Definitely excited about this - sitting on 500k miles, and generally don�t use them for international travel as I�m always cutting it super close MQD wise - might finally burn those off. Have a NZ trip already booked in miles next year, so this is a free boost for me. Assuming I stay. Still on the fence.

I read through a few pages of this thread, but didn't see anyone come to this conclusion.. tell me if anyone else agrees..

Basically DL didn't like the bad press and angry emails about the changes, so they decided to make it appear status is easier to get. For the next 2-3 years, for many, that might be the case. But due to FCM and Delta's desire to sell more premium fares, DL is still generating revenue from premium seats instead of providing upgrades. (They are a business after all) The status is more of a "making people feel like they're part of the club." By letting Medallion's still have "status" they can keep people hooked to DL versus looking elsewhere. It won't work for everyone, but I'm sure they've run the numbers and know what they intend to hold onto. It's a smart move on their part. In recap, DL makes people think they still value their loyalty and gives them status, but in reality the status is devalued. The MQD levels will still exclude a good chunk of travelers in 2-3 years. By then, everyone will have forgotten about this.

I'm all for the SkyClub changes because the club situation has become ridiculous. I'm honestly not sure if they've gone far enough. (I know this isn't a popular opinion)

MM is the most surprising. I'm about to hit 1MM and will do so in Q1 next year. GM and the SkyTeam Elite+ annual benefit is worthwhile. By making the MM changes I think that will be one of the biggest hooks to keep long-time frequent DL fliers.

Eh, I see it as having plenty of time to see how things shake out and a chance to build up a bunch more miles on other programs ahead of a 2026 free agency for me. Some people will forget; others will take the time to build a better long game.

There is NOTHING in that release that says "Lifetime" so things could change. Consider that before you spend the next few years chasing status

The biggest outcome to these rollbacks is that there will probably be a lot more FOs now.

Big whoop. Just a longer upgrade list with more people on the bottom who in reality have no chance of ever clearing, sans a unicorn flight.

Yes FO gets you free checked bags and priority boarding, but most of those who will now be getting FO status already had those same benefits, by having a Delta Amex.

One underrated perk of FO is the free premium and exit row seats. For two people, we're somewhere around $1,700 this year in fees we otherwise would've had to pay for C+ and Exit seats (which are sometimes $60+ per person even on short-haul flights).

I don't miss knee-knocker seats.

never forget that lifetime really means life of the program.

If you have qualified for Diamond for 2024 then I believe 125,000 will be deducted from your 500k YE MQM balance leaving you 375k rollover miles to convert.

DL's stock has been dead money for 9 years.
Still nearly 50% off peak pandemic levels despite "record X", and "premium Y" talk plus the addition of $10B annual AMEX card revenue of which 90% didn't exist in 2014.
Both the CEO and Board have been tone deaf to shareholders for a very long time.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease, tested and true!

There were no changes for this year, why would anyone who was invested in the Delta for the first nine months leave for the last three, that would be cutting off your nose to spite your face.

The reality is the program they initially announced did nothing to attract customers and made Delta uncompetitive with its competition, they were going to lose customers (and they still may).

I also believe Delta saw the writing on the wall of downgrades, cancellations, and renewals of Delta AMEX cards, there was no longer a reason to have multiple cards as some did, that's why they implemented the MQD boost on a per card basis.

They do consistently use "complimentary" status to describe it. During COVID they did as well and it came with no choice benefits. "Members can choose complimentary Medallion Status" ----text from Delta.

Has this been confirmed anywhere?

During covid only DM and PM that earned the status had access to Choice Benefits. The "extended" ones did not.

It seems clear that Amex was being flooded with threats to cancel, some of which happened.

Anything that would jeopardize Delta's planned revenue growth from Amex absolutely would cause a panic. If Amex calls Ed to ream him out over the cancellation rate, he's absolutely going to take that call.

Travel patterns and forward bookings take a while to reflect folks' plans, but you can dump a credit card PDQ when it is no longer of value.

Yes, but you could "earn" that status with your credit card spend threshold.

David