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Good question. I'll end up with about 120 segments but under 75,000 miles. CO treats segment qualifiers much better.

not quite true. The rule was (and is until the new rule kicks in) that if you had not cleared into Z by check-in, you could not get on a wait list.

I have one 2 different occasions called 3 days before, 2 days before, 1 day before a NRT-ATL flight booked in M and not had the Z clear. Then, day of, 7 hours before the flight, I called in again and got it cleared.

Just want to avoid misinformation ;)

I'll throw in my $0.02....while I'm not as disappointed as some on this board, I was hoping for two meaningful SWUs in lieu of the handful of worthless (to me at least) PMUs. I'll likely qualify for diamond, but so far I'm not too excited. I guess I'm just glad that I won't be plat.

Whether you knew it or not, hadn't the upgrade already been cleared before the day of departure based on ATL's timezone and processing?

Just want to avoid misinformation. ;)

You are technically correct. If Z inventory opens you can clear into that seat at any time; but, to be honest, that is rare.

What I mean is that, absent Z inventory, Delta will not upgrade Medallions at the gate on day-of-departure regardless of the number of empty seats up front.

All are enhancements? I though PM was exempt from change fees.

One other thing here is there are a few DL loyalists and a few NW loyalists with whom are quite vocal. Some NW people jump on every attempt to find an issue and some DL people take every positive post and do a +1 or totally agree. Clearly it is going both ways.

Strange though for all the DL loyalist, when NW was not in picture and DL announce no upgrades on LUT I even seem to remember they were going to only give 50% EQM for lower fares (some correct me), when that happened the DL people were up in arms and complained and complained until DL did something about it.

If DL was smart they would cut LUT again; why because so many here, good ole DL loyalist will find the good in everything DL management does. I could see it now; no upgrades for LUT are great for me because I always buy my tickets late and rarely get upgraded, blah, blah, blah.

I just can't sit here and see anyone not wanting some SWU's that are easy to use (both fare class and booking class). I read all these people say I always buy Y/B fares, obviously they are not flying with their families for a vacation, maybe in business people get away with over paying, I can se it for the upgrade.. It is cheaper than business class, but for a family of 3 or 4 we is talking several thousand dollars. Why not give us a perk that is pretty industry allowed, especially since we are at a 25% premium to the major competition.

I'll end this with.. If LUT fares were changed to 50% EQM and no upgrades would DL loyalist complain or say GREAT and tell all NW people that it is a good thing and stop your complaining.

Didn't DL management note somewhere that something like a huge proportion of Platinum systemwide upgrades are useless for flights? For Diamonds, how much better will the utilization rate of DL's systemwide upgrades end up being compared to what they are for the overall pool of today's 75k+ MQM customers? Probably somewhat better but I wouldn't be surprised if a huge proportion of those 125k+ MQM customers' systemwide upgrades end up having zero utilization too.

I don't see anything in this announcement that makes me want to go for Diamond status in 2010 as I get better returns on my travel money by crediting that volume of flights and way more to programs besides one under the control of DL management. But then again I am not a captive of Delta Airlines and the DL loyalty program(s). For those who are largely captives of DL such that they would be doing 125k+ status miles of DL travel and/or status-related purchases anyway and also have a way of getting their employer to pony up on an expensive fare to gamble on an expensive fare in hopes of an upgrade, the increased number of systemwide upgrades (and day of departure upgrade possibility) will be an improvement, but those are mostly just the last remaining dinosaur customers. That is the game DL is counting on here to fill their plates.

Maybe this is exactly what they are trying to avoid? 4 BE seats leaving inventory at discounted coach rates.

Why do so many FT's feel entitled to be in INT'L BE while just paying for discounted coach?

The continual reference to what is best for "most customers" seems to lack grounding in the basic business tenets that in many industries, "most customers" are mostly "fill" which to some extent helps provide more diverse service to the more profitable segment of customers.

As a long veteran of business travel, I have watched as these programs have become less and less generous and have moved from one company's top tier to another a number of times and will do so again if the benefits become insufficient for me to remain a customer of any one of them.

