jtatlanta

So I think I am finally going to stop flying Delta after 20 years and move to BA/American. Also going to dump Delta Reserve card and replace with regular Amex Diamond or BA card. I figure it will take me a year to get to BA top tier but once I achieve it will be treated a lot better. I normally spend 30k plus a year on DL flights mainly to EU from Atl. Family another 20k. Am I crazy looking at the reasons below.

1, DL fights now much more expensive than BA or other airlines on my chosen trans Atlantic routes.
2, DL dropped many EU non stop flights or made them seasonal. If no non stop I may as well hop via LHR and save a ton.
3, DL lounges not great and in EU I can't get in partner ones unless on delta one ticket. May as well just use Amex Plat for access whatever airline I am flying.
4, Mileage redemptions now non existent or totally exorbitant on international routes. BA avios seem much better.
5, Diamond coupons virtually worthless for international upgrades with recent change. Companion ticket can't be used on one way either.
6, Locally from ATL very hard to get an upgrade with Diamond on my normal internal route so I buy Delta One anyway.

FlyingBeanCounter

number one is the only one that matters.

JBa

Congrats and good luck with your move to a different airline

ATOBTTR

I'd posit #6 is the one that really matters. If able to fly in paid J on the regular, there's less of a reason to be loyal to a given airline. When flying almost entirely on paid J, one has more flexibility to choose on price, schedule, and hard/soft product.

UnevenGray

Doesn't SkyTeam Elite+ grant you access to lounges in the EU?

VFR

When flying on DL metal, they only let you access lounges operated by SkyTeam airlines. There are third party lounges in places like PRG that DL allows D1 passengers into but not STE+.

findark

The only things I would stop to consider are:

• How this impacts domestic travel (would you just buy DL for the nonstops when needed anyway?). And still schedule... looks like ATL-LHR is 1x daily on BA?
• Are you actually correct about DL flights "now much more expensive"? A lot of people draw conclusions like this from comically small sample sizes, so I am always skeptical of such claims.
• Did you consider Star Alliance also? In my opinion, connecting to Schengen in LHR is a nightmare (often transfer security - I forget if this is also the case for BA terminals since I don't fly OW much) and you're still going through immigration at the EU destination. Also, BA J is nothing to write home about; I would prefer LH.

xliioper

OP is likely referring to third-party operated lounges in EU which are only accessible with D1 ticket if flying DL metal (although if connecting through AMS/CDG on KL/AF metal they should still be accessible). But OP also claims to only buy D1 fares, so one would think lounge access would not be a problem.

Lux Flyer

But if you're able to buy D1 (J) outright, what is the point in being loyal to a specific airline if you're not finding any of the other benefits from your loyalty useful? IME the only benefit you're getting at that point anyways is priority phone line support, otherwise paid J is treated the same as top tier elites.

Mr. Tickets

Thanks for letting us know!

josephstern

I'm at the point where I essentially consider Delta to be my domestic airline. I did fly them internationally in 2019, but not since, and not just due to Covid.

Domestically, I think they're great. Internationally, the operation is fine but the prices are far from the competition.

angetenar

Do take a look through the BA subforum; plenty of people do not seem all that happy with them either.

cmanc

I am DL Diamond and BA Lifetime gold so have experienced both programs so can offer my opinion FWIW. I'd say 3 or 4 years ago Skymiles was a better offering but has been weakened over the past few years and I'd pretty much put them both at the same 'level' with some specific strengths/weaknesses. I am based out of SEA so my experience maybe different than someone based out of ATL. A few thoughts below based on the 6 items you list out:

Lounges some BA Lounges are definitely better than Skyclubs (thinking LHR Galleries First and Concorde Room or JFK) but if your flying VS than the Clubhouse is as nice. I haven't used BA lounge in ATL so can't compare to Skyclub in F terminal. In Seattle BA lounge in S terminal is pretty small vs. Skyclub in A concourse, food and drink is comparable in each lounge so not much in it at my 'home US' airport.

For mileage redemptions DL Dynamic pricing means award seats can get crazy expensive and saver awards seem like they are getting harder to find. 240k miles for DL One seems to be the new norm whenever I try to find space and often these are for the multiple stops/long way round routes while the more direct routes are priced much higher. To be fair I have had decent luck for my usual routes into UK (MAN), through JFK/ATL with VS there does seem to be decent availability and more often than not can find at 210k/240k miles.

The BA/Avios redemptions only have peak/off peak mileage rates but the YQ/Surcharges in premium cabins makes the tickets really unattractive, these charges are now coming in around $2k/ticket + the 120k/150k Avios for J RT SEA-MAN. Availability has gotten better since they guaranteed at least 2J and 2F award seats would be available on every flight but still needs lots of planning ahead if your dates are not flexible. I was just looking at flights for March/April 2023 in J and very few dates open 9 months out. The chase 241 vouchers are OK but you do have to pay the taxes on the companion ticket ($2k) although Chase now provides a $200 statement credit as I recall to reduce the pain.

For DL the GUC changes were not great but for an upcoming trip in Oct I purchased Premium Select then used the GUC and it worked out about the same as using Avios and paying the surcharges - so kind of a wash in terms of out of pocket cash and with DL I'll be earning Skymiles vs. BA I'm using Avois.

For domestic US flying I do sometimes fly AA and OW Emerald gets some recognition and benefits like AA lounge access but I don't recall things like complimentary upgrades are passed onto OW Emeralds so if you end up doing any domestic with AA vs. domestic with Delta you wont get chance of upgrades. On Intl. for a while with BA I used to have a fairly decent upgrade rate from paid J to complimentary F I'd say about 30-50% of the time I'd get F, depended on the route and time of year. I haven't done that much flying with BA post pandemic so cant really say if this is still likely to happen. Of course with Delta there is no Intl. F to upgrade and the few times I've flown Intl. in Main/Comfort+ I've never had a complimentary UG to PS/DL One.

For sure worth trying BA/AA especially if your finding that their schedule, routes and prices are better for your needs than DL, just realize that the grass isn't that greener on the BA/Avios side :-)

Dawgfan6291

So are we supposed to talk you out of it or..........?

If you think the grass is greener with BA and American (lol) then best of luck. Hopefully it works out for you.

Centurion

Come on over to American with overcrowded lounges.