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.)
Tim is busy arguing on OMAAT. Sorry. He’ll be here soon….
But it’s a premium product!!!!!!!!!!!
@ OCTinPHL — Has Tim Dunn ever actually flown on Delta? I find it interesting how he never comments about his own travel experiences, but instead about his bs DOT data. He just seems to be sitting behind his keyboard regurgitating DL’s quarterly earnings spin.
I canceled my business and personal SkyMiles Amex cards last week. 10 years as a Diamond, over 15 as an exclusive Delta flyer. That ended when the new rules were announced.
At this point Delta frequent fliers are the equivalent of a battered spouse in an abusive relationship. No matter how many times they get beat up, they still go back, look for the positives in the relationship, and convince themselves that next time it will be better.
And if you come close Delta now totally bones you with no rollover on spend that didn’t make it to the next higher tier. No, they didn’t rollover MQDs ever but your other status earning metrics DID. Now if our hypothetical diamond in the above scenario has to return a big ticket item end of year and only makes 149,000 on the reserve they forfeit almost $15,000 MQDs and spend another year at platinum. That’s dirty, Delta.
I am stuck. I live in Atlanta. American is somewhat of an option but it looks like it will be cheaper for me to continue to buy my first class tickets like I have been and go ahead and pony up for the sky club membership and close out my Reserve and Platinum Amex. I just need to find a good cash back credit card. Delta is shameful and unfortunately I think other airlines are going to follow suit.
Chasing airline status (esp. in the US3 programs) has been a mostly sucker move for much of the past decade, and definitely during the 2020s. Delta’s move confirms SkyMiles elite status cards are like the VIP cards doled out by casinos, a badge of idiocy for the cardholder versus some kind of positive flex.
Smart travelers have spent the 2020s focused on personal income growth and/or increasing flexibility in their travel spend. FFP changes don’t really mean too much to us. ♂️
It’s interesting that other businesses don’t get the same scrutiny. The grocery store doesn’t reward you for how much time you spent in the produce section, they reward you based on how many groceries you’ve purchased. Rental car companies don’t reward you if you drive their cars for long distances, they reward you for renting a lot of cars. Should they have made it easier?
@OCTinPHL, Mr. Dunn is having an infarction over on OMAAT. Not sure if there’s enough nitroglycerin to get him over here too. The truth can be a bitter pill to swallow.
I wonder when DL will install pay toilets…”but you can pay with your Delta SkyMiles AMEX Platinum card!”
Stop being poor and start being dumber. I’m having trouble with both, so my business went elsewhere. It’s all I can control, but I controlled it.
I’m not mad. I’m glad Delta has set me free from chasing status for 30+ years. Will be cancelling Delta Amex Platinum card when it comes up for renewal. I’m doing my own “simplifying.” Will choose airline with lowest fare from now on. As long as it’s not United. lol
I think the timing is terrible for Delta. I think we are going to see a slowdown in high fare travel as many consumer have bunt through their pandemic savings and charge off rates now top 3%. There was going to be natural attrition in the next 12-24 months anyway. Now they are alienating the majority of their customer base.
We are all now free agents who can stop chasing perks, many of which can be purchased a la carte for alot cheaper than $35k-$300k a year. Don’t be surprised if Delta change course again in 2-3 years as YOY revenue drops and new leadership wants to strike a happy medium with its loyalty programs.
We have the platinum reserve and will cancel it along with my platinum. No sense of keeping a card that does not give you what was promised when we signed up.
Just sold over $100k in Delta stock. Please write them and tell them you aren’t happy and you have options
I joined Deltas SkyMiles program a year prior to the pandemic. I started flying Delta out of DCA and noticed immediately the professional and courtesy that lack at American. Years ago I purchased economy which Delta stopped giving points for so I switched immediately to main cabin and premium purchases in order to gain points. Now, my choices, however how hard I try, no longer matter with this announcement. It’s a business decision for them of which I respect. It leaves me feeling that my business is not important to them.
I cancelled my Delta Amex Platinum business card on Monday. It was up for renewal next month. My personal Delta Amex Platinum is up for renewal in December, and I’ll cancel that one then also.
Last year I had a combined total of $125k on those cards and I’m close to $100k year-to-date for 2023.
I find premium hotel credit cards a.much better value than airline credit cards.
Question to the audience – if you agree with the premise that an airline has too many customers with elite status, and too many customers with access to their lounges – what is the *right* way to fix the problem?
Usually the flight is uneventful, It’s been a while since I’ve been treated like Delta Really cares about my business. I ve been upper level Medallion for years and it seems like it is harder and harder to meet the level goals. The CEO should spend more time thinking about the consequences of bad business decisions, and less time Bragging about how wonderful his company is and worrying about solving the world’s Social Problems. I’m going to continue Phasing Delta out from the Over 200,000 miles a year that I Fly!
