Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
If you have not seen the August Delta Sky Magazine you are in for an amazing bit of comedy. If it were presented as such, I would love it – but it is not. That is ridiculous and just sad.
You can download and see the issue online HERE. So go read it, have a good laugh and come back here for my corrections from what Mr. Sandeep Dube said to Richard Anderson of Delta.
First off SD says:
“…the SkyMiles program is uniquely structured to reward with value…”
No, SD, it does not. First off, all of us are painfully aware that we are not being rewarded more this year. And even those who are paying a ton are not being given value because you have whacked the value of SkyMiles and painfully so. The only thing SkyMiles is uniquely structured for is to make loyal members pay more than ever for awards.
Next SD says:
“SkyMiles don’t expire”
Well, this is not true and you know it SD. I know you are new so let me remind you that when a loyal member dies, their “valuable” SkyMiles are gone.
Then SD says:
“We are laser-focused on making miles easier to use”
No, you are not. You are making it simpler to over spend by charging 2-4 times what a ticket should cost. Anyone who is spending their Delta miles on magazines, lift tickets and cheap coach seats are just fools and not getting value from their SkyMiles. You should know this as someone who has come from a banking background. 😉
SD continues and says:
“…members can redeem their miles for travel on more than 25 Delta partners”.
Well, that is good because if you look at finding value with your SkyMiles at LEVEL 1 awards internationally you will just about only find space on partners. Gosh, it would be nice if Delta opened up some space now and then!
Then SD gives really bad advice:
“…12 regional certificates they can select each year as part of Choice Benefits”
Oh my. My head is going to explode. First off the Global Upgrade certificates are the most valuable thing Delta has EVER given us – EVER! I guess thanks to FCM and the goal of 70-80% up-sells of 1st class seats you are telling us we NEED to burn our Choice Benefits for domestic upgrade shots at all. Wonderful. Thanks!
Lastly SD finishes with:
“… performance is unparalleled”
This is the only bit of this entire comedy piece that is not, as Gary Leff says, “bat crazy”. Yes, we know Delta is destroying loyalty and Delta thinks that running jets on time and consistently with a midrange seat product compared to international carriers will win the day. This may be right, the rest – really not so much!
RA and SD are living in a dream world. Perhaps they should step outside the Atlanta mothership and read what loyal travelers really think in yesterday’s NYT piece or today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune for a better understanding of what travelers are really feeling (plus the 50 cuts Delta has inflicted on loyal travelers over the years)! – René
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Wow! This is so sad that it doesn’t even qualify as satire. I have to admit the guy puts on a bold face in trying to make Skymiles look good. No expiration! OMG, what an innovation! Oh, wait, that’s just an area they haven’t gotten around to wreck- I mean enhancing.
Interesting last name. It brings to mind a Union general in the Civil War named Hooker, whose army had, ahem, ladies of negotiable virtue as an entourage. When asked about the ladies, one soldier reportedly proffered “they’re Hooker’s”. Along that line, I wonder if purblind fans of Skymiles could be referred to, since they follow Dupe?
@Christian – It is DUBE not dupe. I have fixed the spelling issue. But DUPE does sound funny the way you lay it out. 😉
They are so out of touch with reality its laughable.
Rene, don’t you think that Delta is purposely eroding the value of Skymiles to force folks into redemptions in order to reduce the number of outstanding Skymiles “on its books” caused by the combination of rollover miles and non-expiration of miles policies?
@Fran – Yes! 🙂
The one thing Delta got right in their August Sky magazine is that Traverse City is a pretty cool place for foodies and wine tours. That’s probably not why TVC is listed as a top destination. Check out the cost of tickets going in and out of TVC for “the rest of the story”!
@Rene – Wait, just so I’m clear – did you like the article or not?
Thanks for the link I would not have seen it since I stopped flying Delta early last year, unless it was left on an Alaska Air flight ….
You have to understand that Mr. Dube comes from Indian Heritage. Back once I learned about it, I figured that he is going to decimate the whole programme with his Indian mentality. This I am telling you because that was my initial reaction. You have to understand that culture which exists even with Air India. if he had his way he will serve one tray of food to two children on international routes