mike_plat

I agree with Channa. As a former CO Plat (also from SF Bay Area), I am painfully aware of the dearth of benefits at CO. Scott is friendly to be sure but never made any traction on improving what I considered to be the major deficiencies. In late October when CO Elites no longer can get NW upgrades, there'll be even more reason for CO Elites to grumble.

mike_plat

I don't think it's that. DL recognized NW's systems were better. I think that's why the took Theresa Wise from NW to be the head of IT for all of DL. Then I think she/they realized that porting what DL had over to NW's systems was too expensive and couldn't be done in time to hit the merger milestones.

I still do find it amazing, however, that I still cannot do on DL's website what I could do on NW's in 2003. That is amazing. I hope in time Theresa fixes that.

DLCorpTeam

As always, we appreciate your feedback on our 2010 Medallion program. We’ve read your posts and while we can’t respond every day to each question, we’ll do our best to watch the forums regularly and respond to the major concerns. Also, as Jeff mentioned in his first post, we recognize we can’t please everyone, but we’re building a program that delivers top-to-bottom benefits to general members, Medallion members and the airline as a whole. Therefore, remember to judge the program as a whole compared to other programs as a whole, rather than strictly benefit by benefit.

With the Choice Benefits, SWU usage on day of departure does not require Z class inventory. If there is Z class available, you will be able to confirm your upgrade at booking. If it is not available, you will be placed on the waitlist. On the day of departure, provided there is an available seat in the premium cabin and you are booked in the appropriate fare class, we will clear anyone wishing to redeem their SWU for an upgrade. As far as the # of Choice Benefits, a status change will trigger the Choice Benefit. If your status changes to Platinum, you will be able to select one; if your status changes to Diamond, you will be able to select two. If you start out as Diamond and requalify (meaning no status change), you can select two.

As far as Diamond Medallion status goes, we are bringing back the Award fee waiver for DMs. Although there were instances of abuse in the past, we also understand that it is a valuable benefit for our most valuable customers. Given that there will be fewer DMs than PMs, providing this popular benefit to a smaller group of high-flying Medallions outweighs the possible abuse.

Many of you are wondering about Award inventory for DMs. Yes, DMs will have better inventory for Award seats than other Medallions at the lowest Award redemption level.

Regarding rollover segments, not all airlines offer segment qualification, so we’re proud that it’s still a cornerstone of our elite program. We focused our efforts and resources on rollover MQMs as most members qualify with miles (not segments). Plus, there are multiple ways to earn MQMs, so we wanted to be sure they were included.

Thanks!

FlytheTail

Thanks for the post and information, SkyMilesInsider. Nice to see you post on FlyerTalk. The more, the better!

bostonbali

Once again, not even a peep about the fact that SWU's are just about worthless to the leisure flyer (who doesn't buy Y/B/M fares).

Jeez DL, did you see the poll (in the DL forum) that shows that 80% of your frequent customers state that the SWU issue is their #1 concern about the new program?
Don't you even want to comment on that (i.e, we looked at it, and it doesn't make financial sense for us), or do you simply not care about what the bulk majority of your loyal customers are saying to you???

bmchris

From experience - you'll only ever see positive spin out of an airline - or basically any government or corporation. Do you think opening a dialogue will change anything? It won't change things, won't make things better, may make things worse - so why waste the effort and time?

DL made a conscious business decision. In reality, they looked at the competition, thought it was too expensive (or would gain less revenue) to offer SWUs, so they didn't. If you really value SWUs - switch to the competition - make it easy by getting a status match. We really can't expect them to be that open, can we? Now that would open the floodgates - not only do they not want us - but they are openly saying they don't want us.

What benefit is it to Medallions to have DL/NW make a statement like that, when their intentions are crystal clear? When it is raining, do you need someone to tell you to open your umbrella? In fact, the person saying it, would sound silly (in this case DL) - since it is so obvious.

GrizShel

I completely disagree with you on this. It's important for customers to express their concerns about a product they purchase. And our feedback has definitely had an impact; hasn't changed things nearly as much as some of us want, but it has certainly made some difference.

