ty97

I have been thinking for some time now that, if the drop in travel due to the crisis drags on, that the US airlines may very well just apply 2020 status to 2021 in order to retain their frequent fliers when travel ramps back up. It would not be in the airline's favor to risk dedicated elites becoming 'free agents' to start 2021, especially when the airlines are busy digging out of an economic hole. (And I'm thinking this for all US airlines, not just Delta).

I do agree with others, it's way early for Delta (or AA or UA) to have to make such a decision. If, somehow, luckily, we are all back to flying normally in 2-3 months, maybe they take a different approach.

FBplatinum

Normal...

Italian Lira did not value very much when they change for the Euro... Very hard to lost old habit

ryandc99

I've updated the thread title to reflect a general discussion of if DL will extend status due to COVID-19 (not Qantas Specific).

Ryandc99, Moderator Delta Air Lines

BER Flyer

I would guess that no airline of the big 3 would like to start such an "extension" - they will all wait if any of the others are making a move first. Why should they extent status without getting something ( $ in this case ) in exchange? If everybody would become a free agent ( more realisticly maybe 25% ) then which airline would profit the most of that? Take a guess...hint: it won't be AA or UA.

SFO_FT

Look to the carrier with the smallest market share (AS) to start the status war. Among the big 3, a status war doesn't actually cost them much -- some AA pax switch to UA and DL, some DL pax migrate to AA and UA, etc. So, it really doesn't cost them very much or have much of a net effect on any of the Big 3, if they all do the same. This occured in Australia, where Virgin had launched a complicated status extension program (a few extra status points each month), then QF came in and did a blanket 12m extension for everybody, which Virgin then matched, and subsequently NZ did the same.

FlyingBeanCounter

I put a lot of thought to this (since I am home bound and have LOTS OF TIME) and I simply disagree. No matter how they do this they will screw those of us who flew even when there were greater risks. Fewer diamonds means more upgrades for me. I would say I earned it by earning diamond in the middle of this mess. Fewer diamonds also means easier GUC clearance. Something else I feel we who qualify for diamond have earned. The list goes on - less crowded lounges, lower wait times. The works. There is nothing fair to me as someone who earned it if they were to allow those that did not to maintain the same status level. I see no other way to do this than let it roll and people fall where they may at the end of the year. DL is still flying right now - and so am I. This is a very unpopular;ar viewpoint here - the responses of the DYKWIA crowd are caustic. This is the truth nonetheless. DL has to find a way to make those of us who earned our status the hard way more special or risk irritating us.

I do not see another way to reward those customers who were truly loyal during this mess. I know many of the airlines and hotels read these boards. I really hope they are getting the message that a blanket approach that satiates some is not enough to keep us all happy. The airlines and hotels have to reward those of us who actually slogged through the travel in spite of this mess. Or we could leave just like you. While we are fewer, we are clearly more consistent customers. It is not wise to take high spending consistent customers and irritate them.

FBplatinum

DL have stop many Trans Pacific flights in February, most of INTL in March...
DL have begin to cancel a huge quantity of domestic flights.
Thousand of DL employers is near to be "cut", stock value of all airline is crashing (some are near bankruptcy)

And you "talk" like everything is normal... Because YOUR travel pattern is ok,,,
Have you think 2 minutes, this is a little bit center on you ? (give you better access to upgrade, to lounge, to use certificate).
I will agree with you if 90% of FF is NOT affected... But I did not think this is the case.

Duke787

Not sure AS is the one to start this. Their lack of international presence is an issue.

I think it's more likely that whoever moves first between AA/UA/DL will set the tone for the rest -- or will give an opportunity to the others. If AA comes out with a really weak offering, that gives an opening to UA and DL to come with something strong to not only keep their own but pull away others from a (very) weakened AAL. That effectively makes this a prisoner's dilemma where they all need to come out with something attractive (or collude and don't offer anything). My bet is someone moves first and the rest match or exceed (which in turn forces the original airline to match).

Personally my two trips that happened before all this combined with my rollover put me at 40k (while taking 50k off the board), so hitting the waiver at least gives me Gold next year if nothing else but I'm confident that DL will take care of us if/when travel comes back.

It's clear Ed gets it when you read his letters and I would imagine one of his first priorities when this start to stabilize / normalize is to bring elites back into the fold and get them comfortable with flying again.

TheMadBrewer

"Loyalty" is not the best word here. It implies you have a choice. Even if I wanted to fly Delta, I can't -- they aren't flying to where I want to go, and even if I could fly KLM/AF when I get there, they won't let me in the country. Those who travel for business have a similar situation - their companies have stopped all (or nearly all) travel. It is not a question of being disloyal.