All of those with such grievous complaints well have the same option. And if it should come to a pass that none of them provide any significant benefits, all of us will be back to the procedure followed in the '70s and early '80s of taking whoever was going at the most convenient time with some consideration of fare differentials.

And, of course, the main disappointment with this system is still the relative inflexibility of the PMUs. I do believe that some lower fare classes should permit their use, possibly by requiring the use of multiples.

Sorry to be repetitive: Are DMs entitled to use benefits from February (2010), or whenever Delta sequences them in over the course of next spring?

A staggered, out-of-sync-with-Medallion-requalifying rollout is odd.

Have you ever sat in FC on a domestic flight by paying a discounted coach fare? You does everyone here on FT feel they are entitled to that benefit?

How would you respond if that bennie was taken away?

DL claims they want to best in class, UA, AA, maybe others give 6 or 8 SWU upgrades to 100K milers, DL does not for 125K milers.

I'll ask again; would you like to sit in coach on DL on every flight you did not pay for FC???

Do I feel entitled? No I don't. Do I enjoy the benefit? Yes I do.

Every time that I am upgraded domestically I thank DL for recognizing and appreciating my business. There is a difference between those here that DEMAND benefits and those who appreciate the ones they get.

DL's SWU are under rated compared to some others. However there are other benefits like unlimited domestic upgrades where DL outperforms the others.

No one has answered my question from earlier...

To make DL's FF program more on par with others, what current benefits are you willing to lose?

You can't compare AA EXP SWU's unless you also concede that < EXP elites do not get unlimited upgrades. I will be DM so I have no problem if DL FO thru PM lose unlimited domestic upgrades. I suspect however that they will.

Like anything in life, the bank you chose, the insurance carrier you chose, the cell company you chose, there are pros and cons, good features and less desierable ones. You pick the one that best meets your requirements and move on.

EXP do get unlimited upgrades, including Hawaii. PM and DM do not get Hawaii.

I would give up companion upgrades to get 8 functional SWU's like EXP. To show I'm not being selfish I use the companion upgrade often; I really will miss NW's method of my companion on my PNR getting upgraded at 5 days out. I do not complain about that one being taken away and it does effect me.

Sorry I misread your post. I read it on my phone and my eyes are getting older by the minute.

You did know EXP are the only tier that gets unlimited upgrades. For someone in your position that is an advantage, you will almost always get your upgrade even if you buy a last minute ticket.

Effecting the lower tiers for upgrades doesn't really have much impact to international upgrades.

From what you said if free upgrades were taken away you would not really care because it is nice to have and not as big a deal to you. Living in RDU my guess you have this bennie all the time and you really could fly any anirline (probably). You would not look elsewhere if you now had to fly in coach without buying a FC ticket?

From my read of this, I don't think this is true. I read it to mean if you have a PMU (or whatever it's now called) and want to upgrade day of departure, they will grant that upgrade if they have empty seats up front. (Not simply if they have Z inventory.)

Someone correct me if I'm wrong...

If it seems that way to you it has nothing to do with what I posted or did not post.

I've watched programs go in multiple directions over the decades of many millions of miles of travel, and it's not as systematically unidirectional as you may be suggesting.

It's clear that you are satisfied with whatever DL is providing you, and that's good for you. For most customers, however, DL's approach to toying around with the loyalty programs customers by stripping away value for many customers to give the same or less value to a smaller segment of customers hasn't done well by most customers. Nor has this DL approach of hunting after dinosaurs seemed to spare DL from failing financially or relying upon the repeated graces of government intervention.

All of us will not be captive to such a hypothetical outcome.

Let's see how DL listens or does not listen to such suggestion about the upgrades received by Platinums (as well). I don't think DL management will listen to that like it will listen to the sound of money, but if/whenever DL management do get to that kind of outcome, it would be an improvement for far more customers than is the case with what DL management has done with the process of creating the 2010 Medallion program.