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When opening up my Fly Delta App the other day (that is the old version of the app that does not stink like the current one) I came across a small notice that I almost missed. It said this:
Do you remember 1993? Heck were you even born in 1993? đ Either way were you a member of the Delta SkyPennies program back then? The reminder from Delta gave me some time to reflect.
First up – at least I think this is this case – my “join date” was likely merged in from Northwest Airlines not from Delta. I honestly can not remember when I first created a Delta membership but I think it was much later than the NWA one.
Back then NWA was a complete pleasure to work with and they were also happy work with their partners KLM and Air France. With some flexibility I could always find low level award space I wanted, in coach or business class, from a fixed award chart.
Earning points with a goal in mind and a fixed number in mind was rewarding and drove my spending habits on my old US Bank NWA Visa almost to a fault. Heck did you know during the breakup that Northwest even sued the old bank partner for coming up with the term Flex Perks for their new card program? They eventually came to some kind of agreement and I did not keep my Flex Perks card for long and the consumer card is no longer available for new applicants (there is a business one but earnings are lame).
When the merger first happened I was pleased with Delta and they seemed to really want to make the merged in NWA folks happy with the move to SkyPennies. Back then they were not SkyPennies but had real value with wide open stopovers on awards allowing me to get outsized vacation value from my awards and even tack on an open-jaw award on the way back saving me 50% on a later domestic award – gosh those were amazing days.
Fast forward to 2023. We know major news is on the way on September 14th and I doubt we will like it. I had already made the move to end my chase for Diamond Medallion status this year but if something happens like the end of MQMs I may push to have one more year as Diamond for 2024 rather than fly as “just” a Platinum that I have already locked in from MQMs and Delta Amex card $25,000+ spending this year.
Most regular readers know I have blown my last big stash of Delta points spending just under 100,000 each for business class awards to Europe next year. Yes I will have to connect in Mexico City to accomplish this but I would rather do that than fly coach or Premium Economy (PS) the faster way. I still plan to earn some Delta points by getting big new card offers now and then and looking for domestic 1st class value but beyond that the program really is dead to me – there are just too many other better choices for so many less points.
Delta, it has been an interesting 30 years and I thank you for reminding me to reflect on my nearly 2 million miles with you but you really need to roll back some of the #KeepDescending events if you want me really engaged again for another 30 years of my life! – RenĂ©
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Rene, your last paragraph said âthere are so many better choicesâ.
What programs have you moved on to?
@Blake – A bunch of them as an example my Iberia flight using Alaska points. I am flying AA more from AA new card bonus offers and their low level business awards are often sweet. Beyond that Chase UR points and Amex MR points are so flexible to either spend or send to other programs that offer good value.
Is it at all possible the Sept. 14 changes will not be the end of the world?
Sky Club changes officially come out tomorrow or that day as well. New food and drinks. CVG Sky Club manager showed it to me the other day. The drinks menu is pretty good and the price in miles is still arguably a better value than using miles for flights.
If Delta kept MQM rollover, kept unlimited Sky Club access for diamonds on an AmEx Reserve, kept the global upgrade certificates, and kept qualification through MQDS, MQMs and MQS, I would be happy. I wouldn’t like Delta raising the MQD threshold or even the threshold for MQMs. But I do think 125,000 for Delta should be raised to 150,000 or 125,000 with no credit card bonus MQMs.
@FNT – When Delta is pro-actively offering training because the KNOW flyers will have so many questions – this tells me things will not be good (for us)!
But then how has this not leaked out? You think by now someone would have shared a real memo or PowerPoint slide.
@FNT – We will find out in a few days…
I agree with your premise, however, change âDiamondâ with 360âs. Raise the âDiamondâ MQD waiver to $500k and ticket spend to $250k. This should thin the ranks.
Yeah, if we’re being honest, 360 is the new diamond. 360 was probably needed if only because Air France/KLM Flying Blue have their version of it, American has concierge key, and United has global services. I will Delta was a little more transparent about 360 but at least they quasi-publicly acknowledge there is a higher tier than diamond even if they don’t fully disclose it. For example, the published upgrade criteria makes no reference to 360s or having higher priority than diamonds.
I think 150,000 MQMs with $20-$25,000 in spending is reasonable. At the same time, someone doing 4-6 international business trips every year is going to more than exceed that threshold while someone flying every year domestically in economy is going to struggle.
There’s no perfect word.
Ideally, Delta would have a loyalty program that was flexible enough to recognize its best customers, be they the guy flying New York-Zurich or Seattle-Tokyo once a month or the guy flying Denver to New York every week.
Rene! What an achievement and #keepdescending is right! What a treat it was to be treated with respect by Northwest Airlines. Sure there was the bad old DTW but ATL is feeling more and more like it. The DC-10s, 727s, DC-9s and 747s were a blast. I can still hear that clear, calm voice on the phone: “Thank you for calling Northwest-KLM. A reservation sales agent will assist you shortly.”
Wow RenĂ©. Didnât think Iâd see the day where you officially give up on Delta. Thatâs a telling statement on where Delta has headed. That being said, consistently charging hundreds of thousands of points for most, what should be routine redemptions, really does send the message that we dont respect your loyalty.
@Amit – I will still fly Delta now and then unless 9/14 news is so bad it makes me re-think. The SkyPennies prices to Europe from USA are out of control and insane.
It’s not just about respecting loyalty. It’s about insulting intelligence.
