Duke787

+1. This is reminiscent of the early days of BE where the BE cash fare would occasionally be lower than the Y and C+ fare.

Very bad news for SkyMiles -- especially for PM/DM since it effectively kills C+ upgrades (and the rare F upgrade on an award)

Renes Points

So the Diamond line says you have the same redeposit rules as all other SkyMiles awards.

But Delta on twitter i.e. @Delta says no the same rules as cash E Basic fares so no redeposit after 24 hours.

I have an email in to Delta CORP COM and will update when I get word!

UPDATE: From Delta Corp: Basic Economy Awards, like all tickets, are refundable during the Risk-Free Cancellation period. Beyond that timeframe, Basic Economy fares are not eligible for changes or cancelations (including redeposit fee waivers for Platinum and Diamond Medallions).

vincentharris

yay??????

ATOBTTR

Great catch! Haha! "Pay more miles to be treated worse!"

I'd like to say this a good thing, but we shall see whether it remains a "good thing" or if it becomes a way to get more miles in redemptions off the books by folks who won't do Basic Economy. Basic Economy isn't for me but some folks find it right for them as they see it as a way to save money and not pay for things they don't necessarily value that I do value (like seat selection). Now this will also (maybe) allow them to save some miles (though as MSPeconomist points out, it may not even save them miles).

jk88usa

ijgordon

Well, not exactly, it's now a 1% cash back program! Elite benefits are still there though. Other than that, it's how I think about JetBlue or Amtrak (though I don't actually know the % back math for either of those). I fly them when I need to and/or it's the best option, and when I accumulate enough points, I'll redeem for the free ticket. It's certainly not engendering any loyalty.

xliioper

The redeposit benefit is technically listed as a "fee waiver", not a "free redeposit" benefit. I would fully expect it to be the later case (no redeposit after 24 hours). Just as the SDC/Standby fee waiver hasn't stopped them from making BE fares ineligible for SDC/Standby.

3Cforme

They've been working the penny-a-mile angles for a while now, with Pay With Miles as the most prominent example.

I've checked DL/AA/UA/AS annual reports for statements regarding FF plans. I haven't seen an estimate of what any carrier is paid for miles in several years. IIRC, it was about $0.005 a mile maybe five years ago. Carriers sell more miles than they issue themselves. Unless that has changed there's a lot more pain to come.

jdrtravel

This is terrible.

KDCAflyer

This is the final straw, I'm through as a DL elite if this is the case. DL can get bent. I'll just suck it up and start taking nonstops ex-DCA on AA. At least that airline is honest and open about how they screw over their customers, and with the new concourse, the biggest issue with AA at DCA (35X) will be gone.

noahsilv

Is this worth it? I mean if you have status doesnt it negate most of the negative benefits of basic

xliioper

Nevermind, I see they are only on some routes. Thought they might have been pulled.

Duke787

Sadly I doubt AA and UA will be far behind.

And at least DL continues to actively invest in and promote a customer-friendly product onboard. The A220, 777 staying at 9, IFE, etc., all help outweigh the downside of SkyMiles. It seems like the other two have stronger mileage programs but enjoy getting stuck on 3-4-3 777s or on the AA 737max.

For me personally as long as they deliver a superior on-board product, I'll stick with them because I'd rather have my hours and hours spent on board being a pleasant experience and not torture just to extract a bit more value from my miles.

I've got my CC flexible currencies to take advantage arbitrage opportunities elsewhere.

Plus DL BE is at least tolerable -- I'd rather keep the 5-7k mileage redemption on RDU - NYC in BE vs it being a 12.5k redemption in Y just for 1 hour.

KDCAflyer

If they want to throw it on all the Florida and HI routes, fine whatever. But if I start seeing it on flights ex-DCA, and the onward connections from ATL I usually take, I'll be done.

runningformqm