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My wife’s and my Delta SkyMiles (a.k.a. SkyPennies) balances are the lowest they have EVER been since we both signed up decades ago and had account balances of zero. During the pandemic, I shifted almost exclusively to earning only cash back as well as points in programs that can have their points transferred to many airlines or hotels (i.e., American Express® Membership Rewards® points, Capital One Miles, etc). These programs continue to hold real value for me.
Delta points, while not worthless, hold VERY low value to me. I value a Skymile at half a cent domestically and a quarter of a cent internationally because I am someone who has always wanted to redeem my frequent flyer points for premium cabins. When it comes to Delta, the award prices are SO out of whack compared to just about every other airline in the world, it made me come to the stark realization of the airline’s ultra-low value for their travel currency.
This week in Forbes magazine, writer Jeff Fromm regurgitated a bunch of fluff PR junk from the top brass at Delta SkyMiles (he could not even get the name Delta Air Lines correct, so…). With that in mind, let’s see why I say Delta is beyond delusional with their aspirations for their travel points — and why I think fools who fly today will still fall for their ideas.
“Delta is moving beyond the traditional ‘earn and burn’ model to architect a lifestyle ecosystem. One that delivers emotional resonance, not just rewards.” – Forbes
I think I just threw up a bit. What a bunch of freshman year marketing drivel. SkyPennies are not a “lifestyle” and the only “emotional resonance” I want is to find a deal on an award ticket in business class or at least in Premium Economy when it is a daytime flight and a long-ish one. What else do they say in Forbes?
“Delta’s partnerships with Starbucks and Uber are examples of what Kaehler calls ‘frequency amplifiers.'” – Forbes
I know a lot of people just love love love Starbucks but I am not one of them. If I were in love with Starbucks earning a few extra SkyPennies would be nice but not a “frequency amplifier” to drive me to buy a cup of joe. Speaking of driving, I liked the extra SkyPennies when I used LYFT but earning a few more SkyPennies will not push me to book UBER over LYFT if the price of one or the other is cheaper for a rideshare. That Delta thinks either of these two tie-ins will drive me or anyone to use the product over another is also delusional. Let’s do another.
“While aspirational moments—like flying Delta One to Europe—are core to the loyalty engine, Delta is increasingly focused on broadening its appeal to travelers who may only fly a few times a year.” – Forbes
Flying Delta One to Europe used to be what we all focused on year after year. It was THE reason to earn SkyMiles, and when they had award charts, you could somewhat plan for what it was going to cost you. Now that you can drain your entire account (well, clearly not mine, but others maybe) with one round trip to Europe in Delta One, it is beyond delusional to call this type of trip the “core to the loyalty engine”!
“With other carriers receiving backlash for loyalty program changes, Delta is doubling down on clarity and trust. ‘There’s clearly customer confusion out there,’ James said. ‘We’re seeing people reach out, wanting to understand our program. And we’re ready to welcome them.‘” – Forbes
The saddest part of all of this is that it seems, at least according to Delta with the massive amount of new card acquisitions each year from Amex, that the “sheeple” are eating up their ridiculous marketing spin rather than focusing on real value for both their spending and frequent flyer points. Simply finding a good cheap seat in coach is not aspirational or a good use of award points and only to be used when cash is not a cheaper option. And two words that I have not used for well over 10 years is “clarity and trust” when it comes to Skymiles. The only thing I trust is Skymiles will continue to drop in value year after year after year.
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Next Wednesday is this year’s Freddie’s Awards. I promise you Delta will not win anything. They have never EVER won anything other than a made-up award as a thank you for hosting the awards years ago at the Delta Flight Museum in Atlanta. In fact, I have been told by reliable sources that they never want to win because they would view it as a failure that they were seen as providing value for their frequent flyer currency. After reading what the thinking of those in power at Delta SkyMiles is from Forbes, I clearly understand why! – René
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We just need a recession to sort it out.
Honestly, I get what Delta thinks they’re doing with all this “lifestyle ecosystem” talk, but for most of us who remember when SkyMiles actually had value, it’s hard to get excited. I’d rather stick with flexible points from Amex or CapOne any day. If anyone missed the article René is referring to, you can read it here — curious what others think.
@Chris – Thanks. I did link four times in the post however 😉
Yep. Ever since Delta gave us a double-fisted flip of the bird a couple years ago (and then walked it back to a single middle finger), I have had no interest in flying them or their regional Delta Connection partners.
I kept my Delta marketing email subscription on, just in case they send me an award ticket flash deal where I can blow my last remaining points… but I’m considering just turning it off entirely. The most exciting thing about recent Delta emails was just to learn the movie release date for Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning. Sad state when I used to be excited about Delta.
As a person in the unique position of having 3 enormous airports – and all airlines – at their disposal (EWR, LGA, JFK), I made plans to ditch Delta after the infamous “double fisted flip of the bird” as Rob called it. So, I kept my Reserve Card but moved to United. Got the Infinite Card. Took some trips. It was fine. I think the Sky Clubs are still better than the United Clubs but so what? I just didn’t love it any better than Delta. Then, along comes the announcement this year that the Infinite Card is going up to $695/year. One club guest only and no partner lounge admission. I wouldn’t mind the $695 but there is no easy way to get value back like there still is on the Reserve Card (companion ticket, Stays credit, etc.). So, going back to Delta. Use the Centurion a few times in place of the Sky Club and you can on the visit limit a bit. I guess the lesson learned is…all the airlines kinda suck. You just need to pick the one for you that sucks the least!
