Goodoldflyer

The folks flying the airplanes aren't the same ones booking hotels.

Adelphos

1) When American Airlines introduced elite earnings by booking hotels (RocketMiles, BookAAHotels, etc), there was almost none of the doubt I see now - only "hey, I can book at this hotel and earn AA miles and elite credit!" I guess the difference is that AA miles are worth more, but the idea of booking through a portal for miles, elite credit, etc is not new.

2) There are plenty of non-Hilton/Marriott/Hyatt/IHG hotels to book where things like status, elite credits in a hotel program, etc are simply not relevant. If you re booking via Delta, American, etc, I recommend you book independent, non-hotel chains so you don't go into the property mentally expecting benefits

JojaFlyer

Delta did what I think is a trial run for this, this past March, when they offered MQDs for hotel stays and car rentals made through their website.

based on a perusal of comments posted here, in addition to my own experience, Delta posted MQDs in a timely manner for those who pre-paid for their reservations, but not so much for those who paid upon arrival.

I was in the latter group. I called four times, with a total call duration of 7 1/2 hours, over a period of three months, before my credits were posted. I won�t do that again until or unless I have confidence that Delta has fixed its systemic issues associated with such crediting.

If for some reason, I decided I needed the MQD bump from this avenue, I would pre-pay. And only if I had zero reason to think that my travel plans might change. Maybe a late in the year MQD hotel run or something, and where I am booking shortly before the stay.

As others have noted here, my experience when looking at hotel and car pricing through Delta�s portal is that car rental rates were much higher than what I saw elsewhere, including my employer�s portal. Hotel rates were fairly close. (hotel rates were less than $10 per night higher through Delta for my hotel stays)

YMMV though.

Orange County Commuter

I think I put it in the comments, but I may have just reached out to the Hotel and given it to them directly.


Their program actually said you get benefits, regardless of how your book. So they would be expected to give you the benefits.😂 I realize that that�s not what you want it to say

pofriri

Thank you all. Your points make a lot of sense. I don't have any loyalty to a particular hotel brand and my trips vary in terms of international/domestic. For example, I just set up a Marriott Bonvoy account last month, but I have had a Skymiles account since 2002.

I am going to Punta Cana and am not staying at a name-brand resort. The price on the resort's website was the same as through Delta's website/Expedia. I am hoping everything will be okay.

Firstboss

Even with Expedia-Bargain rooms one can earn gold status with Expedia after 15 nights in hotels / rental car dates. The status gives some minor perks and accumulates travel cashback.

I wonder if Hertz President's circle status and gold counter are recognized when booked via Delta.

moondog

Did you check other OTAs as well?

DLASflyer

True, but hotels and 3rd parties generally do a very good job managing inventory. I book 3rd party hotel rooms around 120 nights a year and only once not ended up with a room. These are not rental car companies where a reservation is not a reservation.

EAJuggalo

It would depend on if it's post paid or pre paid and what the agreement between Hertz and Delta says. If it's pre paid, and you paid Delta for the rental, no chance. If it's post paid and you can enter your Gold number, maybe. Capital One is having this issue now where they give 10x points for booking through their portal, offer Hertz PC status, but you can't use PC if you book through their portal. Booking through Priceline and Autoslash I've gotten my Gold benefits with Hertz.

sydneyracquelle

$27,500 is a lot of MQDs to fly to make DM. The good thing now is you can combine the flying MQD with Amex spend. Before it was one or the other 20,000 MQD or $250k spend. Now if you see that you will be a little short on flying MQD you can just prepay some tax to IRS in Dec/24 and get a refund instead of a mileage run.

syrwhizzy

Exactly. What the arrogant Delta execs haven�t figured out yet is the airline is only about 25-33% of the journey. Similar to how their customers who have earned Diamond or Platinum the hard way, those same core customers who have higher tier status earned the hard way at hotels aren�t going to give up their status, benefits, upgrades, perks, points just to make Delta happy.

Last time I checked I spend more time in a hotel and a rental car on a week long domestic trip than the airplane and clubs.

These people have lost their minds.

Orange County Commuter

Nope. They figured it out. They want some of the rest of that money.

They know that apparently there�s a subset of Americans, whose entire self image is tied to being a certain status on an airline and will probably jump through any hoop to get there. And some of you will still be here two years now jumping through the hoops

The only group that Delta is really concerned about keeping happy is the executives at American Express. Because, even though all of us are storming off to another airline six months from now, the net impact to Delta�s bottom line on actual tickets, but will be negligible.

Orange County Commuter

I have done this with Delta�s hotel booking at least twice I think, I�ve never had a problem.

It�s the same reason you did. It was a good deal and it�s not a hotel that I�m ever going to have status on even if they have a frequent sleeper program.😂
I�m a Marriott person and the Marriott options in Punta Cana do nothing for me I�m not spending my vacation there just to get points

DCAproducer

A lot of spend on the AMEX. Remember it's a 20:1 ratio, so 100k in spend is only 5,000 MQD

DCAproducer

What�s also a bit odd is that I don�t see corporate travelers booking through Delta. I could be wrong, but most are going to continue to book through corporate travel, Ie Concur, etc.