Russ21Atl

"Delta is rising as the least-troubled, best-positioned big airline for the long term."- Money: Cover Story

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The information I provide is in no way the authoritative voice of Delta. I do not work for Corporate Communications, nor in Customer Care. I do not represent the final word for Delta when asked a question. I simply try to answer questions to the best of my knowledge, and try to direct people to the correct answer and/or point them in the right direction to find that answer. If you want to double check my answers, please E-Mail Delta Customer Care or just send an e-mail to: [email protected]

Thank you for letting me participate.

leroy11

Interesting article, Russ. Thanks for posting.

abigail

Nice article indeed. However, it is ironic that they are asking the most expensive management consulting firm in the world (billing at $400+/hr) to study how to compete against low-fare competition. McKinsey hasn't competed on price in a long-time, and I'm not sure they know how. Quite a racket.

gsw

Ditto. Russ, I appreciate your enthusiasm and commitment to Delta. It's the spirit of employees like you that keep me a loyal Delta flyer. I just hope that Leo Mullin can appreciate the incredible resource that you and your colleagues bring to this corporation.

jabez

I agree with gsw. Russ's positive attitude helps temper some of the negativity aimed at delta. I read the article while flying yesterday. It began quite a discussion in first among many of the flyers.
I also noticed Randy was quoted (and pictured)in their travel feature.

B747-437B

Excellent and thorough article by Marilyn Adams, and although I don't share the optimism about operational spreads becoming cash positive in the near term, I agree with most of the article.

jwhite4

"Atlantan Chris McGinnis, a CNN travel commentator and publisher of The Ticket, a business travel newsletter, notes that Delta keeps enriching its frequent-flier program. "


HUH? Is this the same Delta WE fly???

Jeff

CKDGM

It was a typo. It should have read "keeps enriching itself by chopping away at SkyMiles, which was preceded by an excellent frequent-flyer program."

businesstraveler

Maybe someone should ask him to clarify this? His email address is on his web site:

[email protected]

Spiff

oddly enough, I just read this on an AA flight. "Dear Chris, please let us know about these secret enhancements to the Delta frequent-flier program that you are privy to. Most of us have only received severe benefit cuts over the past few years, driving quite a number of us to competitors (LIKE AA!)"

B747-437B

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and agree with Chris. From a competitive standpoint, Delta has indeed been adding value to the Skymiles product by offering a number of double miles promotions. In fact, in the last 12 months, there have barely been 3-4 weeks WITHOUT some kind of promo in effect (Anniversary double, Rake In The Miles, Fall Double Base, First Quarter Double Miles, etc..). To a consumer trying to decide between a Delta flight versus that of a low-cost competitor such as AirTran, JetBlue or Southwest (depending on the route), the double miles promotion definitely adds value to the Delta product and swings the purchase decision in their favor.

JS

B747, you're wasting your "breath" telling DL flyers that DL doesn't suck horribly. Reading comments on this board you would think Leo swings an ice pick at his customers.

CKDGM

Double miles...as you sit in the back on your LUser fare, or your un-upgraded day of flight M fare internationally. Or if you're lucky you can use a NAMU for something other than a bookmark.

Yeah, double miles are nice, and I was able to take advantage of the two double base promos last year to get PM. However, I'd rather have SWUs for international flights that I can earn without having to hit the PM threshold...but of course GM is now Silver Plus.

jwhite4

I agree, the double miles is hardly a feature. It was a response to specific events (first the ComAir strike, then I believe 9/11) in order to stimulate travelling in what otherwise would have been soft booking periods. Similarly, the 15k (and other level) award discounts were an attempt to get passengers flying when otherwise they might have been very little (this was post 9/11).

Some of us benefitted from these OFFERS, but they were certainly not FEATURES (just the fact that they aren't around anymore proves they are not features).

Jeff

andymo99

The double miles "FEATURE" gave me 39K extra base miles in 2001 and has given me 18K extra base miles in 2002. Thanks to this "FEATURE," I will enjoy PM from August 2001 until (at least) February, 2003.

I am very grateful to DL for helping me earn PM, and I am very grateful to DL for the generous benefits that I feel I receive for my patronage. I go out of my way (literally) to fly DL not only to reward them, but also because THEY reward me for doing it.

Example: Commuting BOS-ORD earlier this year, I could have non-stopped on AA or UA, earning 1734 miles plus about 1500 for the credit card charge. With DL, I earned 13K miles every time, including 5K base, which set me on my way to PM once again. I had to change planes, but I rode up front, had the CRC, and reaped the miles benefits. It was win-win.

Bravo, DL. I will complain when I feel they have slighted me, but 95% of the time I am a very happy customer, and I value my relationship with the airline.

For those curious, RT BOS-ORD yielded ~13K thusly:

BOS-CVG: 1504 RT
CVG-ORD: 1000 RT
Double base promotion: 2504
PM bonus: 2504
Triple points for DL purchases with DL Amex (another great promo): 4500
Online purchase: 1000


[edited to correct my PM qualification dates]

[This message has been edited by andymo99 (edited 04-28-2002).]