Tenth anniversary? I just celebrated that as your loyal reader! As for the devaluation, I realize that you know this but I just had to make sure to record it somewhere. I just priced SkyPesos one-way MCO-ATL-FRA with the flexible calendar option. The difference between cattle class and DeltaOne was a measly 10K pesos. Yes, this means that coach was 290K. Clearly, your diagnosis of the mentality of sheeple is spot on.
@Corbett – WAHHOOO! And so many thanks for reading the blog for so long!
Thank you, Corbett!
I am not sure if I resent being called a “sheeple.” Am I as happy as a Delta Diamond as I was pre-covid, no; however, I continue flying Delta because two of my home airports are SLC and ATL. I am also a 2mm, and would like to hit 3mm, but I am not as motivated as I use to be. I have a high spend on my AMEX, which I use for all business expenses. This keeps my husband and I at Diamond. I find Delta’s service is not what it use to be. In my flight from ATL to SLC yesterday, the plane had been at the gate overnight. The plane was filthy. I have had more flights delayed and cancelled with no apologies from the ground crew. However, there is still value in being a Diamond-better access to the clubs, and no penalties for cancellations, which I cancel and rebook often. Delta needs to step it up or as inconvenient as it may be, I will start exploring other carriers (probably not, but it feels good to say it). Happy travels.
I don’t think these deals aren’t being characterized accurately. Delta isn’t awarding SkyMiles to Uber and Starbucks customers. Uber and Starbucks are buying SkyMiles from Delta in exchange for Delta’s co-marketing and then awarding the miles to their customers. If SkyMiles don’t encourage anyone to choose Starbucks, then it’s foolishness from Starbucks, not Delta.
The SkyPesos as you refer to them, have truly been devalued EVERY year to where the value is almost nothing! Getting 2% cash back is getting so much more value for the spend than getting miles. I find that multiple tickets can be purchased with the cashback money instead of just one ticket with the SkyPesos.
What is really unethical to me is that the miles are bought and paid for by AMEX, Starbucks, Uber, etc., therefore Delta has already been paid for the award tickets. Furthermore, the dynamic pricing multiplies the SkyPesos needed for a ticket to ridiculous amounts! This model should be illegal as the program is more like a bait and switch.
I am a Million Miler in Atlanta and like to fly nonstop, but I fly other airlines due to the prices of cash or award tickets. Rewarding Delta for being unethical and greedy is not smart even if it is for status.
Delta needs to look at the long game instead of being so greedy as many of us in their hubs are tired of them taking advantage of us. The prices in SkyPesos or cash are much more than from surrounding markets where flights connect in Atlanta to the same destination. Ripping off your loyal customers is not a winning strategy!
@RJ – SkyPennies not SkyPesos. The latter was coined by ViewFromTheWing Gary Leff. SkyPennies was coined by me here at EyeoftheFlyer.
Interesting and unfortunate to have watched your change over the past 10-15 years from ardent Delta loyalist to outraged member who’s been burned way too often. What makes it particularly resonant is my journey has been similar. Nowadays when Delta makes a pronouncement I tend to wonder what suckers are dumb enough to buy what Delta is shoveling. That’s why I closed my last Delta card a few years ago and don’t plan on getting another any time soon. The Delta ecosystem is just way too toxic for me.
@Christian – It is still a great airline (well other than the endless incidents lately) and a decent product and people but the elite program and award program are a complete dumpster fire that is getting worse and NOT better – that is for sure. I miss being a Delta award cheerleader… 🙁
I’ve been living in ATL for 12 years and during that time I have taken 480 flights including 140 long haul. Of those 480, only 22 on Delta. Between the insane high prices of the captive hub and the awful value of the program I refuse to give them the margin and would rather add the connection.
I tell EVERYONE I work with to never ever put a penny of spend on their DL Amex cards. Get an Amex Gold or low cost MR card and put the spend there. Example from yesterday, I found a ATL-LHR Y flight that was 8k Virgin pts +$212, the same flight on DL was 62K Skyrupiah + $6. ATL-CDG in Y, 10K AF pts + $176, compared to 58K Skyrupiah + $6. Friends don’t let friends accumulate Skyrupiah.
Amen Rene. What Delta has done to D1 pricing is incredibly disappointing. A simple r/t to Europe is either $11K or 500-750k(I’ve seen north of a million too!) SkyTrash.
It’s gotten so I don’t even bother looking. I can only guess they charge that much because someone is dumb enough to actually take their bait. It’s maddening.
Their Flash sales can be interesting but I am not flying short notice to Melbourne or Auckland in the back of the bus.
As you said, all we want is the ability to score an occasional D1 roundtrip for a semi-reasonable amount of SM’s. Even if its 330 days out, at least give us a chance.
Just looked at flights to Australia for my daughter– Main cabin was ??290,000 points so I ut her on another airline…
@dee – AA very cheap in coach on points.
Final year as a diamond and am not trying to continue, there is no value other than a once in every ten flights upgrade, or being #1 of 50 on the upgrade list and almost always missing the cut…wait that is not a value, maybe I drank the aspirational lifestyle word vomit cocktail… I remember pushing to fly Delta and SkyTeam, taking longer routes to avoid AA or United. Now we check DL first, if high we simply buy the other airlines. Sad after being DLDM for 10+ years it’s coming to an end. Kinda miss Northwest, wow.
Congrats on 10 years, been reading since the early days René, thanks to you and Chris for all you do to keep them honest and help us find more travel hacks.