WN or UA or somebody else here and there and it is a noticeable difference when you have nothing.

goofygoofygooberyeah

It's also not correct what you say about the sign-up bonuses being worse. Only the public ones are worse at the moment. I see my referral is valid until January 2018 that has the higher sign-up bonuses, so I assume that's the same for all referrals out there. I don't know if it's kosher to post private referral links on the forum though, so I won't do so. Feel free to check your private messages though!

Zorak

The question isn't "is Silver better than nothing at all" -- clearly yes.

The question is, "is Silver worth spending $X to reach, for someone who does not travel enough to reach Silver via normal travel". That answer obviously depends on what the value of $X is, and the actual dollar value you attach to the benefits (which is fuzzy and varies by person) and, relevantly for this discussion, how much would it cost to buy things like preferred seats or C+ or priority boarding and would that number be less than $X, again, taking into consideration someone who does not travel frequently enough to reach Silver on their own.

For low values of $X and/or possibly someone who travels a lot of short segments but not enough to reach 25K MQMs or 30 MQS then maybe yes but otherwise probably no.

MSPeconomist

I think the OP might approach the decision by looking at the cost (MR or (ugh!) buying MQMs from DL) of requalifying for FO now versus how early the MQMs and MQDs (or waiver) for FO could be attained in 2018.

There's also the question of whether OP is contemplating a pure MR just for the MQMs versus taking a fun little weekend trip (someplace nice and warm?) that would be enjoyable.

As I always say in these cases, if you're spending $X to get status, try to get as many MQMs as reasonably possible (to go toward rollover) for your $X.

aacar

Not necessarily...my friend got upgraded (to F) yesterday DTW-ATL as an FO.

robert4travels

As someone who is FO for 3 years in a row now, is trying to get to Silver worth it? Only if you plan to fly on Delta next year, and especially if it is international in Y. In foreign airports, priority check in and priority boarding is a big time saver, preferred seating is also nice to have, and a free upgrade into comfort plus is also nice domestically. Saving time is especially important when flying with my family.

You might have the very occasional upgrade into first/delta one, especially flying out to leisure destinations on weekends where the road warriors fly home or stay home. Got (complimentary) upgrades to and from Jamaica on my vacation trip and for my non-status son. Even got an op-up once on a TATL flight Friday night.

And also you get Skyteam Elite with Skyteam airlines like Air France and KLM, which means you get priority check in and priority boarding there as well.

Is it worth spending a lot of money to get to Silver? I would say no, but if you're close, and plan to fly next year, spending a little bit to get over the hump is worth it I think.

sethb

I first made Silver of PMNW, living in Mpls. I had a higher upgrade percentage then than I do now, as DL DM (living in Mpls or NYC).

kitkat77

Also remember that if you have the Delta-branded Amex, you can use the Amex Pay with Miles for the entire cost of the ticket (not the same as award tickets or miles+cash), and still earn full MQMs.

So, you may be able to earn your MQMs with no cash outlay.

5600 MQMs is a lot to get, though. You'd pretty much have to do MCO-SEA, or do something in paid F and get the bonus MQMs.