ChemGuy

Well this sucks. I have been PM for a few years now, enough MQM and the Delta Plat AMEX waiver. I usually get enough MQM for DM but never spend enough $$ with Delta and the waiver isnt ever going to happen. Doing some estimating....i may stretch to get GM with these new 'upgrades'. Yeah...no thanks DL. I am glad they announced this now. I already made PM for 2024...but I'm outta here. I have to book some travel in October and I will now book on AA. I fly from an out station that has DL, AA and UA. I dont fly UA so AA here I come.

Anyone know who to call at AA for status match?

metalblaze

The DL website still says Medallion bonus on AF/KLM and other ST partners�.am I misreading this�?

LAXRuss

I suppose for many of us million milers this simplifies the process, particularly for those who also have the no longer available lifetime Sky Club memberships. I�ll just give up the quest for making Platinum year after year�just live with the Gold status, fly with Delta when it makes sense and pay for a United Economy Plus subscription and fly United in economy or first wherever they offer non stop flights. I can go back to looking for the best non-stop connections rather than flying transcontinental via intermediate hubs. Since there is no 50 percent MQM bonus toward higher million miler status for flying first or business, it takes the sting out of flying other carriers like American or United in premium cabins when they offer a better itinerary or price. Now I can just fly Lufthansa business non-stop to Frankfurt instead of though JFK, AMS or CDG.

nall

Perhaps.... perhaps not... depends on the number of them.

DrMilano

Keep on spending, as what's an other $100,000. This demographic is the self-employed/small business owners, which Ed "knows" can spend more with DL.

UA 1K status which requires 18,000 PQP and 54 segments deposited 2,250 PQP into my account for 2022 program earning CY--this bought United MillagePlus similar to Delta DM spend of $15,000 MQD. (I status matched to UA 1K in 2021 after I organically re-qualified for DL DM and Delta subsequently extended status for 2021 that outraged me). I'm not switching to UA as I can't stand connecting in either IAD or EWR, however, the Polaris lounges were nice. The pandemic year of 2021 was great to free agent all 3 legacy carriers, as Hyatt had a Globalist promo with AA for Platinum Pro, but CLT is awful connecting in and the CLT CL was a packed zoo. The DFW CL was also packed in 2021.

This is going to be a BIG wake up call, as it will be similar to the current 360's if they will be invited for the next year into the program as their CY spend resets each year.

Having the Delta cobranded card is the same as being in bed with devil (Delta). Hopefully this is lesson learned to stay away from co-branded credit cards and stick with a vanilla Chase or AmEx card for the respective UR and MR.

The days when J.W. Roberston was Vice President - Loyalty programs and DL CEO Richard "tricky Dicky" Anderson, as I found the e-mail from July 28, 2009 announcing "Rollover MQMs" - an industry-first that allows you to now roll over any Medallion Qualification Miles (MQMs) above a Medallion threshold. Now 14 years, 1 month latter, RIP Rollover MQM's.

mrdovenb

For all those saying “I’m done with Delta” or “I’m done with the Delta Amex” the proof will be in the pudding as they say. Either this will make Delta more money or it won’t. That’s the simple red-blooded capitalist reality. If it backfires, it will be reversed. If it doesn’t (which is what I expect) the devaluation will continue.

ekozie

what's left to devalue? delta ripping out half the seats and anyone without a cobrand card has to sit on the floor of the plane?

travelinmanS

There's no reason to chase status on any of these airlines anymore. Just buy the seat you want, get a credit card that has priority pass for lounges and save lots of money. If you get rid of your loyalty then there is no reason to fly Delta to Tokyo if UA or JL is cheaper. No reason to fly Delta to Honolulu if HA or AS are cheaper. There are really no benefits you that you get from these programs now that can't be bought trip by trip at a substantially cheaper cost. I think for lots of us the hard part is convincing ourselves we'll be ok without the shiny plastic card that denotes we are special to the airline we are flying. We need to come to terms that we aren't.

hikouki

What is the best option for SEA flyers?

I am trying to find the best airline to status match with for a SEA-based flyer. I do fly one or two transcons a year in PEY, and around two intercontinentals a year in PEY/ Business.

I am thinking of AS (and that will perhaps give me more chance to try perhaps try out JL. LOL Although I was a one world flyer with CX/AA for many years and dislike CX quite a bit).

jetsfan92588

There's thousands of them. They're all over. Sitting right there on the upgrade list at number 3 while I'm number 4. It doesn't even matter that there are 0 seats available. They're probably going to take the last of the Woodford. Ughhhh. I hate them.

dburns

If you click on the box for earnings after 1/1/2024, you will notice there is no longer a column for Medallion Mileage Bonus with check marks.... so all the text with the bonuses and rates is still present on the earn with partners page (because it still applies in 2023), but won't apply in 2024. It is a another sneaky change and not readily otherwise apparent.

RumPatrol

Like everyone, I'm struggling to make sense of these changes. My family has a 360, a DM, PM and GM in it and none of the four of us has found a way that these changes benefit us. I'll fully admit that I am likely the unprofitable class of passenger Delta is trying to get rid of. I've been off the road for a few years now. I went from 100+ segments, mostly international, a year to a dozen or so flights a year. However, I was loyal to DL and its partners because I could get club access either through status on international or through my Amex Platinum domestically.

Then DL got rid of most of its Asia routes, and I became a free agent when doing a few dozen TPAC and intra-Asia trips per year. Usually China Eastern (DL Partner) or Thai Airways. Once all that stopped and I was entirely domestic, I stuck with DL because it was an easy path to status and club access with my Amex Platinum. Now, what is the point? Sure, Delta is still the best at handling IROPS if you're medallion, but some of us won't be after this. Even then I'd have stuck it out if they hadn't also killed Platinum's SkyClub access. Six visits per year? I've done six visits in less than a week multiple times this very year. Maybe that makes me unprofitable, but surely that is still more profitable than me spending my million+ MR points on Amex, closing the accounts and shifting all of my spend to other airlines. The 360 member in my family is even more angry than I am.

These changes are so extreme and so outlandish that I can only assume they were done so that Delta could subsequently walk back half of them and claim they're listening to their customers.

lsquare

It will not be reversed. If the numbers aren't there, DL will just lower the threshold. Going forward, SkyMiles will be totally revenue-based.

LovePrunes

here's some status match info for all the airlines:
https://upgradedpoints.com/travel/airlines/airline-status-matches-challenges

matchbox20_is

I wonder if I earn DM for 2024, if I can gift myself GM for 2025 as a choice benefit.