I def agree with this. I do think it’s a huge undertaking to “modify” something they already spent a year designing.

But every day that goes by, more status matches happen, more JetBlue personalized calls, more people planning new strategies and tickets.

Once you take your oxygen mask off and realize you can still breathe, it’s real hard to convince someone to put it back on.

You already know that you are in a small boat taking on water. It is only a matter of determining whether you will sink immediately or after more water pours into the boat. The logical course of action would be to get out of the boat and swim to shore or seek out a rescue vessel. Waiting until DL sinks you would not be very wise. Control what you can and don't worry about what ways DL is thinking up next to make Skymiles worse.

Exactly. Each day also reaffirms that there might actually be no changes. Until I see anything official (which we actually do not have other than a comment from a Rotary Club meeting), then I'm acting as though the changes are in fact confirmed and planning as such.

There is no reason to announce any walkbacks beyond those relating to card lounge access before UA announces requirements for next year.

Barring a lot of card cancellations, there's not really a reason to announce card lounge access walkbacks before January.

If UA and others are smart and really want to stick it to DL, they'll announce no changes to their programs and also offer incentives for formerly loyal DL pax to come on over.

Perhaps, but if UA/AA then go make changes a year later, they risk the pattern repeating of turning off those newly acquired customers.

Not really as DL surely has more devaluations on the back burner ready to be rolled out next year. Maybe they can just delete the miles aspect all together and just give a $100 off voucher for every $10,000 spent on DL. One voucher allowed per booking. So many options for them to continue on the path they are on until there is no value left.

If they do that, it's an even field again for everyone.

Perhaps. But DL is still clueless as to how uncompetitive their card product is.

Today I received this great offer from DL - apply for a DL Skymiles AMEX Card with the the following benefits - 15% off award travel when you use DL miles to book travel, fly with a plus one once a year with a Main Cabin Companion Certificate, first checked bag free, and 85K miles if I spend $3000 on the card within six months - all for $250 a year.

United's similar card product gives you 80K miles, two bags free, priority boarding, 3x miles on UA purchases and 2X miles on other travel purchases, all for $250. However, for $525 a year, I could get the UA Club Card, giving me United Club membership, 80K bonus miles with $5000 within the first 3 months, two bags free, priority boarding, 4x miles on UA purchases and 2X miles on other travel purchases.

I get it that DL's card is platinum, but I'd rather have a plain plastic card, 2 bags free, priority boarding, and for $275 more, UC membership.

It would be interesting to see a poll of which carriers FTers are actually accepting matches/challenges from. Looks like JetBlue is getting a good response. If they had more flight s out of LAS, I wouldn've gone that route. But unfortunately for me, they don't fit my flying patterns. This last move from DL was the motivation I needed. I've been testing the waters at AA this year and decided to take their offer. And will be getting one of their credit cards. Also going to downgrade my DL Platinum card. At worst, I use up that "1 time" status offer. So really nothing lost.

For me, the AA Executive card is a no-brainer. Unlimited Admiral's Club visits. I can easily use the $120 Avis credit and the $120 GrubHub credits to get the effective annual fee down to $355. Even ignoring the signup bonus, they ALSO give you a 10,000 LP bonus discount on Platinum status every year (bringing it down to 65,000 LPs) and another 10,000 LP bonus discount off of Platinum Pro (bringing it down to 105,000 LPs). And AA Platinum gives you international business class lounges and extra space seats at booking, which is a huge plus since AA seats can be kind of tight. I *also* did the JetBlue match just for the hell of it, though I'm not sure I'll fly JetBlue at all, but I already have their credit card when I used to be JetBlue loyal many years ago, so why not.

It's kind of fun, exploring these other programs.

I also think they could be delaying an announcement to see how things settle
after the initial blowback.

I am going to Alaska Airlines & American. They are a better fit with my travel patterns and much better Intl. code-share partners. I liked Delta, pre-COVID, and hoped their abysmal D-1 service would improve - but stateside, they seem no different than AA & AS. DL is (was?) best at IRROPS.

We’ll see how it goes but ditching Delta Reserve Card and never driving to LAX just to fly DL is a relief.

The DL Plat is a bit more competitive than you make it out to be. Y domestic companion certificate, 3x on DL and hotels, 2x on restaurants and supermarkets, first checked bag free, uncapped 1:20 MQD earn, 15% mileage discount, and Main Cabin 1 boarding (same as Silver). The UA Quest card offers a $125 UA credit, up to 10k miles rebated from award flights, 3x on UA, 2x on other travel/dining/"select" streaming services, 2 free checked bags, 1:24 PQP earn (capped to 6k, limited 1k applicability), and group 2 boarding (same as Silver). I believe Chase added a PWM-ish benefit as well, though I seem to remember it being a long the lines of being able to use the miles from a statement to cover arbitrary charges on that statement.

So it comes down to 3x hotels vs 2x travel and 2x supermarkets vs. 2x "select" streaming (can't easily find a list of which services are selected), 15% discount vs. 10k mile rebate, companion certificate vs. extra checked bag and $125 credit. Interestingly, $120k will get you an extra elite tier (up to Platinum) on both airlines. I'd be inclined to score 3x DL for hotels over 2x UA travel, 2x DL supermarkets over 2x UA streaming, and 15% discount over 10k rebate as wins for DL. If you're checking multiple bags more than a couple times a year, that plus $125 is quite possibly a win over the companion certificate, especially if you don't take domestic vacations. The nerfing of the MQD waiver and lounge buy-ins definitely makes it a bit closer.

The UA card is the one you'd think was Amex, relying on a statement credit and bonus earnings at select vendors, funnily enough.

Well, I suppose a single domestic companion certificate might be significant to some, but I’d rather have the 2 bags free, and for $275 more, unlimited club access. YMMV, of course.