Both AA and UA's credit cards provide qualification points, in different ways. AA is of course directly tied to spending. On the other hand, UA gives boosts for every $12,000 of spending, subject to caps based on which card one holds. Hard to see DL not adopting some version of this to encourage more spending on their cobranded Amex cards... and it's not that far off from the MQM boosts they already give.

DL is far from perfect but has better hard product, soft product, lounges and customer service than the two other legacy carriers. Outside of living near an exclusive hub like ATL or SLC, that's pretty much why most of us are here. DL knows it. Just like generally higher fares and the move to a revenue-based elite system, DL knows we will stay and take it up the you-know-what because DL knows that we know the grass is not greener elsewhere. I'm in the LA area and have the luxury of all three carriers claiming LAX as a hub so can be loyal to anyone. I tried AA for three years and trust me, the general experience is better here.

The purpose of the loyalty program should be to 1) retain customers and 2) incentivize people to spend money they would not have spent otherwise. While I think DL's program has been fairly successful at accomplishing the first item, aside from the credit card spend, the loyalty program does a poor job at the second objective and often disincentivizes incremental spending by comping seats and fees. The loyalty program should increase the bottom line. While I would expect the changes to the program to result in a program similar in style to UA's and AA's programs, I think there will be some key differences to separate the skymiles program from competitors to improve the incentives for spending additional money and well...because DL would not like to have the image of being a copycat of UA or AA.

For hub captives, people that buy premiums seats normally and people that buy last minute fares...the program will continue to be worthless. While I know these customers are very vocal about how much they drive the bottom line, the presence of a loyalty program has zero impact on the revenue these customers generate and so it is only decreasing the bottom line. DL is seemingly shrewder than competitors in the way they think about customers, and for that reason I would expect the program to be tailored towards driving incremental revenue and loyalty for people located in competitive markets. How do they incentivize people in LA, SEA, BOS, NYC to fly DL rather than competitors, take an additional trip they would not have taken, buy seat upgrades they would not have purchased, pay for services/products/fees they would not normally pay, and sign up for the credit card? It will be an overly complicated and convoluted program and there will be some people who are better off, some worse and some the same, but overall, I would expect the changes to target the customers in competitive markets as a way to increase DL's bottom line since that is where the greatest opportunity is.

Late to the party...but very excited about what I'm hearing (more revenue based). I had already started moving much of my upcoming flying to UA, but if DL gets rid of all the stupid "MQM/MQS only" qualification, I'll gladly stay with DL. They'll actually make more money off of me on fewer flights and I don't have to waste as much time flying unneeded MQS (which costs them more money).

As someone with PM (and probably will lose it in January because I didn't fly much this year), I'm already buying premium/first class tickets anyways, so as long as that experience is good, and I can obtain SkyClub access by purchase or some other mechanism (Platinum card for me), then I'll be happy. I don't care much about having status as I previously did outside of earning extra miles.

Some people will say this ruins the AMEX platinum card for them, but if you weren't using most of the perks on that card, I'm not sure if it was useful in the first place.

If you're already buying a lot of premium tickets as is, depending on the fares you're paying, you may end up finding that a new revenue based system (if that's what it ends up being) is actually more advantageous to your elite qualification than the current system.

Be a free agent! Buy what you want without having to worry about the status level...paying more and more money each year just to attain the possibility of some perks. I would argue airines are running one-way "loyalty" programs, but marketing programs are probably more appropriate than the term "loyalty".

I believe they meant don't allow international customers to qualify for Diamond without meeting MQD, but could still get FO, GM, PM.

Good luck during IROPS.

I have flown over 300 flights the last 2+ years, and have dealt with low single digit disruptions. Have never had any unplanned overnight

The beauty of being a free agent is you are not tied to any one airline. DL flight delay? I will just fly on another airline.

With no status it is impossible to get through on the phones during IROPS. Even with a FC ticket.

Why wait to get help? DIY. Cancel the delay/cancelled flight ticket (for future use or refund), and get a new ticket with miles on another airline. This is not difficult. As a free agent, you normally have miles/points with multiple airlines and credit cards.

Same-day flights on other airlines can be extremely expensive (unless you double book in advance). Especially when traveling with a family. This happened to us on a Spirit flight. I got 5 seats at $49 in advance. Flight got canceled last minute and had to buy 5 walk-up one ways on DL for $350 each.

I would just simply never book a flight that will later get canceled, all problems solved, it's SO EASY

Just myself traveling usually. I also usually take first flight of the day, so there is generally less of a risk to IRROPs. In the event there are IRROPs, I'd chalk as necessary costs, but usually can find last minute award flights significantly less than corresponding cash outlay.

For me, I like the free agent route, as I am not at the mercy of one airline and their pricing. In the rarest occasion I would need to spend a bit money on last minute tickets, I still come out with overall money savings, and getting to my destination without much delays, if any.