@Anthony: if DL (or any other airline) is increasing fees, then something in return should be provided for those fees, ie, open more lounges. At some point business will have to accept they can’t do all the taking and give nothing back. That business model may work short-term, but long term it backfires. And if it cuts into corporate profits “a bit”, so what. Better to have a business with lower profits but a steady, consistent customer base, than an unpredictable and fickle base.
I was long-time typical PM post NWA merger, once DM, mostly via SEA-LHR or SEA-NRT.
DLs airfares have become increasingly non-competitive, so I generally can’t select DL.for business travel, which is only Domestic now. I end up on Alaska, which has a lot of Seattle directs.
So $6K MQD for Silver is a big deal now. I was scraping together $3K for several years to not lose rollover MQMs. But that rollover carrot will be gone.
Final insult is that it appears Million Miler will no longer get 50% bonus for First or Premium Select. I still held out hope of getting to MM – and Premium Select is my typical international vacation choice on my dime.
In response to Anthony, quit focusing on suckling the elite and providing a respectable service to all classes of travel. The problem is not that the elite are treated so much better. Problem is for that to occur economy class has to be treated like utter rubbish in the process. Forget the lounges, airborne food services, etc. Just provide a seat more than 5 percent of population can fit in and charge reasonably for it. Many people would pay more to be treated like human beings.
@Anthony without all the data I don’t think any of us could really answer that question; however, credit card spend would not be an answer and I would suggest credit cards in general have been part of the problem. The issue with that of course is the airlines now make too much money from them to do anything about it. How much you fly with the airline is what should matter most — what they are supposed to be getting at is customer loyalty/rewarding customers for repeated business. It’s become a business for the airlines — the programs in and of themselves are a huge revenue source for the airlines and it’s not what they were originally designed for. While we don’t have the data to know exactly what they should do we know they won’t do it anyway because they have become dependent upon the revenue of those programs from the banks and other third parties. The lounge issue is completely different in my opinion as it’s essentially a stand alone profit center where they sell memberships. They either need to limit memberships sold (you can define how that should be) or you increase the lounges. Again, they have become a revenue source for the airlines — in the case of this program I think it’s fine and makes sense but like any membership organization you have to either have a max membership level or you increase capacity.
Since about 2005, Delta’s slow but sure descent into a worthless program for me has now not only made my remaining miles marginally-worthless for my leisure travel (no flights at sensible cost), but has also made accruing further miles, using their credit card and seeking status all a non-starter.
Good job, amigos! Now, as a 2-3-times a year passenger, it will incentivize me to look at their product LAST for sure, instead of occasionally. I wouldn’t even factor in their “professionalism” (NO US airline provides a consistently superior product) or their “reliability” (really? Nonsense. Most of the airlines’ snafus involve weather).
Simply put: Delta just took themselves out of my purchasing decisions, and I fly somewhere 35+ times a year. They “SIMPLIFIED” themselves out of my life for the most part!
@Anthony – I *disagree* with the premise that there are too many elites. Lounges ARE crowded. They continue building more and imposing restrictions. Lounge crowding wasn’t because of their premium credit card (American and United have those too) it’s because they ALSO provide access to passengers with Amex’s premium credit cards ALSO.
I gave up chasing status a couple of years ago. Also gave up Pre Check. Best decisions I made. The stress of chasing status is so unbelievably stupid.
@Anthony: You wrote: “Question to the audience – if you agree with the premise that an airline has too many customers with elite status, and too many customers with access to their lounges – what is the *right* way to fix the problem?”
To help reduce the overcrowding problem, follow the lead of other airlines by consistently offering crappier food and sub-par customer service to passengers visiting a Delta Sky Club.
I’m a long time AA user (lived in DFW many years) that has flown Delta much more the past few years, due to family in the Atlanta area. Have been Platinum the past few years. You know how many upgrades I have received due to status on DL? None! The only benefit is Comfort plus, which i get on booking with AA automatically. On AA as a Plat Pro and now Exec Plat I’m batting 50-65% success with complimentary upgrades. My dalliance with Delta will be over soon, with no easier path to renew status (Gold next year, then done). The Amex Plat will be perfect for the occasional visit to ATL to use the Sky Clubs, otherwise done with DL.
The game has changed. Cash back cards are what the savvy traveler will start using. You can get 2% back instead of FF miles worth 1.0-1.2%.
Game over.
@Gene – good point. These blogs (like VFTW and OMAAT) are not meant to be analysts reports; anecdotes from users can be (not always are, but can be) just as useful as the CASM or fleet age or order book Tim spouts. For our purposes as readers. I’m an AA captive, but I have also flown DL, B6, and UA (all in 2023) and its hard to call one premium. I know AA is not great. But Delta is only marginally better. Just because DL makes more money doesn’t make it more premium; it may be better managed, but again, that does not necessarily equate with premium. Tim would have much more credibility if he ever, ever agreed once in a while that DL is not the panacea he thinks it is.
Robert Crandall AA who started the whole mileage program said his biggest mistake was to base it on miles, not dollars.
