Crazyhotelguy

So after reading a few of the threads regardind the new DM level of Sky Miles, I have noticed that a number of people have stated that they would rather stop at 124,999 MQMs rather and stay at PM with the rollover plan to GM (nearly PM) next year vs. crossing the 125,000 mark.

I am currently sitting at 119,000 MQMs with about another 2500 MQMs booked. So the question is do I go for DM or do I just stop short. My issue is mostly regarding upgrades. How many of y'all who say it is better just to roll your miles over will actually do that vs. going for DM. My luck is that I would stop and all of those who said thay would stop changed their minds and would roll past me and put me at 22 on the U/G stand by list next year!!!

So role call... Who is going to be DM and who is going to play the rollover game?

Discplayer

As a point of reference. I have gotten the last first class seat on three separate flights in the past three weeks. As a PM on a Y, M, and B fares. With that in mind, if I don’t go for DM, I might not get these seats next year.

BTW routes were; DTW-SEA, SEA-DTW, ATL-SEA so these upgrades were well worth it.

STBCypriot

I'm curious - let's ignore the DM tier for a moment. When giving out upgrades, I know the Medallion level, class of ticket, and when you requested an upgrade figure into assigning priority to a passenger to get an upgrade. With all things being equal, except the number of MQMs in your SM account, does a PM with 90k miles get upgraded before a PM with 76k miles?

raehl311

DM: Skyclub membership, 6 PMUs, gift Gold medallion, top of upgrade queue, waive all fees

PM+DL Reserve Amex: Skyclub membership, just below DMs and ahead of all other PMs in upgrade queue, waive all fees, free companion travel cert

Put $30k on that DL reserve amex, plus your rollover MQMs, and you're Gold in 2010 off-the-bat and only need to fly 20k MQM or so to requalify for your DM/PM+DL Reserve benefits for 2011.

indufan

No.

den1k

My biggest decision about DM is that It would be hard for me to qualify for DM and get mid tier of higher status on another airline. While it would be easy to get PM and mid tier or higher on a 2nd carrier.

At least for this year I've already made it to DM and will just keep adding to my rollover MQMs for next year.

avidflyer

I am in a different situation but here is my take on the question: To DM or Not to DM. I think because there are so many give-aways this year and so many people are going to do what you are proposing (stop short and carry-over) that the Plat and Gold ranks will be bloated beyond belief. The folks who go over DM are probably doing it because they will go significantly over (like myself) and will still carry a whole bunch of MQM's into 2010. This is, by definition, a very small % of the flying public (150K+++). My theory is that DM will be the smallest of the bloated ranks and be the best way to keep UG %'s the same. Me thinks next year will be a really oddball year for upgrades with all that is going on. Don't count on the economy being tough...DL is cutting flights VERY quickly to react to that part of the puzzle.

Just my 2 cents.

tarajim

I will be DM and Rollover between 50 and 75K in MQM for next year.

I live in ATL, so DL has to be my choice.

I believe that DM will help better secure upgrades on my ATL-SAN run which is always PM heavy. DM with Delta Reserve should put me pretty high on the list even on an LUT fare.... Only Full Y medallions should trump a DM.

StayingHomeIsBetter

Suppose someone stopped at 120,000 and DL decided to give the equivalent of a "soft landing" and bumped the FF up to DM, using the MQMs that the FF intended to carryover?

I'm confident that DL would regard this to be a gracious gesture.

ATLTraveler2

No, according to Delta the heirarchy is:

1-Medallion level
2-Fare Class
3-Time of ticketing

no idea what the next tie breaker would be if time of ticketing happens to be the same.

Crazyhotelguy

I have thought of that and the outcome of that generous gesture would be going into 2010 with no rollover mqms. That would totally suck!

I guess for me, If I go for DM, I want to have miles to rollover, but that prevents me from covering myself on US(i know, but often their fares are much cheaper) . I worry about going from gold to nothing/silver on them for next year. I will probably just bite the bullet, get DM, then start working on US gold.

This just makes requalifying a huge challenge next year.

LegalTender

Sound reasoning.

GM & PM ranks from MQM bonuses will be - wait for it - engorged.

avidflyer

You got it. At some point a while back there were a few folks claiming things like "upper Gold" or "Lower Plat" were proving to impact UG percentages but that is just plain not true.

The DM phenomenon is going to change a few things in the next couple of years that I do not think the average Plat/Gold is ready for. It will be interesting to come back to this thread (and plenty of others) in a year and see what some of the folks who have decided they are staying with DL but are Gold or even Plat are thinking then.

bostonbali

I will finish 2009 with 119K EQMs.
As a NW Plat, I've done pretty good with upgrades in 2009.

To me, starting off 2010 with 44K EQM in the bank is worth a whole lot more than missing the occasional upgrade. I don't see too many other benefits with DM - I already have a NW WorldClub Lifetime membership.

I also don't trust DL as far as I can throw them - they've proven themselves to be deceiptful and untrustworthy. To that end, I am not looking for give them any more of my money than I have to.

MikeMpls

That's why I keep saying DL must construct a solid floor under the Plat-level benefits. Any significant degradation in the value of PM status risks opening the flood gates.