Customers have been writing to Delta to express dissatisfaction with changes to their elite status program. Miles and segments don’t matter anymore – only qualifying dollars. And instead of spending a minimum $20,000 with Delta to earn top tier Diamond status, Delta now wants $35,000. Other elite levels require more spend as well.
Delta isn’t offering any more benefits than before. They’re just asking more of customers. And they’ll count every $10 in spend on Delta’s $550 premium co-brand credit card as worth 1 qualifying dollar. It takes $20 in spend on their Platinum card to earn a qualifying dollar. And every dollar spent booking hotels, rental cars, and vacation packages through Delta also earns a qualifying dollar (but you’ll give up hotel points and credit towards hotel elite status by doing so).
The airline wants customers to know that they can still earn status. All they have to do is move any ticket spending with other airlines over to Delta, and then spend more on their credit cards. Delta says that they’ll receive nearly $7 billion from Amex this year, and they have a vision to push that up to $10 billion. They need customers to do their part!
Here’s one response where Delta explains that, as a Diamond member, customers are already hitting $20,000 in spend on tickets. So just spend $150,000 on their $550 annual fee credit card and “You may not be that far off in your ability to reach Diamond status for 2025.”
SkyMiles members need to stop complaining, according to the airline, and do simple math. If they’d just see they only need to spend $150,000 on a credit card, all would be fine. Does that sound daunting to you? Just stop being poor. Delta has an American Express revenue goal to meet.
The thing is that customers should do the math like Delta says. If you put $150,000 of spending on a Delta credit card then you’re earning Delta miles with that spending. Those miles aren’t worthless, but they are worth less. Delta miles certainly aren’t worth more than about 1.1 cents apiece (a 1.1% rebate at 1 mile per dollar) and a no annual fee card can easily get 2% back.
And customers should consider whether loyalty to Delta has become too one-sided. Upgrades have gotten harder, with most first class seats being sold, and they’re expected to get harder still with the airline saying they have plans for greater ‘segmentation’ of the first class cabin, along the lines of what they did with coach (Basic Economy, Comfort+) to sell more seats and generate more revenue. Delta also says they aren’t done making changes to the program.
So even if you stop being poor, maybe you want to spend your money somewhere else? If you live in Atlanta or the Upper Midwest that isn’t easy of course. But in most markets customers have a choice. Delta is the marginally more reliable airline in most cases, but in many ways both American and United have improved. For someone that earns status purely by flying, United’s status is easier to earn. And for someone that earns status via credit card and other activity, American’s is far easier too.
(HT: H.G.)
Never understood Delta fanboys/women. What are you possibly getting for your “loyalty”? Skypesos worth nothing. At least with AA there are still many great partner award redemptions available. Just flew JAL F. Amazing flight for 80,000 miles. Can delta do that? Enjoy your upgrades to comfort +++ lol.
Living in Minneapolis, we are practically stuck with Delta for flexible business flights and direct international flights. Removing the MQM requirement is actually a benefit for non-AMEX flyers out of MSP because our flights are so overpriced compared to the US average. We might be the only people on the planet who actually benefit from these changes.
I don’t have the Delta AMEX because it was already a bad deal compared to my X1 earning 3% cash back with no annual fee (for first $7500 per month, 2% after that).
TLDR: Old 2023 Rules = I am 1300 MQMs away from Silver
2024 Rules = Already at Gold
I took a single Delta One Europe trip through Delta Vacations that cost over $6k. I have flown one coach domestic flight with two more coach flights on the books for this year. I will be 1300 MQMs short of Silver if I don’t end up taking another Delta flight this year. My MQDs under the new model would have pushed me into Silver on the very first trip. I’d be about $3k MQDs away from Gold without booking my cars and hotel through Delta. Under the new rules, I likely would book cars and hotels through Delta, in which case would already be at Gold. I don’t travel enough to get enough points or status from car rentals and hotel chains, so I actually would benefit from consolidating through Delta.
When my Delta Reserve card comes up for renewal in 2024, I will be cancelling that card. In the mean time, I won’t use it for any purchases as I don’t want Delta to make any money off of me.
