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I give Delta IT folks a hard time. I have been chastised by other Delta folks for giving said folks a hard time. You know what, sorry, I have worked in IT for 20 year and they deserve it. This latest “StopoverGate” is just one in a long string of examples I can point to (when it comes to Skymiles – the rest of Delta IT does seem to work VERY well).
When I think about it I really should thank them for being so bad with Skymiles IT because of it we now have a tiny window into just how bad #DOS or the Destruction of Skymiles will be next year. And as I keep warning folks that Delta plans to #KeepDescending as much as we will possibly let them next year. I even have, shockingly, confirmation from Delta folks that this issue was related to the Skymiles2015 program. Normally they NEVER give me that kind of info as the stock answer is “that is related to pricing and talking pricing we don’t do“! Why? Well talking about future pricing can get the government involved with what is going on right NOW in real time.
I also opened with the (joke) that “I need to stop reading View from the Wing!” I am kidding since Gary has a way of cutting through CORP speak and seeing the big picture. He said:
“It seems to me, though, that the worst crime here isn’t a ‘technical glitch’ — it’s that members trying to book awards are being presented with much higher prices than they should be. And there’s been no:
- Warning posted on the website that prices that are too high are being quoted
- Attempt or indication that Delta will refund the excess miles that are being charged to members
- Commitment to waive the telephone booking fee for members ‘in the know’ enough to call.
Delta is now obviously aware of the glitch. They should post a notice prominently on their website. And they should waive the booking fee for members affected by their IT glitch. Any failure to do so either is very telling indeed.”
See why I need to stop reading his blog – now I am just angry! Gary of course is 100% spot on right. This situation is going to, IMO, rise to the level that the government gets involved soon as this has become a pricing issue. Delta is in effect saying the only way “we” [Delta] can fix this issue is for you to call and “trust us” that the phone reps will fix it. But what if a person just uses the web site and gets over charged vs. what is in print in black and white on Delta.com. Or, what if the phone rep did not get the memo and the customer is overcharged? Grrrrrr…. We could go on and on. My fellow BA blogger, Chris Elliott often talks about how you have to be an expert to get ANY value out of frequent flyer programs. In this case, you have to be “in the know” to not be overcharged. Maddening and just wrong!
I don’t know about this one folks, and need more time to look at the big picture but I REALLY don’t like what I am seeing and this little StopoverGate is, I think, just the first step in a long line of new “enhancements” on the way over the next few days/weeks/months!
Even though American Airlines has, for the next year or two, released a non-revenue based frequent flyer program with much less insanity than Delta’s, we need to understand the mothership does not care what the other airlines are doing or even if we leave Delta for good! – René
PS – Rookie Wednesday will be posted last today due to all this StopoverGate mess!
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Hey — leave The Gate out of this!
Call it StopoverDeltaPoints instead…
@Brian – LOL – noted! Very sorry! 😉
Great post.
Not a day goes by that I don’t regret burning my last peso on Delta. If they would have acted differently over the years when it comes to the users of their services, perhaps I would have been on a Delta flight from LAS to DCA yesterday, rather than United.
Not surprised in the least re this latest PR nightmare, and worse, total disregard for the consumers of their product.
Such a shady business practice it’s not even funny! If this was able to become national news and the other 99.9% knew this was going on there would be outrage! haha
@MSPDeltaDude – That is the thing – only a few get it. Still bad to have 2 sets of prices even for only a few IMO!
So when are the biggest users of delta going to get together and show them where to stick it. It is becoming obvious delta doesn’t care for the volume the frequent flyer does. As long as we take the abuse it is going to continue a one solid month of flying non delta all status flyers. What airline has the easiest for us all to do a three month match at the end of the year for status Delta needs to feel a big bump all at once the trickle hasn’t been enough. Basically a delta boycott for a month.
Now that we are earning value based on how much we spend instead of how far we fly. Shouldn’t we get credit for dollars spent but not flown. Delta loves our cash they should really love the flyers who purchase then just loose the flight
The airlines, including Delta, are so profitable, and with capacity reduced, what possible motivation exists for them to adopt policies that are to the benefit of consumers? Any fine at this point, etc., they can easily justify as a cost of doing business.
I am constantly reminded of Richard “Tricky Dicky” Anderson’s spiel about delta corporate values. Delta wouldn’t know honesty, integrity, and respect if they sat on their lap and called ’em momma. What a crock.