Defending the SkyPeso: Why a SkyMiles Devaluation Won’t Change Its Unit of Measure

Reader David B emails,

“Skypesos” has become an insult to the peso.

Work with me on this.

I think David isn’t thinking globally enough.

It used to be the Mexican peso.

Now it’s the Philippine peso.

Besides, SkyUgandanSchillings doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.

(And, for that matter, the ‘more accurate’ unit of measure probably would have been centavo rather than peso because a peso is actually worth more than a single airline mile. But sometimes elegance trumps precision.)


About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. I might go Vietnam Dong here..I think SkyDong has a ring to it!
    1.00 USD = 21,083.70 VND
    US Dollar ↔ Vietnamese Dong
    1 USD = 21,083.70 VND 1 VND = 0.0000474300 USD

  2. What was the point of this post? We already know how you feel about Skymiles and about the recent devaluation.

  3. Why not the Argentinian Peso? Sure the exchange rate is not as accurate, but the surrounding uncertainty is certainly appropriate

  4. I believe this is the second time in a row you failed to mention that you coined the term SkyPeso. You are missing out on valuable opportunities to pat yourself on the back.

  5. A slow news day and no credit card referrals to flog today? So sad.

    Great post – very useful info!!!

  6. I propose SKYLYRA. Remember the Allen Sherman song line “10’000 Lyra make a half a dollar….”

  7. @sice, @mark

    Man, for a guy as helpful as he is, you sure give Gary a lot of crap. He’s been helpful to me, patronage of his referral links or not.

    SkyRupiah and SkyDong both have nice rings to them.

  8. For the sourpusses in the comments, the point of the post is just some verbal horsing around.

  9. ‘Devaluation’ is just plain wrong, based on what we know. It’s possible, but not yet supported by any facts.

    Making miles harder to obtain does not devalue them. In fact, it does the reverse.

  10. I’m compelled to go for SkyDong since, for the life of me, I can’t think of a currency ending in Wang.

  11. Uh oh, now you’ve done it. You’ve casually insulted the Philippines. Be prepared for a sh*tstorm of mortally offended Filipinos once someone posts this to their Facebook.

    (Disclaimer: I’m Filipino, and the aforementioned behavior is unfortunately a common reaction by Filipinos to perceived marginalization by foreigners.)

  12. Correct me if I’m wrong, but if they keep the lowest award tier, there will be less miles fighting to redeem for those seats, so presumably SkyMiles will go further. By no means am I a fan of the change or of Delta in general, but odds are good this doesn’t technically devalue the miles.

  13. While I appreciate the reference, not sure I used the otherwise widely accepted term “Skypesos” to describe the devaluation. I’d tend (as Airjus has) towards referencing this as akin to the classic Trillion Dollar Zimbabwe note in the overall impact DL’s program changes could precipitate.

  14. @Kris – I’ve discussed this factor before though bear in mind that butt in seat miles earning is now already less than half of miles earned.

  15. @Mike I don’t think I’ve insulted the Philippines, unless you’re saying it’s insulting to compare the valuable Philippine Peso with the less value Delta Skymile?

  16. @Gary:
    First, I was only (half-)joking. I don’t actually think your blog will be mobbed by angry Pinoys. I was just making a joke at their expense.

    Second, I agree, you didn’t insult the Philippines. But some (many) of my countrymen are ultra-sensitive about the country’s public image in other countries. Any, and I mean ANY statement or implication by a foreigner that something from the Philippines is of low worth, and they will rush to its defense, even if the statement is true.

    In the case of this article of yours, a typical Filipino overreaction would be, “He’s saying our currency is less valuable than Mexico’s! SIC HIM!” The fact that you’re also using the Philippine Peso as a metric of the Skymile’s worthlessness is also grounds for another perceived insult.

Comments are closed.