Question though . . . Is the Amex Platinum card worth having now? I figure that when I drop the Delta Reserve card, I will either go for the Delta Platinum or the Chase Sapphire Reserve. Even though I’m Platinum Pro with AA, I really don’t care about the elite status as I only purchase premium cabins. I do enjoy the airport lounges though.
@Gary Says the guy clearly pushing people to his advertisers (see AA cc ads below). The entire article is slanted and tries to portray Delta as an elitist snob of a company. Really they’re trying to match their loyalty club and perks to those that earn them the most money. This is capitalism; they’ve created a great product and they are segmenting the market in a way that increases earnings (how dare they?!?). The changes also try to drive more of our travel spend to their website and gives us credit for that. That’s great for me as I typically check hotels there, Amex and sometimes direct… but usually Delta’s prices are lower or the same – now that will count towards my status. Outside of that, I’m a firm believer in you get what you pay for… so if y’all want to fly on other airlines that are essentially the greyhound of the skies, go for it. I’m sure they can award you with cheaper flights that are more often late. If you want in-flight Wi-Fi, lounges that are not overcrowded, newer planes that are on time, and friendly service, fly Delta.
What I HATED about Delta’s email announcing these changes is that it asserted it is making these changes because they listened to my feedback. I never gave them feedback that I wanted them to change the program. Whoever asked for these changes, please identify yourselves! If no one asked for these changes, then DL is just being a big fat liar and a coward in announcing these changes in the way it did!
@Bill, you know they don’t control the ads you see, right?
Delta you telling us stop being poor ok how about you Delta stop being worry about being Rich and stop make yourself look like a fool
Why would anyone who isn’t poor waste their money on a crAAppy airline? Buy a Ford instead of BMW? Just because of the rewards program? People don’t get rich making dumb decisions.
This article makes zero sense, unless it’s written as an ad for sponsor AA.
Somebody check on Delta Dunn. He’s about to have a coronary over at OMAAT. I wish everyone would realize that chasing status and points is like trying to pick up a turd by the clean end. That’s why I abandoned it. Get a good cash back card and book what you want with who you want.
Lol @ Bill. Lounges that are not overcrowded. Lolllllllllllllllllll
Delta’s program is not unlike that of Hilton and Marriott…worthless.
The idea that anyone would put spend on a branded credit card of any of these three slimy entities is ludicrous. Getting a bonus in exchange for a few thousand dollars can be an okay idea. But ongoing spending is just setting a match to the opportunity that your spend otherwise presents.
AA is better. United is better. Hyatt is much better. Alaska is wildly better
I drove a lot of my credit card use to the DL branded Platinum card to get the MQD waiver, and 20K in annual MQM bumps.
That ends in a few weeks. As soon as I requalify for my last lap as a Delta Platinum, my spend will shift 80% to a cash back card, 15% to a UA branded card, and just Delta purchases will go to my soon-to-be downgraded DL Gold card.
The companion cert became a joke as planes filled up. Now, no waiver offered? Very poor spend-to-MQD conversion? Then no $250 annual fee from me. Thanks for making my travel choices clearer and freer, Delta.
I gave up Delta diamond status a few years ago after paying to upgrade myself all the time anyway because complimentary upgrades are a thing of the past. So I’m no delta fan but to pretend like AA is any better is just dumb. You don’t get much value out of any elite program now so I just fly whoever has the best product on route.
Unbelievable example or raw greed. Delta “we want more. We will tear up our previous arrangement and make you a lot more for the same Bennie”. Worse yet, when you complain, we’ll gaslight you and pretend it’s your fault. A-holes
@ Bill
‘You get what you pay for” is not capitalism. You are the buyer, not the seller. You want to do better than that. “Get more, pay less.”
3 million miles on Delta, 30 year loyalty, Diamond for a decade.
None of that matters.
Company requires booking on company website, using company credit card (Visa, not AMEX).
At least I will have my permanent Gold status (until they remove that too, in the next set of changes).
Loyalty program, sure, passengers loyalty to Delta, but not from Delta to passengers.
I fly a lot. I’ve qualified by butt-in-seat miles/spend on DL every year since they created the level (other than covid year 1 which was appreciated grace).
I can count on one hand the number of flights of other non-partner airlines I’ve flown on since 2010. All but one was due to DL or DL partners not serving that destination.
Mostly domestic, some international.
