pmanchuk

Wow... it amazes me how no matter what, people ALWAYS complain... be happy there were any concessions...

And about the complaint that "oh, now I'm going to have to compete with 100 other people for an upgrade"... if sitting in first or B/E means that much and you want to be guaranteed the seat up front... PAY for it like some of us do...

But that's just my own two cents on the subject.

mikey1003

Very interesting... Now I know why I have a call to phone a reporter at the WSJ.

See there is something in DAVID vs GOLIATH, isn't there?

I am glad that things seem to be working out for the better. It makes all of our (and our represents a lot of people) hard work pay off.

Ill take the BS dished at us by our fellow FTers any day to win in this case.

I'm sad that Delta wasted an entire year ****ing us over. They drove many Medallions away who may never come back.

[This message has been edited by mikey1003 (edited Dec 17, 2003).]

JS

But you see, in the current setup, I can pay for an upgrade at the rate of 8 cents a mile (plus roundoff error) should I run out of upgrades. In the new setup, I will never run out of upgrades, but I will be able to use less frequently.

The option of $ or miles to guarantee an upgrade is no different between old and new, so that alternative is no different.

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"The minute a Bundy has good luck he immediately starts building up an equal amount of bad luck." -- Al Bundy, Married With Children

EchoVictor

Here's another story, this time from the WSJ tomorrow (12/18)... way to go to SSM, which is quoted early on !!!

Delta Tweaks Frequent-Flier Rules

Move Loosens Restrictions
On Program but Maintains
Status-Ticket Price Link
By EVAN PEREZ
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL


ATLANTA -- Delta Air Lines plans to loosen some restrictions put on its frequent-flier program last year, making it easier for short-haul fliers to reach elite status and giving unlimited free upgrades to more elite members.

The changes taking effect Jan. 1 come a year after Delta tightened its SkyMiles program to give more benefits to travelers who fly on higher-priced tickets instead of just awarding elite status based on miles flown.

Disgruntled Delta frequent fliers have been vocal critics of the changes because they made it more difficult to reach elite status for those flying on lower-priced tickets. The changes came as the tough economy led corporate travel departments to cut back by forcing employees to fly less or fly with cheaper fares. Some frequent fliers even started a Web site -- www.saveskymiles.com -- and paid for newspaper advertisements and mobile billboards to try to shame Delta into rescinding the changes.

....... rest of story continued...

mikey1003

Hey, I qualified PM before I switched. I now have a choice in airlines.

BTW, I love the victory... We done good! But I am not dancing yet. 750MQMs times 120 segments still leaves me 10K short.

That said, I have a while to decide what I am going to do as do many of us on this board.

In the meantime, be happy that Virginia Ave is STARTING to finally see the light... They have JUST a wee bit more to go.

I repeat...all of the hard SSM workers DONE GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "Disgruntled Delta frequent fliers have been vocal critics of the changes because they made it more difficult to reach elite status for those flying on lower-priced tickets. The changes came as the tough economy led corporate travel departments to cut back by forcing employees to fly less or fly with cheaper fares. Some frequent fliers even started a Web site -- www.saveskymiles.com -- and paid for newspaper advertisements and mobile billboards to try to shame Delta into rescinding the changes."

[This message has been edited by mikey1003 (edited Dec 17, 2003).]

[This message has been edited by mikey1003 (edited Dec 18, 2003).]

pmanchuk

I can understand your point, I'm not arguing the facts. To be perfectly honest, I never realized (until finding this website) that people took upgrades & ff miles so seriously. For instance, a couple of weeks ago I finally used miles for an award ticket for the first time... I've always just let the miles pile up and have never really given them much thought.

I suppose it all has to do with a person's mindset. For myself (especially after reading all the stuff on this website) it's easier to just buy a ticket in the cabin that I want... If you ask me, what you guys (and not just on Delta, but any airline) go through for the hope of upgrading just isn't worth it to me. Trust me, I wish all of you the best of luck and hope that the policies work out in your favor... in the mean time I'll shell out the cash so I don't have to worry about medallion levels, fare codes, etc.

Dovster

There is no plan in the world which would be better for everybody.

In my case, I was actually better off under the old 2004 rules than the new ones. I can't use these upgrades on international flights and the very few connecting flights I will take (ATL-FLL or ATL-SAV) won't make much of a difference for me.

I will lose because I had planned to have my 500 mile upgrades changed to 10,000 SkyMiles when the new rules went into effect. Now that they are no longer giving those upgrades, I lose that possibility.

Having said all that, I fully accept that the new rules are much better for the great majority of SkyMile members and am very happy that Delta made this decision.

If DL starts easing back on RJs and rethinks its meal service on domestic flights, it will soon be in a commanding position in the US air industry.

