KfromMarietta

As a southern lady I had to write a letter to Kenneth Chenault, CEO & Chairman of AE telling him why I wouldn't be renewing my Delta AE credit card this month. I really loved the Delta AE and how easy it was to earn miles, but if I couldn't get a Sky Saver Ticket on the date and time I wanted it was better for me to get an ED cash back MasterCard and did.

To fly Delta from ATL-SAN-ATL at New Years is $368 + tax/fees or 50,000 miles + tax/fees. Once I did the math it was a NO BRAINER, I was better off paying for my own ticket so I could fly any date and any time I want.

HIGHLIGHTS OF LETTER:

I love Delta but I hate how Delta manages their Frequent Flyer Program and the reason I refuse to renew my Delta AE Card.

I don't earn my miles (1-2 paid Delta flights a year) I am AWARDED my miles because I charge everything I purchase on my AE (earning me a Sky Saver ticket).

I would like American Express the larges partner with Delta to put pressure on Delta.

Banks must have a percentage of cash on hand for anticipated withdrawals and all frequent flyper programs, not just Delta, must have a percentage of the accrued miles made available for the the frequent flyer award program.

I own stock in Air Tran but flew Delta because of the miles I have accrued through American Express, Delta flies to Spokane and I vacation overseas. The Delta frequent flyer programs was to my advantage but if I cannot get a Delta Sky Saver ticket with 331 days advance booking or 120-150 days for a domestic flight at my convenience, I am better off using a cash back credit card and paying for a ticket at my convenience. (Leave Atlanta on a Saturday or Sunday, layover 90 minutes max, not a really early or late flight --I want a program that meets my needs and I know the rules. I would even go to a higher mileage requirement of 30,000 to 35,000 miles for longer Domestic destinations. The current Delta Frequent Flyer Program sucks.)

I refuse to be an enabler to Delta's current frequent flyer program. When a written policy has been made and the frequent flyer program has changed to my advantage the Smith's will be thrilled to reconsider the Delta AE credit card again.

FACTS in letter:

On August 31, 2007 (331 days in advance) I called Delta to book a Sky Saver ticket (50,000 miles) from Atlanta to Copenhagen (Delta Flight 68) for July 27, 2008 and again on September 1, 2007 12:00AM for July 28, 2008 and no Sky Saver ticket was available.

In 2004 (331 days in advance) I booked two Sky Saver tickets from Atlanta to Rome for 2005. I thought 331 days in advance was the policy Delta used to book a frequent flyer Sky Saver Ticket.

On 9/6/2007 applied for an Emigrant Direct .014 Cash Back MasterCard (meet requirements). Smith's charge $29,000+ a year X .014 (Cash Back with ED) = $406 cash back. (ATL-SEA-ATL- 08/25/2007 = $363.80 a free ticket -- I flew on a Saturday and purchased the ticket on 08/02/2007 -- this was convenient for me.)

As a person who is AWARDED one frequent flyer sky saver ticket a year -- I need to know the rules so I can decide am I going to continue with the cash back card or apply again for the Delta AE.

I loved the Delta AE credit card and used it for everything ($3 or more) and will mourn the day I call AE to cancel it. (Cancelled 9/15/2007 and per the message will loose this months Delta miles -- should of waited until my miles posted and called about reversing the Delta Fee.)

AFTER I WROTE THE LETTER: I have given a lot of thought to what I really want. Realized I would be better off if Delta would change their FF program to have a dollar offset for miles earned. Fly/Awarded 25,000 miles X .015 and reduce the airfare by $375. I refuse to use 50,000 miles + $20.80 taxes/fees to fly from ATL-SAN-ATL (New Years) when I would pay $368 + $20.80 taxes/fees for the date and time I want to fly.

I used Delta AE card because I use to get a good return on the amount of points used: 50,000 miles and a roundtrip ATL-Rome ticket (booked 331 days in advance 2004 and flew in 2005) and 25,000 for two roundtrip tickets ATL-GEG-ATL booked months in advance (2006 had one layover and in 2007 with two layover's and the beginning of my being upset with the Delta FF program).

Today I am better off with the Emigrant Direct Cash Back Card at .014 (meet requirments) and pay for my ticket. DID THE MATH: Spend $25,000 X .014 (ED Cash Back MC) = $350. For $350 I can watch for sales and fly to most domestic destinations I want to go to and even depart on a Saturday, a must for me. I don't have to book months in advance and use more Delta miles than I want to get a ticket that I could of paid by cash and cost less.

I really hope Delta makes changes to their frequent flyer program that is to may andvantage and I will consider the pros/cons of reapplying for a Delta AE card. I really loved it -- but refuse to use the Delta AE card if I cannot get a Sky Saver ticket on the date and time I want -- even booking 150-331 days in advance.

griffinj

Is this an Advertisement disguised as a post?

Bonzz

Glad you found something that worked for you. Quite the tome of a second post.

