This - I’m NYC based and fly ex-JFK/LGA regularly (don’t like the hike across Hudson to EWR). Been loyal to DL since 2007….cheated with AA/JetBlue for while…let’s just say that wasn’t a good relationship.

DL just has a far superior network/presence in LGA/JFK compared to AA in my experience.

One major bummer about a shift to an all revenue system (if that's where the system heads) is it will all but mean the end of "Mileage Running". Sure, there may be some ways to game the system via partner flights depending on the earning rates and possibly finding some sweet deals but it will likely mean no domestic options. On the plus side, if I don't have to worry about MQMs any longer, I'll be less inclined to route via JFK to go west and via MSP to go East. :p

I don't doubt that there's a good chance the waiver goes away (it'd basically have to do under a revenue-only system) but if these overseas DMs are mainly using SkyTeam partners, what is the negative impact on you from their DM status since they aren't flying DL most of the time with their status but rather other partners where their DM status means a lot less?

The MQD waiver for international members sounds good but is actually a pretty useless benefit. Most, if not all, international diamond members would easily be reaching the MQD threshold if they hit 125K MQMs in a year.

I don't cross 25 flights a year but 5 business class trips to the US every year gets me across 125K MQMs for the year. At an average of between $4-5K per ticket, the MQD waiver becomes useless.

Like I said before, pretty much all international members qualifying for medallion status are doing so via MQM, not MQS. Those who are hitting the MQM requirements are also hitting the MQD requirements, even though the waiver is there.

Reclaim My Status is now unavailable....

Notice: Our Reclaim My Status benefit is temporarily unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience and are working to bring it back soon.

EDIT: Status Match Challenge also unavailable

Notice: The SkyMiles Medallion Status Match Challenge is temporarily unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience and are working to bring it back soon.

Interesting taken down 6 days in advance. Reading the tea leaves, significant changes are coming.

New SkyClub menu is rolling out on Monday, September 11th. Going to be a big week for DL.

Grab the popcorn y'all :D

The popcorn will be for the aftermath in here whenever something or nothing happens!

Looking forward to hearing from all the people who will never fly Delta again.

flying Delta will continue. chasing Medallian Status is a whole other matter.

You are generalizing every flyer as the same. Not everyone is is permitted to fly business; people flying economy on regular basis can easily cross MQM threshold without touching corresponding MQD threshold.

Yeah. It made sense for me to try to stick as a PM as long as possible because I put a decent amount of value in the auto-upgrade to C+ seats at time of purchase. But if that’s not feasible, I’ll end up throwing a lot of my credit card spend to something that gets me Flying Blue or Virgin miles.

I’m a middle class leisure flyer; some of the numbers being thrown around for spend for maintaining PM status are more than my household’s annual income.

Don't feel badly. I can only put $300k+ on a credit card by owning my own small business with lots of expenses. As a corporate employee the most I ever could put on a card was $5,000 per month.

I cant speak for anyone else but my approach will be what it is every year: Determine what airline/combination of airlines and status/no-status is most advantageous to my personal budget and habits. Business are businesses and are going to make business decisions. No reason to get angry, etc. I will just assess the data based on what DL (and UA and AA for that matter) say about next year and make my decisions based on that.

I always prefer SW as my DL backup. Never AA or UA.

Yep. Especially when certain longhaul economy trips were dirt cheap.