I for one appreciate the response by SkymilesInsider, even if I wish there could be a more dynamic exchange and more detailed responses, it's something, and it does help some at least.

But, SkymilesInsider, what about Platinum / Gold benefits regarding award availability? I've seen other Platinums tell me this year they sometimes get better availability but I've yet to see it EVEN ONCE in all my award searches since February of this year. This is one of the reasons I'm diverting some of my business to AA.

bmchris

Yes, feedback is important. But it has been addressed in the reply above. So isn't this in the "asked and answered" bucket? In which case we should move onto the next topic.

Let me ask this - what do you not know about the SWU policy? What do you think Delta doesn't yet know about the stance of its Medallions on the SWU policy? What is the knowledge gap that needs to be filled - on either side?

MikeMpls

You're free to maintain your silence, but it's 100% optional -- at our option -- for the rest of us.

bmchris

My post was meant to answer bostonbali why they were not getting any reply, and offer proactive actions that could be taken. Bostonbali seemed to not understand why DL wouldn't address the SWU policy. I was trying to offer a plausible reason and alleviate their frustration.

So I'll maintain my silence as to my stance on the SWU policy, since I personally understand it (I needed to read it numerous times to get the nuances) - but I'll still attempt to help my fellow Flyertalkers and answer their questions based on my knowledge and what I think is happening, and offer suggestions as to what they personally can do to make their own situation better.

MikeMpls - you've been around for a while - how can we all as a group work together to make DL better understand our stance, and change their SWU policy? Have everyone do a TTU - make it a form TTU to make it easier?

MikeMpls

They only understand very massive protests -- large numbers of people clogging the phone lines & email boxes and/or (a la SaveSkyMiles) signing "We Quit" letters in newspapers.

Since the SaveSkyMiles debacle, they've hired Jeff who understands the value of incrementalism in disenchanting their customers. It's hard to rally enough opposition for every little change, so we pick our battles & they win most of them by default.

fromYXU

What is so difficult in understanding DL's position on the SWU issue???

DL want to make it available to Y/M/B fares only. They know exactly who buys those fares and it is those folks that will take advantage of the offer. If you feel that you are not well served, look elsewhere.

From my point of view the offer is clear and acceptable. I wish I could use a SWU on any fares but it is not offered.

bmchris

OK - how about this as a suggestion. We all think this is a bad business decision for DL, since Medallions will flock away from DL, leading to less revenue, and less profit.

Does anyone have any contacts with large DL shareholders or shareholder groups, who we can contact as a group, or even just have them read these boards, and then raise it with DL at the board level? We've seen some large shareholder groups do major things with Bank management - so why not airlines?

MikeMpls

Customers (primarily FlyerTalkers) have forced DL to roll back three recent changes:
It can work, if they hear from us in large enough numbers.

ADLFO

That's weak. Seeing that the new DM level will only apply to your highest mileage medallions shouldn't it be judged solely based on how other airlines treat their highest mileage flyers?

Yes, you will never please everyone, but you are relying on that truism to counter the growing discontent in regards to the DM program you have announced. The issues have been discussed ad nauseum in this and similar threads in the DL forum, but in a nutshell, it falls short of your goal to be best in class. My unsolicited advice: Don't be so prideful, take a look at what your customers are saying and go back to the drawing board. I certainly understand that those of you developing this program spent thousands of man hours on the entire program and were happy with the end result. However, after seeing feedback from your customers, a second look might be in order. I will agree that perhaps FT isn't a great sample SkyMiles general members, however, I do believe it is a representative sample of your higher mileage flyers. Do the right thing for both DL and its customers. Don't be penny wise and pound foolish.

At least for me, the reason I am still hanging around is DL's excellent front line employees. However, decisions like this from management certainly can, if not corrected, send me to other carriers with greater benefits for high mileage flyers. I don't think I am alone in that sentiment, and the former NW flyers probably won't even give you as much benefit of the doubt as I or other similar situated DL flyers will.