You sound like me, I maybe wrong, but AA's SWU are great for people like me that fly over 100K per year, all domestic for business, and take a couple international flights a year, with my wife, and sit in BC for the price of coach. Made for a great perk.

I also agree with you and RDU; I remember when RDU was a hub for AA and it was a great airport, similar to Nashville, even more so. But those were different years and different times.

As far as coach, I am lucky and being PLT for life with AA I get to use stickers for my flights. I do pick and choose by looking at the seat map and upgrade when flights are real full. I have had to buy a set once but all in all not bad until back at EXP again. I had some stickers in the bank before and every 10,000 flown I get 4 - 500 mile ones put in my bank.

I think I'm going to re-consider CO and also look into AA. Both offer their highest status level for far less than 140 segments (90 and 100, respectively).

I've been browsing all of these threads and I think I'll do what a lot of PMs are planning on doing - get as close to 125k without going over to get a jump on next year. I don't see anything in DM that gets me so excited that I'll go for it. I haven't missed an upgrade as a PM in months and I think its only one all year (this to me is the biggest benefit of PM status that seems to get lost in all the other noise) - so DM gets a higher priority but so does EP today...

The PMU decision disappointed me - It doens't bring same day international upgrades into play for me, because I'm not going to be a Y/B/M fare on the chance that I might get an upgrade. I'll do what I do today which is buy the fare when I KNOW there is Z availablilty. That said I'm also disappointed that they have reduced the number of PMU's - I've used every one I've ever received.

D

I hope DL really reads this; I'll bet Delta's DM program is the ONLY program in any loyalty world that anyone would consciously decide to stop short of acquiring. How much was Jeff paid to be the first again? His middle name is paradigm. Find a way to destroy loyalty with a loyalty program.

DL PLEASE READ WHAT HE HAS DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you want to speculate about SouthWest, you'd be better off just reading about RR 2.0 in the WN forum. Nothing's been announced but some likely "details" have leaked thru customer surveys. A company like Delta has to be careful not to go too far in this direction because it could very well open the flood gates and drive their Silvers & Golds wherever else the tickets and baggage fees are cheapest. Loyalty is a two-way street.

Postings like those of DMIrishFlyer should be getting a lot of attention within DL, yet something tells me they're not. There's long been a certain arrogance of "the customer will do what we want" on Virginia Ave.

PM upgrade percentages fall as a new tier is prioritized, right?

I enjoy ~70% upgrade success.

Would banking MQMs be worth falling to, say, 50%?

Guess it all depends on your home airport.

I'm non hub, and my u/g success this year is at 96%. If I dropped to 85 or 90%, I could easily live with that.

The system clearly needs tweaking, and the FT Focus Group is identifying clear flaws in the design, including stopping short of a tier, no rollover segments, and inadequate SWU usability. As we've said, they could have had a home run (at least an infield home run), but they only hit a double. Doubles are nice, but they won't beat a strong team from Chicago, Dallas or Houston.

Given that I am less than 200 MQMs short of DM and my trip next week will put me over 130k MQM, I think I might switch my full fare DEN and STT trips later in August over to AA and complete a AA PLT challange on these two trips. That way I can start 2010 with DL PM (then DM at launch) and AA PLT then decide if I should go for AA EXP. I don't always use full fare coach and while it means losing the upgrades I have already received on DL, 2 RT in coach on AA isn't bad to give me future flexability.

Thanks.

^ I'm with you 100% on this plan! Mine exactly.

Myself and at least one other FTer suggested similar strategies WAY upthread.

The Principle of Unintended Consequences... I wonder of DL management considered this.

Sorry... I know I don't have to say it... but I will.

For months, the DL forum has been more than peppered with posts expressing gushing anticipation of the 4th tier from those who were certain they would qualify and would find a veritable FF pot of gold (or, in this case, diamonds) at the end of the rainbow.

After (admittedly) skimming through this thread, it's hard to find much enthusiasm to match the rhetoric from the run up.

My regrets to the disappointed "revenue sources." But that's all you are, regardless of the color of the card you carry in your wallet or purse.

Example of how weak PMUs are for a TATL flight
 

I think they are essentially worthless for international travel below is an example:

Fares (including taxes) for LAX-ZRH return trip in early September:

DL T-fare: $730 (cheapest fare $686 on UA)
DL M-fare: $3072
DL I-fare: $3042 (cheapest fare $2747 on CO)

Conclusions for this example:

• M-fare + PMU is $30 more expensive than I-fare
• M-fare + PMU is $325 more expensive than competition

M fares don't require a Saturday night stay. Often M fares book as B (near same price) with the ability to change day of departure without penalty. M fares can be purchased inside 50 days. M + PMU works better for some than a cheap I.

Just got internet access again ;)

You are probably correct with "M" vs "I", etc. But what is really amazing is the $2300 paid to get the right to use the PMU or other people to use miles. At AA base members could save $1600 by buying the $700 fare and paying $700 copay.