As someone who, until very recently, flew weekly, primarily on Delta for a company that made us book the cheapest seats, the changes are skewed to the firms that spend top dollar. The regular road warriors be damned. It’s a huge disappointment regarding my hometown airline.
Looks like Delta went woke. A lot of people don’t have $150,000. discretionary spend. Oh, well.
The Hollywood crowd can do this. No problem.
Someday people will understand what Zig Ziglar meant when he said that when you pay for sports, movies, non essential activities……you are making others rich, but not yourselves.
Don’t take me wrong I like ~ some sports. (actually track and field) But a million dollar outfielder? A CEO making 10-20 million while his workers make < $100,000. As time moves on there will be less and less people who can accommodate Delta’s standards.
@Anthony – a great point. Delta probably did have to do something like this. I would add though 1) Delta created this mess 2) they’re fixing it with all the subtlety of Elon Musk at Twitter ( I mean X )
“Other elite levels require more spend as well.”
No. They require more SPENDING. The word is SPENDING, not “spend.”
Literacy FTW.
The reality is airlines now make more money selling miles than flying people.
From Delta’s perspective, there’s really two groups of “customers” here – the ones spending $$ on Delta credit cards and the ones who are not.
If you held a Delta card for lounge access but never spent on it because you realized Delta miles aren’t worth earning, Delta isn’t making any money selling you a lounge membership and wants you out of their lounge.
And if you were putting money on Delta cards because you didn’t realize (or don’t care) that there are better options, Delta wants to encourage you to spend MORE money on their cards.
And when you do, you’ll get a much experience, because you won’t be competing for better treatment with everyone who isn’t forfeiting value to Delta’s bottom line by earning Delta miles.
So yes, lots of people are going to quit the Delta loyalty ecosystem. That’s intentional.
We have Tom Brady to thank for this
After 20+ years as either Diamond or Platinum, and a Million Miler, the new requirements for status will force me to another airline and another credit card. I’m losing ~125k rollover MQMs as well.
I’ll burn my 1.5M skymiles and move on.
Cry me a river. These changes are great. You folks that take 5-10 business trips a year and expect to hit the highest status with an airline crack me up. Please do move to united, American or any other subpar airline, more upgrades available for me.
People should stop spending on their Delta cards. Better to cancel them to send them the only message they will understand.
Credit card cancelled
Perhaps the ‘real’ question should be is this in-favor of Elites or actually leveling the service levels. Of course lounge-crowding matters (I’m Exec. SC so not about me); but think of their biggest customer of all: American Express. 7 Billion this year and goal of 10 Billion next year. THAT might be where the sensitivity will be, as you know Delta had to work with Amex management; which cares nothing about lounge access, but wants their 2.6 or higher percentage on every card-charged transaction (if you view miles as the lowest form of cash-back equivalent, you can see the point). So if Amex sees a lot of lost business because of the Delta move; it will benefit Amex to pressure Delta.. just a sort of random thought during a business day. Cheers! And hats-off to the JFK SkyClub VIP guys for real help on a ‘trip in vain’ to Barcelona the other day that had to be abandoned (by me not the flight).
Please get rid of the stupid popcorn machine in the Atlanta Sky Club,
It is simply inedible.
Do their executives ever try the food?
I’ve been a loyal Delta flyer for over 40 years. Most of them with some type of status but never higher than gold. I have enjoyed the Sky Club many, many times. No longer. I have been to all the ATL clubs and JFK. I never had to wait more than 10 minutes and always found a seat overlooking the tarmac. I always tipped bartenders very well. I feel bad they will be missing significant income, since not many people will qualify to enter. I will now only use the CSR since Skypennies are almost worthless.
Gary – plenty of longtime Delta flyers were complaining that there were too many Diamonds, especially out of ATL. This is my first year of Diamond, and upgrade percentages seem pretty good. However I do believe there are a ton of Platinums, probably too many. I think the idea that there were too many elites, at least at Delta, was “consensus” up until last week. Now all of the elites that are going to drop out of the program are upset.
To me, the changes were a wholesale, across the board message – we underpriced everything (elite status, club access, etc) and now we are going to charge more. The change impacts everyone from the most casual flyer to the most seasoned flier – to me, that seems like a fair solution, IF you agree with the premise that the elite pool needed to be thinned.
After flying United for 2 million miles, I left for Delta. I loved to brag about the better service and quality of product. Now, after almost a million miles and 8 years of Diamond status on Delta, that’s over. Back to United Airlines for me. I wonder how many there are like me. I’m selling my stock in Delta.
I quit chasing status years ago. My wife and I have now cancelled 2 plat Ax, 1 DL Ax, 1 DL Gold Ax and 1 Delta Reserve Ax. Will focus future spend on AS and AA
@Bill – there won’t be more upgrades available for you, Delta says they plan to do further segmentation of the first class category which will extract more revenue. Fewer upgrades for everyone!
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.