ChandlerWalker

Good morning -

Looking into future strategy and wanted to get the advice of some DM members. Wife and I hit DM this year, and because of rollover, etc will have it likely for another couple of years. This would be the first time we have DM. I wanted to hear some thoughts on the real value of PM or DM in our situation...

We travel a fair amount throughout the year with usually 4-5 long haul international trips. No business travel. We always will purchase biz class -- D/I/Z or whatever is available. In normal years, this amount to platinum on MQM and meets the Diamond MQDs.

We live around a DL hub so we usually fly DL/KLM.AF to Asia or Europe due to the solid routings, however, have flown other carriers if the routing or timing is better.

We also tend to have a lot of CC points which carry far more value on other carriers.

So for someone in this position, is there really any value to "chase" Diamond Medallion? We wouldn't really even benefit from the upgrade priority, and we generally get lounge access via our tickets anyways. I see the GUC as the real benefit here, but I could spend CC points etc for free flights on other carriers too.

Thanks for any insight here!

catlike

I agree with your assessment. In a situation where you are buying J international flights there is little benefit to status, you are better served to be a free agent and pick flights based solely on your preferences and timings.

No reason to chase DL status, if it happens as a function your natural flying then so be it and you can extract some value out of it (GUCs etc.)

ATOBTTR

I've only hit DM one year but even when traveling in F/J, here were the benefits I valued most:

- Higher Priority for IROPs handling, and often proactive handling. My wife and I received the coveted Porsche transfer at LAX, which was the only reason we made our connection to Australia.

- GUCs, as you note. You could at least save the cash from the difference between Economy and Biz and use the GUCs to upgrade.

- Extra choice benefits over PM

- Diamond desk for phone calls. Not sure how much that's helping these days or when it will improve, but at least when I was a DM, during times of bad IROPs across the system (winter weather affecting numerous cities), it was nice to get through to an agent in a matter of minutes, still.


Are any of these enough to push for DM over PM? Part of that may depend on how close you are to DM versus just remaining at PM for either MQDs or MQMs. But ultimately only you can answer that for yourself and what you would utilize out of the published benefits.

Ryno1234

Having been DM since it's inception, the above is spot on. The only caveat I would add is the response time on the DM line: it has been historically quick, but until they re hire all of the personnel, the call times are insanely long, even for DMs. I was quoted 3+ hours last night. It will get back to normal i am sure, but currently its a nightmare.

FlyAO2

Pre Covid when I went from DM to PM, I didn't notice any noticeable delay in the wait time nor did I notice much worse service from the phone agents.

HaleiwaFlyer

I would just purchase foreign airline routes with the best soft and hard product, and it’s not domestic US airlines. Just a lot better products than the big 3 US ones if you purchase business class out right.

Your purchasing power has hopefully stopped the status chasing game.

Ryno1234

I am 100% talking about the last 4-6 months.

kyushuman

If you can buy international Biz tickets, you should be buying SQ/CX etc to Asia, and this could help you get *A status as well.
I'd prefer to have Delta Platinum, with its award ticket free changes, and then get BA Silver, which is middle level with few flights (for example, JAL on US-Japan-SIN (along with 4 BA short haul flights).
That's my take!

bloc0102

Main cabin award tickets no longer have a redeposit fee.

WillBarrett_68

this is the biggest thing, and it's not even close. I am a mostly domestic DM and if I had to pick between this and any other benefit, I would take this without hesitation. Upgrades are nice but ultimately this is what matters. Flying international J this is less of a big deal since J passengers already get pretty decent IROPs handling and people who fly mostly international generally have a smaller number of trips so a delay here and there is less of a big deal.

flyerCO

Only if starting in North America.

DiverDave

DMs get 11 miles per dollar of spend vs. PMs get 9 miles per dollar.

Sjondorn

I'm on AF but in similar situation. Moreless for me the extra $ value is in the bonus miles.

MSPeconomist

It's not spend but rather these are multipliers that convert MQDs to RDMs. Government imposed fees and taxes don't earn miles.

TheHorta

You get personal emails from President Ed.