Yes, the passengers forced this decision. And, yes, competitors like AirTran and NW helped, and yes, SSM was a voice that Delta found it could not ignore -- but Delta is the one who deserves the congratulations -- it will be the big winner here.

mikey1003

From "The Ticket"
http://www.travelskills.com/tktarchive/2003/dec.htm

"DELTA SEEING THE LIGHT? Like Scrooge waking up from his long night of dreams, Delta is making some uncharacteristically generous moves with its SkyMiles program this month. Expect an announcement from Delta soon with the following changes:

Starting Jan 1, Delta is tossing out its unwieldy and frustratingly complex program of 500-mile upgrade points, and giving ALL medallions unlimited upgrades on all fares. That's right ALL MEDALLIONS, UNLIMITED UPGRADES, ALL FARES. These, of course are doled out based on availability and status, but hey, this is definitely a move in the right direction!
The entire upgrade process will be automated, which means you no longer have to wait until the exact hour to make your call and plead for your big seat up front. Now, the process will be handled by a computer, and your upgrade (or lack of) will be noted on your itinerary which you can check at delta.com.
You can now upgrade a travel companion (who must also be a SkyMiles member) for free from all but the cheapest L, U or T fares.
For those flying mostly short haul routes, Delta will offer a new minimum of 750 MQM's per segment, vs. the previous 500. (But the minimum number of SkyMiles earned will remain 500.)
Delta's Patrice Miles told THE TICKET, "We listened to our members and adapted the program based on their suggestions. They asked for a simpler program that made upgrades more generous." We must agree with Miles on this one. These are welcome changes, and for the first time in a while, when they say that they "listened to customers," it sounds like that is exactly what they did. (Can you say Halleluiah?) For details, check SkyMiles Changes page on delta.com. If the changes are not yet posted, check back later in the day. Good news or bad? Let us know what you think!"

mikey1003

Amen! 100% true.

JS

Actually, I don't take upgrades that seriously -- why do you people think I'm still here?

Delta will continue to remain my primary carrier going forward. The question for me is this -- is all Delta @ Gold and a half worth it, or should I stick with just Gold @ Delta and fly UA @ Premier? Or should I book a few A trips to make Delta @ Platinum?

**** it, why did this announcement have to happen so late at night? I need some sleep!

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"The minute a Bundy has good luck he immediately starts building up an equal amount of bad luck." -- Al Bundy, Married With Children

PremEx

FL-Delta-Platinum...Thank You.

ljderm

As a previous PM/MM/FC I have not flown DL in sometime. As SM slowly eroded benefits, so went my loyalty. (Weren't the Delta-Nazis the ones who pioneered the RPU?)

I am glad for those of you who are quick to forgive, but with all the pros and cons here, I don't think one person has mentioned that all these comp upgrades will be CAPACITY CONTROLLED. Upgrades will not be a bed of roses.

I have been a CO and NW Plat and seen the auto upgrade system be occasionally frustrating. Surely, Delta flyers will experience a good bit of gnashing of teeth over the new upgrade program. But let's face it with a positive spin........It is mostly better than it was yesterday!

wldtrvlr

Steve, I think that you have hit the nail on the head. NW has always been the airline that "held the line" against changes started by other airlines. This has brought them tremendous loyalty from their customers. With the Air France purchase of KLM and Delta being aligned with AF and NW/KLM I think at some point you will see and alliance with AF/KLM/DL/NW as the primary players. Alot of talk in the NW forum is that CO does not really add a lot to the mix. What makes us NW flyers think that DL will be the primary partner in the future is that if you credit your miles to WP you get 100% on ALL DL metal flights (so better than the SM folks, but NW elites don't get to upgrade) and only 50% on the low buckets on CO metal.

It is always good to see an airline "give in" to customer demands. It is just more pleasant for the airline to respect the customer in the first place and not put all the foolish restrictions in place that cause you to complain. No FF program is what they used to be, but I do think that NW is very focused on the customer.

jfulcher

This kind of sucks for me because I just bought $320 in upgrade points on Saturday. I've used 2 of them sense, my only other flight this year is on a RJ..

ozstamps

Doubt you will hear any comment from ole Avek for quite a while here - I hear tell he took a real lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng walk.

Yes - Congratulations for the core team behind www.SaveSkymiles.com - and brickbats for the few that harped incessantly they were achieving nothing.

I bet THEY will happily avail themselves of the new upgrade deal however, that the hard work of others has won for them. Funny how short some memories really are.

Good to see the WSJ has already picked up on this.

This is clearly not a perfect "all things to all fliers" solution, but boy - quite a concession to what anyone here would have thought even a WEEK back.

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~ Glen ~ sipping bubbly from a UA 747-400 exit row 15 near you SOON!