Grogs

Easy is relative. My yearly cc spend is much less than $25k. I'd have to do some kind of manufactured spending to hit 25k, and even then I would be giving up things like 6% on groceries on other cards to do it.

pvn

If you're doing MS anyway you might as well leave your high-return spend on your other cards.

Grogs

Depends on how we're defining MS. My understanding is that the idea of say buying a bunch of gift cards and then getting a refund in cash is essentially dead. The main theme I saw in the MQD waiver thread was to overpay taxes by a whole lot and then get a refund. That doesn't sound particularly appealing. So I'm talking about paying for actual things with my DL Amex I normally would pay by another method. The more I spend on other cards, the harder it gets to find real things I would be paying for anyway to move over.

ND76

Sky Priority is hit or miss at the TSA entrance to the Delta gates at DCA; some days they have it set up, other days they don't.

If getting through security quickly is important to you, I can't recommend CLEAR highly enough. Last Wednesday at 5:15 a.m., in the aftermath of t-storms which closed DCA the night before, the lines to clear security were the longest I've ever seen there, stretching back to the point where the concourse connecting the Metro station and short-term parking garage intersects with the "National Mall" airside concourse. I only had to wait for 5 people to get through CLEAR, which then got me immediately past the TSA ID checker and to the xray machine and magnetometer. I would also shell out for Global Entry, which gets you pre-check for 5 years, in addition to expedited immigration clearance into the USA at international airports such as ATL, JFK and IAD.

thunderlounge

This should be the end game right here, if applicable. CLEAR + Pre-check. CLEAR gets you past the lines, then if you have pre-check you're good to go. $15 more for Global Entry (as pre-check on its own is $85) is the way to roll. Best of both worlds, really. As long as CLEAR is available at the airport.



Of course this is all fun and games until CLEAR membership catches on and those lines get long as well.

ATOBTTR

Which will offer another monetization opportunity - the CLEAR Priority Line where you pay an additional fee and get to use an Express line even through CLEAR.

thunderlounge

Now you've doomed us all!!!!

ethernal

While you meant for this to be ironic, this is no different than the current state. The entire security apparatus is useless, and CLEAR is just a way of monetizing that uselessness in collaboration with the DHS.

dilbertsdaddy

Pre-check is getting kind of crazy at times lately.

In SEA a couple of weeks ago, the line was insane. With Clear I zipped right past all of them grinning the whole way. I do have to say this is the first time I think Clear saved me more than a couple of minutes.

In PIT last week Pre-check was again crazy so I went through the FC line. Had to take laptops out but they let me keep my shoes on.

dmac7273

This post assumes there is a choice of airlines at ATL. For us ATL based folks, Delta operates 85% of flights. Flying with Alaska, United or American almost certainly means connecting and a much longer trip time. Southwest is about another 10% of flights, but the scheduling and service have nothing on Delta.

Realistically speaking, frequent or semi-frequent flyers in ATL essentially must fly Delta. The other airlines are there only for those who solely care about cost or for the once a year flyer going to see grandma somewhere.

Weekend Away

I personally refuse to do Pre-Check, Clear, or Global Entry, even though I have several credit cards that would pay the fee for each. I have huge privacy concerns for all three. SkyPriority offers a lot of the same, but it's more global. I opted to go for Skyteam Elite Plus last year through FlyingBlue and I've loved it so far this year.

Priority check-in counters, or lounges if the airport has them, has saved me a lot of time this year when checking luggage for flights. This is especially true if you're flying Skyteam internationally at an outpost, such as MU at JFK, SYD, BKK, when they only offer a few counters for economy passengers and they only open a few hours prior to take off and everyone shows up at once. (I'm a big fan of showing up many hours early and going to the lounge.)

Pre-Check, Global Entry, and Clear aren't useful internationally. At PVG the VIP line for security was empty while the economy line was crazy long. Lounge access on international Skyteam flights is nice. I've seen that Priority Pass lounges are often the same as Skyteam airline lounges abroad, but with more restrictive access times.

While the OP is flying domestic, and likely economy, Skypriority is still useful. Also, it sounds like OP and I are similar: I'd rather fly a lot of economy flights, even in Basic Economy, and take more trips, than fly a few paid First Class or Comfort+ trips to get the same benefits.

pgh234

The OP stated that WN is a viable nonstop option for them so I assumed as much.

And in ATL you DO have a choice in who you fly and you provided the reasons that you choose to fly DL.

ATL is full of people looking like me connecting from other airports to other airports. I don't even factor connecting into my purchases.

JayTeaBee

OP: I <3 Sky Prioirty too!

NoleATL

Is this from miles on the Delta portion or is there another benefit to the package deals and Delta?

jagnole82

Thanks for all the helpful replies. Most of my flights are domestic and paid by the company. While WN is an option i usually choose Delta as price is usually comparable to my destinations but DL has many more options on flight times. Being a fairly new frequent traveler I have started learning to leverage credit card benefits and what benefits could be gained with status. I could never get to platinum unless I started taking more personal flights and I agree with those who mentioned that the money spent would probably not be worth SP benefits. The short SP security line was just one of the benefits that I feel have added value recently and as long as my company keeps making me travel I think I will choose DL when possible to achieve that gold status.