425,000 miles or $10295.00 ATL-LHR
Mar 15, 2019, 1:49 pm
#16
Join Date: Feb 2017
Programs: DL DM, UA Gold, Alaska MVP, Bonvoy (lol) Ambassador
Posts: 2,994
You and the OP really should take a moment with LBJ's remarks in post #7 . Carriers are practicing legal price discrimination to separate business travelers and their firm's money - as was the case thirty years before the JVs and consolidation you bemoan.
I completely understand price discrimination. I also understand competitive forces that - in a healthy market - incentivize carriers to undercut egregious price discrimination to capture market share. This is especially true with price discrimination that does not inherently incur a cost (for example, close-in bookings require spare inventory that may spoil which is a real cost). Saturday-night stay requirements are examples of "no cost" price discrimination that are easily undercut in competitive markets (and these are the first types of fares undercut by competition - whether legacy or LCC - when entering markets). Only in markets with small and tight oligopolies can tacit price collusion occur effectively. Price discrimination will still occur, but "no cost" discrimination techniques tend to either go away completely or reach equilibrium at a much lower point.
To be clear, tacit collusion is legal. But it is only sustainable in markets with tight oligopolies.
Mar 15, 2019, 1:54 pm
#17
Join Date: Jul 2009
Programs: DL PM, HH Diamond, Marriott Plat, AA, WP
Posts: 840
Yah, making money on biz travelers is nothing new, but the continued devaluation of skypesos is still annoying. The new normal is half a million miles per ticket roundtrip in D1, which is insane. What can we do?
Mar 15, 2019, 1:56 pm
#18
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Atlanta Metro
Programs: DL , AC, BA, Hhonors Diamond, IH Platinum, Bonvoy Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,351
Transatlantic J redemptions at a reasonable rate on DL are virtually impossible. But they do occasionally have unexpected drops in J cash fares. But as others have noted, not staying over a Saturday screws the pooch.
Also depends on destination. You can go to BRU this summer for around $2600 in J the last time I checked, for instance.
I've made Gold the past couple of years largely based on some paid J to Europe trips, but I'm having to adjust to forgetting about status, because I can't get those deals this year out of ATL. (And the reason I have to do so much paid J transatlantic is because I can't get any value out of award redemptions. Better to earn miles than spend them in such cases.)
Also depends on destination. You can go to BRU this summer for around $2600 in J the last time I checked, for instance.
I've made Gold the past couple of years largely based on some paid J to Europe trips, but I'm having to adjust to forgetting about status, because I can't get those deals this year out of ATL. (And the reason I have to do so much paid J transatlantic is because I can't get any value out of award redemptions. Better to earn miles than spend them in such cases.)
Mar 15, 2019, 4:03 pm
#19
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 110
Interestingly enough I was looking at JFK->LHR for a 2 day business trip last week and thought the sky mile redemption was super high!
i went back to my history to recall what I spent and in Feb of last year was able to redeem a JFK->LHR RT in D1 for 275k. (Same in and out 2 day weekday trip)
Without question has almost doubled!
i went back to my history to recall what I spent and in Feb of last year was able to redeem a JFK->LHR RT in D1 for 275k. (Same in and out 2 day weekday trip)
Without question has almost doubled!
Mar 15, 2019, 4:17 pm
#20
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 23,021
Interestingly enough I was looking at JFK->LHR for a 2 day business trip last week and thought the sky mile redemption was super high!
i went back to my history to recall what I spent and in Feb of last year was able to redeem a JFK->LHR RT in D1 for 275k. (Same in and out 2 day weekday trip)
Without question has almost doubled!
i went back to my history to recall what I spent and in Feb of last year was able to redeem a JFK->LHR RT in D1 for 275k. (Same in and out 2 day weekday trip)
Without question has almost doubled!
Last edited by xliioper; Mar 15, 2019 at 4:23 pm
Mar 15, 2019, 4:18 pm
#21
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Treasure Coast, FL
Programs: DL Diamond, Marriott LT Plat, HH Diamond, Avis Preferred Plus, National Executive
Posts: 4,578
Mar 15, 2019, 4:20 pm
#22
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Treasure Coast, FL
Programs: DL Diamond, Marriott LT Plat, HH Diamond, Avis Preferred Plus, National Executive
Posts: 4,578
You and the OP really should take a moment with LBJ's remarks in post #7 . Carriers are practicing legal price discrimination to separate business travelers and their firm's money - as was the case thirty years before the JVs and consolidation you bemoan.
Mar 15, 2019, 4:28 pm
#24
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Houston
Programs: UA 1K and Million Miler, *A Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Hertz Five Star,
Posts: 1,301
Mar 15, 2019, 6:47 pm
#26
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Atlanta GA
Programs: DL Diamond BA Life Gold AA Emerald HH DIamond MAR
Posts: 11
My initial post stimulated many and interesting comments. The cruxt of the issue is that DL are gouging price and miles no matter your status! Sad testament to your status
Mar 15, 2019, 7:46 pm
#27
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Denver • DEN-APA
Programs: AF Platinum, EK Gold, AA EXP, UA 1K, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 21,593
The only sad thing about this is that you don't think you have any options. If Delta thinks they can sell $10K tickets to suckers and/or Diamonds using OPM, why should they offer a deal?
Mar 15, 2019, 11:56 pm
#28
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: LAS HNL
Programs: DL DM, 5.7 MM, UA 3.1 MM, MARRIOTT PLATINUM, AVIS FIRST, Amex Black Card
Posts: 4,479
DL or any other carrier does not care about your "status". They never have and never will. It is all about $$$ and that it what should be about. I am at almost 10MM butt in miles (mainly on DL). These airlines care about what you do TODAY, not yesterday.
Last edited by kettle1; Mar 16, 2019 at 12:02 am
Mar 16, 2019, 1:00 am
#29
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 2,278
Your "status" with the airlines doesn't matter when it comes to pricing, it never has and it never will. Your status gets you additional benefits surrounding your travel, not discounts on a specific flights. For pricing, all they really do is split their fares into a business fare (M/F travel, no saturday stays, etc) or a tourist fare (Saturday stays, off-peak travel, etc). They increase the price on what they expect is business travel because businesses have little choice; they need to take the trip and will pay the fare regardless if all the other competitors come in at a similar amount. They don't have astronomical prices on tourists, because the tourist flyer has the option to not take the trip, so their fares need to be cheap enough for them to go in the first place. Charging business flyers more is how the airlines cover their costs and make their profit. Do people here think filling a cabin of $800 Y TATL fares would cover the operating costs of a flight, let alone all the other overhead?