MSPeconomist

hockeyinsider

It's certainly not luxury. My favorite is when Delta.com's marketing talks about luxury and chef-curated meals for flights in domestic first-class that don't even have meal service.

TheHorta

NoStressHere

I don't get this complaint at all.

The only people boarding before you are those with first class and those with C+. You still board before all the rest of coach and even before lower tier skymembers.

You will never have a problem with overhead space. You will always get the seats you selected.

the new plan is nuts, but still, it does not say "F*ck you to Plats".

What am I missing here?

defrosted

Agreed, and when I wrote "bypass" I figured someone might nitpick it, so I said essentially bypass.

I don't dispute that if someone pays (miles or cash) that now has nothing to do with the actual upgrade order anymore. I was just suggesting that the likelihood of skymiles members with FO or non medallion status may be the most likely folks to pay for upgrades (especially to C+) with miles because they may have no other realistic use for them. Therefore as GM I feel this reduces my chance for upgrades because I want to save my miles. PM or higher will be ahead of me anyway, paid or not, so non issue there.

So I wasn't trying to claim someone could actually bypass the order. My point was depending on how much they start charging (in miles) for upgrades I feel this could be a much larger disadvantage to GM's than this boarding order change.

Since many are claiming that this boarding order is a slight against PM and GM, I am saying is if GM's are to be upset at something the upgrade with miles is more concerning than the boarding order.

third_wave

If you are flying primarily international first class or business class, your mistake was concerning yourself with loyalty in the first place. You should have been focusing on price, product, and schedule from the start.

jdrtravel

In general I think you are right, but the one issue with this is that you loose what some might consider the most important benefit of elite status: priority customer service. I'm not aware of any airline that has found a way to offer elite phone line access, priority IRROPS handling, etc, to pax who are just on an F fare but don't have status.

NoStressHere

There is surely a value in being elite during IRROPS. As a former Plat for many years, I do miss that. Then again, my flight volume is way down.

ATOBTTR

Your "mistake" is thinking elite status is just about such tangible benefits - benefits one might be able to assign a $$$ figure based on airline valuation. However, elite status is about more than that too. For example, having Medallion status was what put me high enough on a standby to get 1 of 3 remaining seats on a flight I was rebooked to after arriving late into ATL due to weather in the Midwest - I might well have missed Christmas at home otherwise. Less than 2 years ago, when I was a DM for a year, the only reason I made my LAX-BNE connection to my VA flight due to severe weather delays out of SEA earlier in the day was because I got the Porsche transfer. Even as a PM, I can usually get through on a phone line rather quickly, even in IROPs and especially during IROPs, getting through more quickly means more options to choose from. You don't get that just be by being in F or J. If you don't have status and are trying to call, you're in the normal queue which is usually going to be a much longer wait to get through to a rep (if you're at the airport you can at least use the dedicated F/J/Elite counter). There's also the bending of the rules for elites that even those in F/J but not having status may not get.

Another huge factor for PMs and DMs at least in the award redeposit waiver, which one doesn't get just by booking an F/J ticket. Thanks to the waiver, I have made numerous changes to get better options after booking okay but not great options. If it weren't for the status, I wouldn't have the flexibility to play with such options and would have to decide between "booking something that's okay, but not ideal now or holding out for something better but risk getting nothing down the road". Thanks to the Medallion benefits I have, I don't have to decide. I can make changes to my heart's content.

manually

+1

The benefits of PMs and DMs are pretty good.

daloosh

Okay maybe unmitigated and gigantic are hyperbole, but as a Plat, it is a middle finger. However, it's not really a surprise. Ever since Diamonds were rolled out in 2010, you had an idea that this was the level Delta valued. In this um, new zoneless zoned boarding scheme, the only difference to me is that if I buy late, I will wind up no longer boarding in Sky.

But I certainly see that my loyalty is valued less, because my boarding is shunted down to after the new C+ boarding. At the same time, DM boarding hasn't changed. It's not monumental, but it's part of Medallion death by a thousand cuts, so this is a middle finger to PMs (and GMs). The unsurprising message is that we value monetizing C+ over your loyalty. We might wish it were otherwise, but it is what it is.

Now I always say here at FT that depending on your travel patterns, being Delta Silver can be a very good thing. Still, after 2010, GM was the new FO, just like in post-merger Marriott, Gold is the new Silver Elite. So PMs and GMs are still being shunted down the line, losing benefits or having them curtailed. This is just one more example. I'm starting to think I should ask for the one time exception for Diamond MQD waiver, instead of taking the rollover.

NoStressHere

I do not see it as a slap to Plats. Boarding those folks in C+ insures they have room in the overhead, especially for those people that have bulkhead with no under seat storage. And, on top of that, most of those in C+ are DM and Plats anyways. Plats are the next to board... so how they being hurt?

Weekend Away

Shut up and quit b****ing. I fly almost exclusively basic economy and there's no reason I should get Sky Priority boarding when I fly BE. Not sure this change will affect me much in that, but who cares when you get on. Stop trying to bring a damn checked bag as a carry on and the ONLY real issue goes away. You still get the same seat you paid for regardless.

sdix

Agree. There was a time there were first class phone numbers but that was way, way back when.

sdix

Agree 100%