cmd320

Honestly asking because I really don't know the answer, but are there a lot of people out there who will dump 400.000+ miles on an international J (D1) ticket? I sort of doubt this is a common occurrence, but D1 routinely seems priced at these levels or higher. There are of course times when it's priced lower also, but I just find it hard to believe they sell a lot of tickets at some of these insanely high award levels.

RealHJ

I don't think the intent is to sell at those levels. I mean sure, if a sucker shows up and wants to burn 20+ years worth of SkyMiles saved up for such a ticket, DL will gladly relieve them of their miles, but that's about it. I think the main intent is to sell actual J fares, as then comparatively to the miles price it may seem "cheap," so DL gets a customer who wasn't thinking of spending real $ and was searching award flights, who after seeing the insane miles price, looks at the $ price and coughs up the $ after all, thinking that "it's a good deal (compared to the SkyHigh miles price), and think of all the SkyMiles I will earn!"

Let's be honest, there's probably even quite a few FTers also who've fallen for this devious marketing ploy.

PointsPanda

I think the concept of "sucker" is in the beholder. If you're a road warrior earning hundreds of k of miles a year (or own a biz pumping similar amounts of point) with no future trip planned and you spend 400k skymiles on a flight that would have been $3k in cash then it could be the right move for you. f you're earning lets say 70k skymiles a month then who cares in a few months your balance will be where it was again and you have $3k of hard earned REAL currency you saved, vs perhaps saving $6k of some potential money you'll save in some future date when you'll have even more points to burn" Theres a saying in Portuguese "better one bird in your hand then 2 flying away"

I have about 40 clients I charge per year to manage their credit card and miles strategy (I charge per year), and I know this is not a substantial sample but I think there are a lot more people earning hundreds of thousands of airline miles and credit card points a year (or even millions) then you might suspect. They're just too busy to strategize and would rather just use the points stupidly and save money, then save up for the perfect flight. Especially since they usually need to fly on very specific dates. Thats why you don't see these people on FT, but trust me they are around.

There are also online business owners like my own that earn crazy amounts of points from business credit card spend, in particular on facebook and adwords ads earning 3-4x chase or amex points, it adds up fast. If you can get a redemption that saves you biz $3k in business class ticket and you're only getting 1c per point but its the flight you need, and your points will be quickly replenished, then this is a great way to save on expenses.

Before I sold my last business to my partner, the business was earning 50-100k points per month, not including an additional 300-400k per year on signups. It would be impossible for us to get 3-5c per point value on every single flight. A lot of people simply have points to burn. We had so many points we actually had to switch to some cashback cards, and that was with us flying around in business class every other week to our hearts desire for both biz and personal reasons.

The road warrior, the ultra rich millionaire, and the business owner with large CC expenses and points to burn are 3 "personality types" that would take the 400k redemption in many situations.

If nobody bought those outrageously priced award tickets in J you'd wonder why United, American and especially Delta has so many of them. Putting them there just to discourage redemption may be part of it, but I think a substantial number of people are using them, especially those that fly Delta a lot.

hockeystl

Same here. With this perk gone, and the garbage onboard service, it might be time to finally take AA up on the challenge offers they're constantly sending me.....oh how times have changed for me to actually be considering this!

sydneyracquelle

Most of my redemptions are international and for a family of 5 who makes many changes PM is still worth pursuing.

RealHJ

Agreed on the first point, and I very well know regarding the second and agree that you are right. In fact, until the ridiculous 72 hour rule, one of the best uses of SkyMiles has been for business (work) domestic flights, where one may get a not-that-great value, but can avoid the $150 change or redeposit fee in case of last minute changes (with PM or higher status), that is much more frequently of real use and value with business than with pleasure travel. All you need is one PM or DM within a company under whose account the spend-based miles are earned. Probably too many business customers were doing so, which is why DL instituted the 72 hour rule on cancellations.

A business spending a few $M/year smartly via CCs will obviously earn accordingly millions of miles or points, as is the responsible and smart thing to do. However, while a portion may be on airline or program specific points - for example, specific bonus category (such as Chase UR 5x categories), the majority should be on simple 3% cashback, that is by far the smartest and most responsible thing to do, in order to get the best value and flexibility for the business, vs. be locked into a specific card issuer points program that is subject to change and has limited use of points and otherwise lesser value, or even worse a specific airline or hotel points that are subject to frequent devaluation and offer very limited uses. I would think that anyone managing others' credit cards would steer the higher spenders towards 3% cash-back type of points, that, at such larger spend and levels, generally provide the best value and flexibility (save, perhaps, some program specific higher category bonuses for a portion of the spend that qualifies).

PointsPanda

Agree 100% RealHJ

fwfdan

I am not at all a DL knowledgeable person... I am about to book my husband on a US domestic flight in April using my Skymiles and just wanted to make sure I did not miss anything with the cancel / change policy. So as long as I am at least 72 hours before departure I am good to cancel / change at no fee, correct? It seems very clear and straight forward but I want to make sure I did not miss anything.

thanks,

holocker

I didn't think right now Delta has the 72 hours in advance rule to cancel award flights?

flyerCO

Not currently, but that could change. The rule still exists, the waivers just currently override it.

fwfdan

So that explains why I saw some info that looked like 72 hours and some that said before departure.

So I guess my take that it is safe to go ahead and grab the seats and if plans don't come together I can just cancel without any fee / penalty.

KDCAflyer

Do Pay With Miles tickets still get converted into a voucher if canceled, or do they get redeposited as well?

sydneyracquelle

Voucher.

slickvik

I have an award flight saturday to ATL to HNL. Can I cancel for free?

shoodawg

You certainly can.