SSF556

RealHJ

In China and Asia in general, *A is weak, for example. ST is strong.

You are discounting the highest population and population density areas of the globe in saying that *A is strong.

That being said, yes, on the whole, *A is bigger. Just look at the member airlines qty. It's just not evenly spread. But in terms of size and airlines qty, *A is bigger and on many routes it offers the most options. But on others it offers by far the least..

OneWorld is pretty much always the weakest overall, and rarely is it the strongest in any region (in the UK perhaps?).

Repooc17

If redemption of 930K per pax is good value to you, then that's what counts.

Personally, I think it's ridiculous Delta charges 930K for anything short of flights into the space.

For reference, you can redeem (through Alaska) Emirates first class from east coast US to South Africa for 200K one-way per pax. Business class awards can be had for well under 100K each way. Yes, I understand these are different programs, but they illustrate you can get value out of your redemption. Personally, I earn and burn my miles/points, who knows when they would be devalued? Too late.

DesertNomad

I think the Iranian Rial has it beat now at 120,000 to 1 USD at the end of July.

My quarter-million SkyRials are worth less every day.

Renes Points

Does not matter. That fact that you missed almost 1 MILLION Delta SkyMiles for ANYTHING is, IMO, the point of this thread!

...well other than dumping them for wine with bubbles in the SkyPub as Mr. Ham Sandwich says we should all flush them on...

flyerCO

I didn't miss that. Have you read the thread? No one, including me thought that was ok amount. I even included a sarcastic comment in agreement.

Kacee

Right, because I'd take MU or CZ over SQ, BR, or NH every day of the week. And don't forget KL over LX or OS!

I've been shocked by how bad ST's international options are. It's the worst alliance by far. With CX's rapid decline, *A has pulled far ahead of OW, and is in a completely different league from ST.

PurdueFlyer

When it comes to comparing alliances (a particular route / equipment / service / availability / redemption rates), one man's trash is another man's treasure.

CPMaverick

Oh, you can't make this stuff up! Thanks for the laugh.

10/10 entertaining thread would read again.

CPMaverick

In China, I agree. But Asia? It's a wash. SQ is a high quality airline that is quite strong in Asia, and SIN a good transit airport. Add in ANA, Air China, Thai, and Asiana and overall Asia coverage is strong. And if you are USA based, UA has lots of metal flying to China, including cities that DL doesnt' serve directly.

Syzygies

1,860,000 SkyMiles for two, rather than $20,844, is 1.1 cents/mile. What Are Points & Miles Worth? estimates 1.2 cents/mile, same as my own calculations on average.

United awards are refundable for elites up to departure. Delta awards are not.

United offers amazing award deals, last minute or sometimes in advance, on long haul beds. Delta does not.

I'm a United 1K expat, now Delta DM. There were some justifications for this move; my four upgrade certs from Delta clear for me; my ten from United only cleared for friends. The Delta lounges aren't bus stations. With the Delta Reserve Amex card one can maintain status more easily with a lull in flying. But the United hard product for transcon beds is slightly more comfortable, and I really miss United awards. I flew Swiss Air business both ways between SFO and Zurich this summer to get comfortably to Morocco, for a song in United miles, and it was great. After two half years of flying ahead, I may return to United for these reasons.

There's nothing of note to the example given in this thread. I'd bet people could easily find more expensive trips in the system, which will naturally translate to more miles.

cre95

I would say it is a great deal for Delta!

To put in perspective, a general member would need to spend about $400k with Delta in order to earn the points to then redeem this flight for two. Now, of course, you might say that if somebody were to spend $400k, they probably wouldn't be a general member. If we were to assume that they are a Diamond, then, all they would have needed to spend is close to $200k in order to earn the points necessary to redeem this trip.

Another data point to consider is that since earnings are capped at 75k per trip, that means they would have needed to take 25 trips of about $7k each.

My simple view is that Delta is, in essence, saying take 10-12 trips with us and we'll give you one for free :-)

ethernal

That is accurate for standard domestic routes. J has always had higher cents/mile values that domestic Y - anywhere from 2-4 cents/mile at a minimum, sometimes more. 1.1 cents/mile is an abnormality in the industry (although Delta is making it more and more a standard for themselves).

This is actually the cap for redemption - it is the most expensive award fare bucket that Delta has.

xliioper

Now this is getting totally out of hand --

ethernal

Disregard my previous comment.. I stand corrected 😂