chipbennett

Many of us are expecting exactly that to happen.

MCO Flyer

Why didn�t you wait until the end of the year to make your selection regarding rollover MQMs? Seems like a lot of people have been in a rush to make a selection despite having 9 more months to do so. Everyone has until Dec 31st to do so and by that point, we will know what the status qualification levels will be for 2026 status (2025 flying/spending) and if there�s any other program changes that might impact one�s decision.

sydneyracquelle

Because I stupidly thought I would get my CBs now and I could plan a special trip for next year with my 4 GUCs. There was never any indication that CBs wouldn�t be coming until 2/1/25. Hindsight is always 20-20.

golfr

For RDMs alone, I'd agree that one would be getting the bare minimum or even worse on spending. However, in the past there were MQM bonuses that came with hitting certain amounts. Going forward, that's one less reason but I still think for certain individuals, there's plenty of value and reason to spend for status.

paterwdb

With the 100K extensions, I've got three years. DL Reserve went in a drawer, only keeping it for Sky Club access and discounted SM redemption. Went from about $120K spend/year to 0.

disalex

I mean you know with 100% certainty that Delta has people reading these forums. I have to wonder if the message gets to the right people and they are thinking "Oh darn we didn't think of that" or if they just don't care.

sydneyracquelle

You still need to put $75k on it for unlimited SC access plus $150k combined flying/Amex spend if you want the PM CB.

Dracarys

Don't forget the companion pass every year!

sydneyracquelle

You still get the companion pass every year even with $0 spend as long as you pay the annual fee.

Dracarys

A free FC ticket is worth the annual fee and it will essentially pay for itself.

Adelphos

It is true that the lack of rollover MQM is a big change, and a disincentive for credit card spend. But Delta was the only airline with any kind of rollover for years; AA and United seemed to have survived fine without a carrot that encouraged people to spend or fly beyond when they hit any individual threshold.

On the other hand, excess rollover, in the form of huge MQM balances, was a problem Delta claimed they wanted to fix. They gave people with huge rollover balances, and a lot of MM, huge perks via extended rollover and enhanced status. I was worried that this would basically permanently freeze out elites and flyers that didn't have these big MM status or big MQM balances. However, the more I read these forums, the more I wonder if some of these super customers will now simply be less engaged in the program, flying less and spending less on cards, and actually leave more room for upgrades and such for others. That seems to be the reaction on Flyertalk (though Flyertalk is definitely not a monolith). It seems like they want spending on the card to be focused on those that are still pushing for status (PM, DM), flying more regularly (and therefore need to use the club more than 15 times, etc). We will see if Delta can hand the spending burden over from one group of customers to another.

Adelphos

What exactly are you looking for from Delta...

1) Spend bonuses that help you get to Diamond? I see this is possible, but everyone says they want fewer Diamonds (including Delta), so why?
2) RDM bonuses? You still will probably earn a better percentage on other cards
3) Reintroduction of rollover? Rollover seems to have become an issue with huge rollover balances, and it doesn't work in an all revenue based system

Maybe you should try to see if you can hit lower level status on another airline. More airline status are better

sydneyracquelle

Many of the 2-4MM are corporate folks who flew a ton during their career but are nearing retirement so by definition will be flying less.

ATOBTTR

DL used to have an official account that would engage in this forum. Some of us even received PM's from that account regarding issues we posted about.

That said, FlyerTalk is a very vocal minority but a minority nonetheless and has a skewed cross-section relative to the rest of the traveling public, although DL did get enough negative feedback across the board to walk-back the initial changes to more tolerable levels. Some might even argue that was DL's plan all along - first play the villain and then roll-back to a level that makes them look like heroes rather than villains when had they gone of those levels and new rules off the bat and stuck with it, they'd still look like villains. However, DL is also banking on the fact that most of the traveling public aren't FTer-types who will re-evaluate their CC spending habits and flying patterns for maximum points return and status benefits and such. Instead hub captives and other folks in well-served/connected DL markets will continue to fly DL (although now are better positioned to benefit from the new program) and much of the DL AmEx card-holding crowd will continue to put their every day spend on a DL co-branded AmEx and earn enough miles to get "free" tickets to MCO every 5 years for the big vacation to Disney World.

Orange County Commuter

When I was traveling weekly it was easy to "spend" my way to DM, but now... I would really have to work at it to spend $75K on Amex and the benefits of doing my spending on my other cards are dramatically better than a few skyclub visits so... I won't even bother to try.

I don't expect Delta to change anything because I am not spending... It's just what it is. I am not looking for anything.