GTITAN

Indufan, sorry you jumped into a s.... storm here today. Folks on here seem a little annoyed! Yes, this was a nice change, but I hear those words now about lipstick and pigs. DL has a nice soft product, a good hard product, but IHMO, not the greatest FFP in the world especially for US based FT'ers. You see the anathema over here because of exactly this point. Many flew NW for the FFP despite what some may say was lacking in the hard and soft products. As I've said, we had it really good. It is over, but personally, I would not have traded my time on NW for anything. It was really fun.

Safe Travels.

avidflyer

Yes a few minor +'s like segs on DL and no Sat requirement but these are just "bones" being tossed to slow the outrage at the full net effect on the 2 programs. Any Golds out there should take a real hint from this (plat only exemption for "close-in bookings) as a sign of things to come. Gold will be the new Silver and Silver will be nothing but a shinny card. This really is a very bad tactical move by DL and like I said up thread: any airline out there that wants to poach can do it now and walk away with a lot of business for very little outlay.

bostonbali

Another Platinum (actually two - my wife is a NWA PE as well) voicing his concern and displeasure.

Previous communications from Bob S. stated that NWA and DL will make their loyalty program the BEST in the industry.

Clearly, that is not what is actually happening. They're levying all kinds of stupid nickel-n-dime fees that, while raising revenue, will also send LOYAL customers away.
Wake up, DL/NW - don't you understand the value of a loyal and happy customer base?!?!?

indufan

Dude I have thick skin. I can take it. The world isn't coming to an end because of this merger. I have read time and time again about how worthless SkyMiles are because you can never get an award....despite the fact that I redeemed 4 tickets this year for exactly the dates and times that I wanted. Despite the fact that nearly every survey that has been done shows Delta at or above average on award availability...even one from the people who run this website. I will concede that these are somewhat dated. I will also concede that I haven't redeemed anything under the 3 tier plan...although I have checked a couple and found lowest level availability.

I understand the view that things are being taken away but I didn't like the absolute statement that nothing positive has come from it when clearly there was.

hazelrah

Delta has its merger w/NW,it has Midwest to bleed Air Tran in MKE; now the heat is on Delta management to produce. With fuel at low prices and with NW's cash in its pocket, there will be no excuses permitted for Delta management.

IMO Delta management has received the "Delta must be profitable" message from investors loud and clear. Confusing fees and devaluation of FF miles are one means for Delta to achieve greater revenue.

MikeMpls

Who cares? That's about as insignificant & petty a "giveback" as it gets.

tomh009

If you are only speculating about future programs, it would be nice to say so in the post rather than presenting your assumptions as facts.

And you can make similar assumptions about just about any FF program out there. No airline is working on giving FFs more benefits with fewer fees and restrictions.

tomh009

And I don't ever recall booking an award flight within 21 days, so that fee has almost no impact on me. (And even less as long as I have PE status.)

As always, the significance of the changes depends on individual travel patterns.

MikeMpls

Nothing postive that's worth getting excited about. If you think dropping the Sat. night stay requirement is otherwise, you're really scraping the barrel.

The pig now has a twin, and they're both wearing lipstick.

More importantly, these recent changes show pretty conclusively that all the mumbo jumbo about creating a "best-in-class" frequent flyer program was nothing but a pack of lies. Honestly, indufan, Jeff gets exactly the same response (and usually well deserved!!!!!) every time he posts in the DL forum. Why should we be thrilled with this crap? By starting to treat NW elites the same way DL elites have been kicked around for years, they're going to start to get the same reactions from us.

indufan

Whatever. Now you are qualifying your early statement.
You putting a value judgment on it.

MikeMpls

We've done it several times to attend the funerals & memorial services for relatives & friends. This change is just a kick in the face to extract money from people at what's already a bad moment.

avidflyer

Um...my post said (to quote your quote of my quote)

"Plats are only exempt through next year"

What part of that is speculation? This was my response to your attempt to make a point about this being a good thing and another reason to attain Plat. Plat is only good for the year you are in as the program is subject to change in the following year (read your elite handbook). Tell that to a Gold who flies 50,000 miles BIS w/ NW.

motytrah

Well, in the true sense of "value" yes. Neither Saturday Stay nor <21 day booking fees recover any actual costs for the airline. On the other hand Baggage fees do recover a costs in terms of staff and fuel.

Oddly enough the one that actual has a cost to the airline ALL elites are exempt from. The one that has no cost, only Plats are exempt. Someone tell me where the logic is on that one.

Furthermore, the new fee structure drives home the point that it's DL's goal to put as many roadblocks in front of redeeming miles as possible. It creates an adversarial mentality between the customer and company that I just don't see the point of. It leaves us all wondering "what's next"?

motytrah

With all the promo's DL runs, know what they call a flyer who does 50,000+ BIS miles on DL? A platinum. That's the part that really stings. We're having to eat all these BS rules and charges because SkyMiles hands out MQMs like candy.

Poopdeck90210

Very good point! I thought about this after I made my reply post. If you think about it, the lack of availability of PerkSaver awards (and this new third tier award), are in effect a penalty or cost of booking an Award ticket late. So, in my opinion, adding more fees on top of this is a form of "double dipping" on Delta's part to the participants of the WP Mileage program.

-A