There is only one year under the new rules that I would have qualified for diamond based on flying alone. That’s is my beef. It’s not that they want to make it full revenue based, it’s that they made the revenue goal so a mostly domestic 30-35 itinerary a year flyer can’t really achieve better than gold. I’m looking at my options to move from Delta to another brand. I’m away from home more than half the year.. I’m fiercely loyal.. but I’m not stupid.
Business travel on my own cards, other cc spend very high. But… With 5/3/2% cash back, on my cards, there is 0% chance an airline card gets any of that spend. The cash back pays for one of my cars. I’d rather have the cash back Benz than a few upgrades…
Hotels, I’ll keep my Hilton diamond status, thank you but no thank you Delta, unless you’re planning on comping it back to me for booking though you?
Probably moving to AA for my $20-30k a year sir travel spend, more direct options from here now anyway… Why be loyal anymore when that means connections over directs if there’s no chance of getting anything back?
I fly a lot. I’ve qualified for diamond by butt-in-seat miles/spend on DL every year since they created the level (other than covid year 1 which was appreciated grace).
I can count on one hand the number of flights of other non-partner airlines I’ve flown on since 2010. All but one was due to DL or DL partners not serving that destination.
Mostly domestic, some international.
There is only one year under the new rules that I would have qualified for diamond based on flying alone. That’s is my beef. It’s not that they want to make it full revenue based, it’s that they made the revenue goal so a mostly domestic 30-35 itinerary a year flyer can’t really achieve better than gold. I’m looking at my options to move from Delta to another brand. I’m away from home more than half the year.. I’m fiercely loyal.. but I’m not stupid.
Business travel on my own cards, other cc spend very high. But… With 5/3/2% cash back, on my cards, there is 0% chance an airline card gets any of that spend. The cash back pays for one of my cars. I’d rather have the cash back Benz than a few upgrades…
Hotels, I’ll keep my Hilton diamond status, thank you but no thank you Delta, unless you’re planning on comping it back to me for booking though you?
Probably moving to AA for my $20-30k a year sir travel spend, more direct options from here now anyway… Why be loyal anymore when that means connections over directs if there’s no chance of getting anything back?
I use the Delta American Express Card a lot. In Europe, not many places will accept the credit card. If they could get worldwide coverage of the card, I would spend more.
I have not flown Delta in years – never understood the kudos this air line (to use Delta’s quaint spelling) gets as I have had nothing but problems.
Having said that I do have the Amex Platinum card and it works well for me. Each individual will have to determine their spending and how such a card can be beneficial to them. But don’t discount the Amex Platinum just because you plan to steer your spending away from Delta. Do your homework
Delta will learn a hard lesson – you either win on loyalty, or you will have to compete on price.
Delta has made it so hard to earn and/or maintain status with the airline that there is little point trying. When many of their members realize that with their normal earning that they will be a Silver, or still just a Skymiles member – the cost of the flight will start to matter a LOT more.
With Delta being the most expensive of the airlines, they will find that these moves haven’t improved revenue – they will have to compete with fare sales to get the money that used to be ‘assured’.
I’ve been a Platinum or Gold for years now, but with the current plan I may just be a Silver. So when I book my corporate travel, it makes more sense for me to fly on an airline that will reward that loyalty more.
Lose on loyalty, compete on price.
Most airlines want to be the preferred airline for all customers but Delta made the business decision to be the preferred airline for their preferred customer, and the rest of us don’t matter much. Most airlines want to be profitable by filling as many seats as possible while minimizing expenses as much as possible. Delta wants to be profitable by maximizing revenue from their best customers rather than by minimizing expenses. They prioritize their customers by revenue:
(1) rich people who purchase the best seats, want the best service and don’t care about price,
(2) business frequent fliers who care more about good service and convenience than about price because their company pays for the seat,
(3) upper-middle class people who use AmEx cards (with kickbacks to Delta) and who aspire to be rich someday, and
(4) price-conscious people who are stuck with Delta due to geography, and everybody else.
During covid, Delta tried to fill as many seats as possible and expanded profitable partnerships with AmEx, etc. in order to stay afloat. When things started getting back to normal, (1) and (2) customers started complaining that their experience was eroding because there were too many (3) customers taking up forward seats in planes and space in Sky Clubs. In response, Delta calculated that it would be better (more profitable in the long run) to risk some of their AmEx revenue and their lower-priority customers by kicking them out of Sky Clubs and making it harder for them to get good seats up front without paying for them like (1) & (2) customers.
