Points issued by the Wing of Satan have no real value whatsoever.

I find Mooper's posts well thought out, factual and both useful and thought provoking.

The main thrust of posts by him and others might be summarized as "Delta Skymiles works for me and may work for you". In this vein, here's my tally on Skymiles, compared to AA and UA & CO for me:

1. Skymiles' low level awards TATL in Y (my current focus) are 60k, while AA is 40K and UA is 55. That makes Delta 50% higher than AA, offsetting most or all or more than all of the earning advantage (if any) Delta has.

2. Delta low-level awards TATL are not available on the website calendars on as many dates overall as UA and AA. Anecdotal evidence but check out several months on the several sites and you may agree.

3. If low-level awards are not available, miles required jump faster on DL. The next level DL is 90K, while on AA it is 60K.

4. DL does not offer one way awards, while AA and UA do. This is huge for me as, using one way awards, I can take one airline outbound and another inbound, which has the effect of opening availability from one program to another. (I know DL does offer one way but only at RT prices, which I don't count).

5. DL's USA gateways are in CVG, ATL, JFK and SLC, so stopover possibilities are primarily in those cities. AA offers Chicago, New York and Dallas, and UA has DEN, IAD, Chicago and SFO. I have little interest in ATL, CVG or SLC.

6. DL's website calendar is unreliable. Statements about how 'if you have status and know how to tinker with the calendar you can then find flights', speak for themselves.

7. By Delta's admission, the calendar is broken. I think they said it would be repaired during the summer, so relief on that should be 75 days or less away.

I am really grateful that this thread has not degenerated into the partisan posts of others on DL worthiness. But on substance, I agree with Gleff-Of course I'll take cheap giveaways where I can find them, but when putting my earnings power or travel dollars to use, I have little reason to use Delta. And absent status or living in a DL hub, it's hard to see why others would do so.

As the thread starter, I am "going rogue" in my quest to earn a free flight or two for my family and will bank on DL to get me there, starting with my trip to Asia. I may regret it, but you know, there were many reasons it made sense. Spouse and I already had miles on DL, Alaska is a pretty big player where I am (Hawaiian has a couple of flights), SPG card giving 1.25:1 ratio on DL miles. I hope to be as positive as Mooper when all is said and done.

[Of course, I could also be going on many a rant when all is said and done too]

Every time I'm planning a vacation, I look first to see if I can use all the Delta miles I stockpiled for years. So I go check out their award chart, like I did for an upcoming Aruba trip. I was quickly reminded why I still have so many Delta miles.

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/6473/deltau.jpg

I also remembered why I'm running low on American miles

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/5877/americanq.jpg

Make sure you report back on your "going rogue" experience. The airline experience itself is in the top tier of US airlines. The backlash is against the "loyalty" program.

Some might say these aren't valid, but hopefully your reaction isn't like those of posters on DL's official blog when the three-tier system was announced:

Delta Blog - New Skymiles Award Structure

Note that an operative point is domestic versus international awards. If you are trying to get to Asia on DL miles, you are in for a tough battle. Use the advice given by others, but don't hold your breath.

You're really going to stake your argument on how 'limited' the domestic route networks of American Airlines and US Airways are? Sure, if you frequently want to go places that only Delta flies when redeeming your awards and you fly enough to be a Delta top tier elite then you should fly Delta and credit your flight miles to Skymiles. What cities are those, adn is htat actually your redemption pattern?

I've long said that someone who lives in a Delta hub city and flies enough to earn a good tier of elite status should probably fly Delta and credit to Skymiles, because upgrades matter.

And that person might even use a Delta credit card for the spending contribution towards status, and the Reserve card's bump in upgrade priority.

But that's different from saying that they should make that choice because of Skymiles redemption ability.

And if they don't need the credit card to boost status, then even in your relatively limited case of someone who only wants to redeem within the 48 contiguous United States (and that is a VERY limiting case, and even there your quote above concedes you aren't saying Delta is best) I'd argue such a person should probably use a cash back card and use the cash to buy those domestic tickets if they wish. If the tickets are for themselves, as a Dimaond they'll be upgraded most of the time. And regardless of who they're for they won't have to fight for inventory at the low level.

As for promos I will gladly take 4750 US Airways miles over even twice as many Delta miles on a car rental, but that's because I think of my miles as more than a minor cashback currency to be used to take me in coach to Florida at the holidays. I leverage the miles and points for the sorts of aspirational awards that I couldn't or wouldn't pay cash for. For the kinds of things that have really enriched my life, seeing places and things I wouldn't otherwise have seen and experiencing cultures I wasn't already familiar with -- and doing it all in a modicum of comfort otherwise-unsupported by my modest income.

^^

I think this would be a perfect email to send to Delta showing them why there is such a negative backlash against their program. It would be interesting to see what their response would be. Probably "That's nice."

I had a screenshot comparison like mosu84's ready for my post of last night but I didn't want to go to the hassle of pasting it in. It was for AA vs. Delta, though with different cities and times. The results were pretty much the same-not as dramatic as mosu84's but markedly in AA's favor.

Anyone can try this him or herself. And remember, this just shows who says they have low level flights on which days. It does not take into account directly either the additional miles needed on DL for low level, or whether the days shown with low level availability on DL's calendar really have flights at that low level on those days.

you left a * out, as you posetd its not 100% true. AA is 40k to Europe 10/15-5/15 Inclusive, want to go outsuide that time frame and its 60k no different then DL.

Im not talking about who has availabilty or more of it just simply that what You posted isnt 100% correct

^^^

^^^
+1

No, it's simply one factor in the equation, as I previously outlined.

Yes, it is limiting, but as I detail below, I believe it applies to the vast majority of Delta's customer base.

You're correct in pointing out that I'm not necessarily saying Delta is tops with domestic availability; I am saying that overall, in that arena, they are right in the mix with their peers and certainly not issuing miles of lesser value. I am, however, saying they are tops in terms of mile acquisition opportunities (supply side).

That makes perfect sense for you, and anyone who knows how to and is interested in leveraging them for the "high value redemptions" you cited earlier. If you're looking for a premium cabin award trip to/around Europe/Asia with your wife, you'd be silly to look to DL over US. I've taken such trips, and when I do, I'm right with you on the superior value of US miles for that type of redemption. There are a lot of people in this category, but again, my point is that it is misleading to claim that Skymiles *overall* are not worth as much as other airline miles. Such declarations must be placed in the context of the user's "flying universe and needs", first. In your world of usage patterns, DL miles are worth much less to you. Fair enough. There are many of us, however, who fly primarily within the 48 contiguous states. Maybe, we're rare on FT, maybe you deem us fools, but the vast majority of Delta's customers and revenue fit this mold. In my case, I have dozens of people I *need* to shuttle around the states, and I'm either going to pay for them or redeem miles for them... it has to be one or the other. 7600 DL miles will save me a lot more after-tax dollars than 4650 US miles or lesser quantities of AA/CO/etc, so I choose them when renting a car. Similar story with card spending and many (but certainly not all) other earning opportunities.

I think by virtue of mooper has to try so hard to prove that Skypaso in some situations worth as much as other airlines' speaks volume of skypaso's overall worth. ^
I sure would like to trade my delta mile for AA one.