That being said, if DL doesn't off a continuation of status, I will certainly give the other carriers a hard look, especially if they offer an incentive. I won't fall to dirt -- so long as my "annual complimentary GM" is honored (and I have no reason to think it won't) but I certainly will drop the DL Amex as I won't need the MQM or MQD wavier.

I think this is going to change us is many ways -- telemeeting software is way ahead of where it was just a few years ago. It won't (can't) replace all travel but I can see it replacing a big chunk. And just look at how many cable shows are being broadcast from the anchors home office, with guests at their home. Don't need so many big, expensive studios.

Keyser

you may not agree with it & that's your view but if they were to reduce choice benefits for those who don't complete the regular requirement then for you it would automatically mean easier guc clearance, less crowded lounges, lower wait times, the works....if one can earn it the regular way then they get all the benefits that come with it....if one earns it with reduced requirements then they get reduced benefits....this is as fair as it can get in this environment....

please remember that if dl was to stop flying tomorrow then so would you....

i am based in india & neither dl nor any of its partners are flying here or will fly here in the foreseeable future....so if you were in a situation where dl was no longer flying in your area then you would have no other option but to leave like me....you cannot be a consistent customer if the airline is not flying in your location....

i disagree....i would say i'm just as important (or consistent) a customer as you are....so are many others on this board....i make 5-6 international trips in first class between india - u.s. annually....that alone re-qualifies me for diamond every year....all my other domestic dl travel (almost 90% in first class) is just a bonus....dl would definitely not want to irritate customers like me....

if the world returns to any semblance of normalcy before the end of the year then i would re-qualify for diamond very easily....if it doesn't & dl decides not to extend status then it doesn't really effect me that much....i'll still make my 5-6 international trips in first class on dl & still book the greater majority of my domestic dl tickets in first class so i'm not looking to compete with others for upgrades....it would not change my travel patterns for next year....but it may change travel patterns for other diamonds who never got the chance to re-qualify....their numbers would be far greater than customers like you....

lets face it....if dl & all the other airlines extend or reduce status requirements for the year then they may be irritating customers like you but where will you go????all airlines are in this together & if one takes this decision then others will follow as well....dl's need to please the greater majority of customers will outweigh the chance that they may irritate customers like you....

GrayAnderson

On the one hand, I suspect that a "straight" one-year extension is not in DL's best interests. If nothing else, managing rollover MQMs would be a pain (e.g. what do you deduct for 2020 if someone already had status?).

Of more interest to them, as suggested elsewhere, would be either a reduction in status requirements (say, an across-the-board 20-25% cut on MQMs and MQDs) or perhaps a 2-3 month extension (moving the requal date from 12/31/20 to 02/28/21 or 03/31/21) and simply letting some overlap happen. A permanent rotation (as an artifact of this) might not be a bad idea insofar as it would move status runs into the Jan-Feb "doldrums". A third option would be to "comp" folks some MQMs (say, 10% of your required status MQMs for each month a massive disruption goes on) and reduce the MQD requirement as well. And a fourth would be to run some aggressive MQM/MQD promos once things start blowing over.

Most of the options would effectively be calling a limited mulligan on 2020, while the last one tries to get business back. And I could see several approaches happening.

Edit: To be clear, I think the length of the disruption matters as well. 6-8 weeks requires a different approach from something that carries on into midsummer. If things are a complete hash into June (or, heaven help us, July) the chance of a comped year as the solution rises. One thing I think DL will very much want to avoid is a situation where they have multiple policies depending on where you live.

Contradancer

Here's another way to look at this: Do you think Delta will still exist when this is all over? It is difficult to imagine the number one or two carrier in the country going under. On the other hand how can any company that is going through the amount of cash that Delta is with close to zero revenue survive for more than a month or two? Same question for every other airline.

Maybe the we the taxpayers will bail out Delta and the other airlines. Imagine the increase to our debt if and when we do that.

AviationFreak

Unless there's a truly massive drop in travel for several months, I'd assume that the goal of any promo would be to get people to fly more (than they usually would). I wonder if we can list out several mechanisms to make this happen:
- Status qualification goes to a rolling 12-month period, rather than calendar year
- Status qualification extended several months on a one-time basis (and then overlaps with 2021 qual year?)
- MQM/MQD promotions: either every flight or every other roundtrip gets you 50% more or double
- a tiered promotion (BE gets 1.25, Main gets 1.5, C+ 1.75, D1/F 2x the MQM/MQD)
- a UA-style 'Mile Play' promotion where the goals are tailored to each member's travel profile

FlyingBeanCounter

actually DL is only not flying to Italy. the rest of the network is open.

The flights are more restricted (no SLC intl and what not) but they are still flying - even to the EU.

AviationFreak

The rest of the network is not at all open - today's FlightAware shows one each of AMS-DTW/ATL, DUB-ATL, and LHR-JFK/ATL. That's it for TATL. Mainline cancelations at 40% of flights (not capacity).