700,000 points round-trip for a 7-hour business-class flight is absurd.
If Delta completely reinvents its program, it will be like a third-world banana republic dumping its worthless currency.
SkyMiles was originally called Delta Air Lines Frequent Flight Bonus Program, I believe. A long standing enrollment bonus was 10,000 miles. A few years later, domestic economy awards was for 20,000 miles round trip. Around 1987, there was triple miles for the entire year if one flew during the first quarter. All the major airlines has triple miles that year.
I’m still Delta captive in ATL, but like RenĂ© have been venturing out more for international flights. I’ve really enjoyed United’s Polaris and Qatar’s QSuites, the latter puts anything Delta has ever offered on board to shame. But I’m still rooting for my home team and hoping that Delta can find a better balance between making massive amounts of money and sharing much of it with their employees and honoring their loyal customer base with real loyalty perks and redemption value.
I have been flying Air France for anything international business-class to Europe. The bedding is a wash with Delta, but the wine and catering are much better. Just no comparison. And there’s something elegant about Air France. KLM feels like taking Amtrak.
@FNT Delta Diamond – I agree with you that AF definitely feels like a step up from DL and KLM. My last AF flight I made the mistake of flying through ORD (40% less points than flying out of ATL) when they were using a temporary Swissport lounge. It has to have been the worst lounge experience I’ve ever had.
Is there anything we should be doing in advance of Sept 14? Ie do you expect an immediate devaluation and it would be a good idea to book even speculative travel ahead of time?
I think the Medallion changes would take effect for the 2025 year. I’m not doing anything out of the ordinary until at least Thursday.
I remember the CEO of a F50 I used to work for telling us that we were going to have to drive out all the cost out of our product to survive. What I understand now is âto surviveâ, meant to satisfy the money folks – Wall Street, Hedge Funds, Private Equity and such. Airline Execs will lose their jobs (and pay packages) if they donât satisfy the markets. Of course, we are building our retirements on these money folks as well. I understand NW was a great airlines, but Delta was too in the old days. Platinum was pretty much guaranteed upgrade to 1st. Domestic 747-100, L1011âs and 767âs felt roomy with high ceilings with decent leg room. Once the M&A game started, concentration was taking cost out of the model including cutting staff (gate agents & FA), stuffing planes including introducing small planes (regionals), and numerous other descending changes. Loyal frequent flyers suffered and seems like we will continue to suffer in next few days. I made all 15 years of Diamond (I made next year) but moving to AA for same reasons outlined by Rene – especially assuming restricted SkyClub access, loss of MQMâs that Iâve built up, and higher MQDâs.
I don’t know how anyone can go to American from Delta. At least United is trying to get better. Polaris is hands-down the best U.S. legacy airline business-class product; both soft and hard product. JetBlue is probably better with Mint but they’re still a boutique airline as far as I’m concerned. The only reason I can see to fly American is Alaska. But the idea that American’s loyalty program is better than Delta or that American is a better airline than Delta is absurd.
Nobody says American is better than Delta. Youâre right, Delta is (was) more reliable carrier, but they have slipped. It is more about how long are your going to sit while you lose benefits if you donât fly $35K per year when you get, at least for now, full access to the lounge with a card, lower award ticket prices, and potentially a bigger domestic system depending on where you live. You may be right that moving could be a false comfort, but âabsurdâ? I donât think that is an accurate description and it sure looks like a lot of Skymiles members will be trying AAdvantage out. Congratulations to those that spend $35K. It will certainly be a comfortable year in 2025. To the rest of us, good luck on finding a new home.
I agree with your historical perspective. We have followed similar paths in terms of frequent flyer programs. Without really knowing what a frequent flyer program was, I joined NW World Perks in 1985. NW turned out to be a good choice because I lived in Indiana and traveled to Asia a lot. NW had hubs at DTW, MSP and NRT and a large intra-Asia network. Connecting in NRT was fun and it had the two best Skyclubs in the system. NW had great partners such as KLM and even Continental for domestic travel. Continental’s turnaround proved that the right leadership will make a big difference in employee morale and customer satisfaction.
I also moved on to AA (in 2015 when DL abandoned mileage-based accrual). Having access to first and business class flights and lounges of AA’s oneworld partners like Japan Airlines, Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Qatar and even British Airways elevates AAdvantage over Skymiles, Skypennies and Skyteam. DL credit cards don’t enjoy the flexibility offered by cards with points that can be earned in a variety of ways and transferred to multiple airline programs.
As far as 9/14, my guess is that in addition to further restricting Skyclub access and increasing the credit-card-spend threholds DL may make unfriendly enhancements affecting rollover MQMs and lifetime (annual) status. DL might also make it harder to earn status by flying partner airlines. In 38 years of membership (including NW) and nearly 3 million miles DL never offered an anniversary message to my knowledge.
I first flew Delta in 1989 when I visited Texas from the UK on a business trip. They booked me into first class from Dallas to Austin – must have been because that was the cheapest or only seat left because the company I worked for at the time does not pay for first class travel.
I flew on American from London to Dallas. One of my colleagues in Austin convinced me that the AAdvantage program was the one to belong to so I joined that. I don’t think I joined SkyMiles until I moved here in 1994 and took a trip to South Korea. How do I find out my joining date if it is not my anniversary?
I have been a Delta FF since 1984 and not thrilled with all of the chamges and complications taking place… Amex needs to be taken to the WOodshed for allowing their Plat card holders to be sooo devalued!!!