There appears to be an unintentional glitch in the chart for upgrade changes.

Effective May 1, the 800-MSUs disappear and are converted to 500-Mile upgrade Points, which, effective on that date, can be used for L, U and T fare upgrades.

However, a footnote clearly states that “All Platinum Medallion Upgrade benefits and guidelines…. remain unchanged for 2003.”

Thus, since PMs will not have 500-Mile Upgrade Points until January 1, 2004 and the current PM guidelines stay the same for all of 2003, apparently only GMs and SMs can upgrade L, U and T fares during the period from May 1, 2003 through December 31, 2003.

I can't believe that the intent is to give PMs a lesser benefit than GMs and SMs.
Care to comment, Bruce?

[Edited to note that the Upgrade Program Changes FAQs do make it clear that PMs can upgrade L, U and T fares starting May 1, 2003, but it's not at all clear from the chart. The FAQs also seem to be the only place that discloses that day-of-travel upgrades for L, U and T fares will be available only at the airport. That seems very misleading.]

[This message has been edited by Dave M (edited 12-11-2002).]

Is it appropriate to assume that the Medallion Qualification Miles Calculation rules that apply to Delta also apply to the new low cost carrier replacing Delta Express, to Delta Shuttle, to Delta Connection, to Comair, etc. - with the same multipliers as for Delta? The Q&A for this section indicates that there is a new system for these carriers, but there is no reference to these carriers in the chart covering Delta and its partner airlines.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif Glad you appreciate my humor...

Is there any way to redeem skymiles on the Big Grey Dog??

Bye Delta

Bruce, seriously, it would be worth the time if your team could take the time and respond on-line to some of the better questions that have been asked.

That would be my alternate in case you can't answer this:

Can you get AA to comp me to EXP for my 200,000+ base miles this year? I'll even switch my business on their non-MRTCed shuttle flights.

------------------
...or passengers swim.

Personally, I hope that Bruce and his "proud of these changes" team are piddling in their pants right now after reading the posts we've made this afternoon.

I suspect they didn't anticipate such an overwhelmingly negative reaction.

GOOD.

One of the FAQs for Medallion Qualification reads as follows (with bold emphasis added:

• I've qualified for Medallion status in 2003 based on my travel in 2002. What can I expect?
  
  Because you've earned status under the previous guidelines, you'll enjoy the benefits of that status in 2003. Your travel patterns in 2003 will determine your 2004 status under the new guidelines.
  
  In order to recognize and reward a sizable group of customers, in early January 2003, we'll upgrade your 2003 Medallion status if you should earn a higher status according to the new Medallion qualification guidelines.

Does this really mean that DL will (1)recalulate as MQMs the 2002 miles flown and (2) upgrade to Platinum in January 2003 someone who earned (e.g.) 97,000 base miles in 2002 under the 2002 program but 102,000 MQMs in 2002 under the 2003 MQM calculation rules?

Perhaps DL is having second thoughts about these rules. (I can dream.) Its web site is not currently operable. Fortunately or unfortunately, I printed everything out to pore over the bad news.

Question:

Will the new 500 miles upgrades still be only good segment by segment? Or will I have to fork over two upgrades if travelling on two segments that are under 500 miles altogether?

Delta has certainly picked a poor time to make changes. With that said, how does one find out the class of service for tickets already booked for next year. Since, they are already upgraded they show up as X and V fares-not on the chart. Secondly, how can one choose the Fare Class on the website? Presently it is all or nothing. Frequently, if a segment's upgrades are gone or otherwise not available, the website will not let you book an upgradeable fare. Lastly, am I correct in assuming that one will still earn miles at the current rates, it is just the qualifying that is changing?

A PM who will be only a GM in 2003 gets the worst of both worlds in terms of upgrade coupons. As a PM he would of course have earned no MSUs in 2002 and on Dec. 31, 2002, all MSUs accumulated in 2001, assuming he was a GM or SM then, will expire. When qualifying as a GM in 2003, he will earn no MSUs (after Jan. 1, 2003 this benefit will be dropped) and will therefore have no MSUs to be converted to 500-mile segments on May 1, 2003. Since he is no longer a PM, he will also not get the 20 500-mile segmens awarded to PMs on Jan. 1, 2004. A good idea would be to extend MSU-validity to May 1, 2003; otherwise everyone who flew enough to earn MSUs in 2002, except people in the situation noted above, would benefit; they would be the only ones left empty-handed.

[This message has been edited by Track (edited 12-11-2002).]

Yup. If they even gave me half of the 50+ 800MSUs I would have earned this year, that'd be a big help. As it is, I get penalized for breaking 100K in 2001 when they needed people flying!

What are the plans to automate the upgrade system?

Bruce, here's a question.

What about CRC membership for PMs? If the 2003 PM benefits don't change, I assume that PMs still get free CRC access, but that benefit is not mentioned anywhere in the 2003 or 2004 charts. What gives?