VIB

I think it's Clark Howard in disguise.

rcherskov

We can't have a discussion in our house without an obligatory "Well Clark Howard said..." from my mom.

thenewbie

If you "know the rules," you would know that you can use DL miles on partner airlines.

The website you should know about is showing the following available for 50,000 miles:

Sun, Jul 27 KLM 622
Depart: 16:45 Atlanta, GA (ATL)
Arrive: 7:25 Amsterdam (AMS)

Time between flights: 2 hr 10 min

Mon, Jul 28 KLM 1127
Depart: 9:35 Amsterdam (AMS)
Arrive: 11:00 Copenhagen (CPH)

Mon, Aug 4 KLM 1128
Depart: 11:55 Copenhagen (CPH)
Arrive: 13:20 Amsterdam (AMS)

Time between flights: 2 hr 10 min

Mon, Aug 4 Northwest Airlines 65
Depart: 15:30 Amsterdam (AMS)
Arrive: 17:55 Newark, NJ (EWR)

Time between flights: 1 hr 30 min

Mon, Aug 4 Northwest Airlines 6003
Depart: 19:25 Newark, NJ (EWR)
Arrive: 22:13 Atlanta, GA (ATL)
Operated by Continental Airlines - CO 0085

planeluvr

She wants to fly Delta, not no stinking partner. Don't confuse her with facts.

mtparadis

DL forum? There are credit card forums.

And who uses miles for domestic tickets costing $368? Of course it seems like a good deal when you do it.

Totoro

The value offset per mile you mentioned is unlikely to happen. IIRC, the IRS wanted to tax frequent flier miles but didn't due to inability to quantify the value of the mile. If the FF plans went to a value-based system, the IRS might visit this issue again.

DLFan2

I didn't know about that...I'm no lawyer, but I think an argument could be made that whatever the miles are worth, they represent a partial refund of the fare paid...sort of like the "dividend" I get from my auto insurance company.

As far as the DL AMEX card is concerned, I value it because of the MQMs I get each year. Although this year I will actually have flown enough miles to earn GM, in all the previous years I would not have reached FO without the AMEX boost. On top of that, with the "Always Double Miles" for spending in certain categories, plus various promotions over the course of the year, the overall effect is quite a bit better than $1 per mile. And then there are the bonus miles earned for flying with Medallion Status (which I would not have had without the AMEX MQMs)...it all adds up. So if that Saver ticket isn't available for 25K miles, using 50K turns out to be not quite as bad as it seems.

Just my $.02...

Spent_All_My_Miles

The other issue is the mixing of personal and business travel ... using miles earned from personal travel would not be taxed (in the same manner that one is not taxed for obtaining and using coupons), ditto with miles earned on business and used for business.
The mess is when an award ticket is used where the miles came from a mix of personal and business (and even the distinction between earning miles on business and personal travel is blurred, given the numerous types of bonuses one can earn) ... you think tracking capital gains are hard, this will be orders of magnitude harder.

DLfan

Okay. You made a smart decision...you moved your business to a card that more closely mirrors your desires from a credit card. More people should make their decision based on what works best for them. The Delta branded is clearly not the card for everyone.

Delta has never had such a "policy". 331-days prior is earliest point at which award seats are offered. Often they are not offered until much closer to date of departure and often they are never offered at all.

I don't know what plan you were offered, but I was certainly not offered a "one frequent flyer sky saver ticket a year". Do you have this in writing? The best I can do is one SkyMile (or more depending on the merchant) per dollar spent. This goes into my account and I then get to compete for the limited SS seats. That said, I do enjoy an advantage because I actually fly Delta enough to be PM.

I'm not trying to pick on you, but rather I commend you for moving your business elsewhere. If you really want to change the way Delta and AMEX do business, taking yours elsewhere is the only way. Convince millions of others to do likewise and you might get their attention.

Bonzz

Heeheee....I just noticed this part of the post...I would really hate to see the whole letter.

KenH_Atlanta

KfromMarietta, you should consider the Delta SkyPoints card from Amex. For non-medallions with scant access to SS seats (like me), it provides just the kind of offset that you are looking for. Tiered rebates of off purchased Delta tix (e.g. $375 off of a $500 ticket for 20,000 points). And if there is a rare SS seat available, you can transfer the Sky"points" to your Delta Sky"miles" account (1 for 1) and use them accordingly. I recently traded in the Gold Delta Amex for SkyPoints. Just google "Delta Skypoints"

Rebelyell

Wow KfromMarietta,

I've spent $35,000 on my Skymiles Platinum card so far this year and with bonuses have already earned about 75,000 miles. If I hit $50,000 in spending, and I plan to, I'll probably earn about 100,000 miles.

This is enough for two SkySaver tickets to Europe. And yes, I've found that I am able to book them on Air France, which suits me just fine. Also, $25,000 in spending gives you almost automatic elite status, which is still nice to have.

So you can enjoy your $350 and I'll enjoy my free European vacations. In fact, I have a trip booked for next spring for the entire family, CVG-VCE, four tickets, 200,000 miles.