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EXACTLY!!!!!! I've had 3 schedule changes for a November flight, and none of them close to what I had. Now, if Alaska could tell me if my status match was approved or not......

Also, I might ask for "NEW COKE" as my beverage on all my DL flights......

It would be nice to have a way to earn that didn't involve seriously foregoing benefits elsewhere. Like, I don't use the DL Amex for DL flights because the Amex TI is complete garbage (only applies if you booked the full round-trip with them (I'm not sure how quasi-open jaws would play, like out from ORF/back to RIC); also, can only claim 2x/yr).


Not to mention that in the case of AA, that 1 LP is around 10:1 (vs the higher-tier elites - the math gets goofy because Amex bonuses CC spend's LPs by 20-30% at some point) or even 5:1 (for the lower-tier elites or non-elites), but that applies to every single card. The fact that Blue/Gold card spend doesn't count for status is a glaring exclusion here. Of course, given how badly they hosed the Reserve card (and dinged the Platinum card), someone probably felt that not giving them that was a way to retain differentiation (since otherwise, if you can't use the 2-for-1, the Reserve potentially becomes an expensive paperweight).

I agree that Amex is probably not happy right now.

Notably, they had a CC SUB offer they were hawking that expired on Sept. 13...

This has been a pretty fun thread to read thru with all the conjecture… II’ll add mine here… I am guessing they are quickly spinning up lots of work-streams/probability models with a bunch a different ideas but haven’t landed on any, probably because they are getting extra perspective from consultants who weren’t part of the original decision….Can only imagine how many fire-drills they have going with the corporate office right now & the softening in airfares/demand for for the fall is probably only adding more fuel to those fires..

End of day, I think the 2 things we can take to the bank would be, whatever thins the Diamond ranks will still be a part of the new model and whatever creates more stickiness with Delta branded Amex cards… Those are probably the 2 non-negotiable’s from the C-suite…

Probably a coin flip in what caused the most consternation. The negative publicity of the announcement or the Amex churn/potential churn that bubbled right away from it.

People shorting or selling their airline positions due to high oil prices, demand reduction, and increased capacity. Q3 revenue projections were based on oil being priced significantly lower, so it is highly likely airlines will miss their projected income numbers because fuel accounts for 20%-30% of an airlines cost.

My faith in DL was pretty shaky before 9/14 as DL removed lounge access flying in Y. There is no loyalty. I'm just a number.

To be completely honest, this is probably the best thing that could have happened to me. Like a divorce from a abusive spouse, manipulating me into being loyal. It doesn't matter if they roll back the changes, and tell me that they love me and want to be with me. I'm done, free, and I can't wait to play the field. I'm leaving delta.com and now swiping right on google flights. I'm tired of connecting in CDG and AMS. Why would I book LAX-CDG-DXB, when I can do LAX-DOH-DXB for the same amount? I'll fly LH, IB, BA, AC, Polish, Royal Jordanian, Egyptair, Ethiopian..etc etc. Variety is the spice of life. I'm ready to enjoy it.

They can reserve status for those who hold no loyalty, those like my ultra high net worth clients that book same day LAX-NYC first class tickets weekly. But they know those same people are booking those same tickets on Jet Blue, AA, and UA when the timing is better or the price is slightly cheaper. Yet they feel like they will stick with DL if they get rid of the small business owners or leisure travels who take up shop at a delta skyclub once every quarter, after spending their hard earned dollar traveling on Delta when they could have flown another airline that was cheaper and maybe didn't require a connection. As an individual we don't matter much, but if there are thousands of people like me, then collectively Delta just dug themselves into a hole they might not be able to recover from.

DL already said they sold 74% of FC. If there is no lounge access for flying Y and a low probability of a domestic upgrade, what's the point of status? 10 visits for an AMEX Reserve. Yuck. Barring any major announcement, I'm going to cancel my Reserve.

Delta has treated its customers badly for a long time now. I�m using 60k AA miles to fly HND-USA in Japan Airlines biz tomorrow. To fly using DL miles would have been something like half a million miles. This started many years ago. They are a scam organization and I�m glad that these ridiculous changes finally seemed to be the straw that broke the camel�s back for many.

Don�t trust whatever they say now regarding roll backs. Their contempt for customers is palpable and they have made it clear that their end goal is to eliminate the skymiles program benefits.

So I'm trying to understand what Delta did differently than AA and UA that caused such an uproar and a new possibly revised response from Delta vs the middle finger AA and UA customers received from those airlines when there was a similar, albeit less broadly passionate blowback with their similar program changes.

So unless I'm missing something, the only significant differences I can tell between UA and DL now are the much higher spend requirement for Diamond vs 1K - but watch for the UA number to swoop upward in the next couple months - and the restrictions on lounge access for credit card holders, which I'm sure UA is gauging reaction to see if they can copy something similar.

Given these changes are on par with Delta's long term strategy of focusing on product not program, and their stated objective to remove a good portion of the elite rolls so they can prepare nicer benefits for those who pay up, I'm genuinely curious 1. why the disproportionate uproar here vs what happened at UA/AA, and 2. what do you want Delta to roll back?

UA still hasn't implemented a three-hour prior to departure entrance requirement. *G flying in Y can still access a UC. I hope this doesn't change.

It's been reported that UA's deal with Chase isn't as lucrative as AMEX and DL.

That's a good redemption!

While I do appreciate the CEO's "honesty", I have to admit I read it that he's speaking like a CFO, not a CEO. I expect a CEO to understand and empathize with loyal flyers, and be good at PR and damage control.

CFO-speak - "You're so valued, but you're not worth our bottom line" is not what loyal flyers want to hear. You can't tell everyone they're special, then suddenly tell them they're not.

Agree, and it’s been predictable at that too.

Given DL has long had in its corporate DNA to be the leader in devaluing frequent flyer programs for its flying customers, I will operate on the basis that DL will be DL and won’t give up pursuing the same customer-unfriendly objectives as set out by the September 2023 announced changes and DL will merely modify its timeline and course while seeking to get to the same destination.

DL’s still not committed to having a frequent flyer program as much as a frequent/big spender program — and DL is no less committed now than before in being an industry leader in this migration even with any “return” of pyrite to customers. Industry consolidation and the move toward rewarding frequent big spenders rather than very frequent flyers has given Delta what Delta wanted and deserved: a very large pool of FFP elites for exploitation. So when DL and DL elites cry tears over there being too many DL elites, forgive me for thinking of crocodiles. We all got the airline FFP we deserved from a DL that has long been of this customer-unfriendly disposition when it comes to the FFP, and we will get more of it from DL because a bunch of people jumping off the elite status hamster wheel is not enough to alter DL’s DNA in this environment.

It wouldn't have been so bad if their points were worth something.

I really wish the DOJ stopped the DL-NW merger. DL wouldn't be this powerful today.

Bingo.

NW was a viable carrier (and probably still could be).

Since the "merger" flight capacity reduced, fares up, less competition. DL's IFE is better, to be sure, but that's about it.

I always thought that having more elite members would be the goal for any airline. Why would Delta NOT having every single passenger on a flight beeing a medallion member? Even better everyone is Diamond....
The airlines are offering all kinds of perks and incentives for us to fly more with them and buy higher priced fare classes ans spend more on their co-branded credit cards. And then they complain that too many of their passengers doing it?