Also, mid-tenured flight crews are burned out because of scheduling; quicker turnarounds and shorter layovers, and it shows… driving more flight attendants to sign union cards.
@Seth They won’t be overcrowded once they kick out all of you occasional fliers without a first class ticket!!
Been top tier with DAL since ce 1990. I am “lifetime” Gold at 3.8 million miles. But have move most of spend to jetBlue this year. Other than using a few RUCs & GUCs, bye DAL.
Well, this comment section is special.
Hit 2 million with @Delta last year. A Diamond flyer by miles and $ since inception of that status category. Fly out of CVG which was the most expensive airport in the country for 2 decades thanks to the regional Delta hub. Spent years on CRJ 200 with 50 seats – no 1st class and paid like I was flying Virgin American 1st class. Delta continues to pull the rug out from under their customers. Their planes are the most uncomfortable thanks to ridiculously slim seats and too many rows in the plane. I have to travel and have been roped into Delta Reserve Card for MQM bumps and Sky Club memberships. I was the sucker that bought everything they sold. That stops now. I’ll go find a good cash back card and start looking for the best price and quickest routes. Somehow I feel like it will feel good to be unburdened from Delta pushing into my wallet.
Because spending $150k a year on a credit card means (as a responsible adult spending 50% of their income on EVERYTHING EINGLE EXPENSE, i.e., home expenses, mortgage, food, childcare, utilities, etc) would mean that anyone wanting to hit Diamond status needs to earn $300k a year (post tax) so more like $425k/year in gross salary so even have a chance at hitting that tier. Welcome to reality everyone…
I changed over to Alaska last year after being a truly loyal 20 year Delta Diamond (since the program) and MMiler. Treating Amex holders better than those that actually paid for a lounge membership was the last straw for me! Alaska is 10x better than Delta! So glad to be unbuttoned by Delta!
I agree with Brian. AA is pretty good and the only airline I fly to and from Europe.
Am I a fan of the changes as someone who went from a borderline Diamond (and usually Platinum) to someone who will be between Gold/Platinum going forward? Actually yes. I’m now not competing with the hoards of people who qualified for Platinum with cheap flights + $25k of credit card spend, who book flights way ahead of time while I’m buying last minute after they’ve been upgraded. There are the same number of seats on the planes – the distribution of frequent flyers will just be different.
Not everyone deserves to be a Diamond. It’s not a participation trophy.
SkyPesos are terrible but the on board experience and reliability make up for it for me.
Now the lounge change … that’s not one I’m a fan of at all. Usually would stop in for 15 minutes before a flight, or to change upon arrival before a meeting. Now I’ll have to get used to airport bathrooms. But it is what it is.
Brilliant. At least they are being honest. Buy full fare first class tickets or you are useless to them.
I started a change.org against this. Please let’s make this change once. This is extortion on Delta’s side. We have been diligently been flying Delta, and all of a sudden, we get thrown out. Below is the link.
Can you add your signature? ✍️
https://chng.it/YZykSsRFcn
I have been a loyal Delta flyer (and a million miller) for many years .I fly a lot internationally (mostly business class) in fact I usually hit diamond status by mid-year just as I did this year. Delta is very clear that they don’t want my business. I usually stop flying mid-year with Delta once I hit Diamond since my MQDs don’t roll to the next year so I have status with other airlines. Most probably I won’t pursue status on Delta next year. As a secondary move I am canceling both my American Express Platinum card when it renews since they slap me on the face by decreasing the number of sky lounges visits next year as well as my American Express Delta card since I don’t want to support bad businesses. I have another card with priority pass which I use a lot internationally and sometimes is useful domestically. Plus if you fly internationally business class there’s usually nice lounges included.
Get rid of the little people, peons ,bottom feeders
Spend 35 k and up and be appreciated by your Delta executive gods
Otherwise get in the back of our bus and make way for a customer that matters!
Spend more or get out of our way!Face it most of you members are disposable
Time to double the cost to redeem delta miles and clean house of the undesirables
It’s all about numbers, profits, stock prices. We are all just numbers to ALL public corporations.