So as a Delta many-year loyal frequent flyer – how are you feeling today? My guess is angry, frustrated, sad, and likely a bit depressed that what you have grown used to for years will be gone soon (unless you are a mega spender or your business mega spends for you then you are giddy today).
This video from the Delta PR site is an eye-opener. It starts by thanking us for our loyalty but you know what matters more than words? Actions! The end of MQMs and the conversion ratios of 1 for 20 for MQDs and 1 for 2 for SkyPennies is an absolute slap in the face of loyalty.
I am also so confused about who these people are who are calling this guy and are confused about how to earn status! Elites know the program (the old one) and we know how to make it work.
Next, I have never ever said or thought to myself – can I get some kind of “total engagement” with Delta and drive all my spending to them? Simply insanity. When I book my Hilton stays (as a Diamond) I start at Hilton to get my loyalty perks and that will NOT change for Delta or any other airline.
(side note – does this guy shaking his head “no” each time he talks about changes not in a subtle way tell you he does not believe what he is saying – maybe just me).
Now on to Sky Clubs. Clearly Delta had to do something as everything they have tried so far has not worked. But think of this for a moment. If you have the non-Delta Amex Platinum personal or business card you get 6 visits per year starting 1FEB25. That means on one round trip if you visit the club before your flight and in a connecting city on your trip you will have used 4 of your 6 yearly visits FOR ONE TRIP ON DELTA!
Good grief!
Well, my opportunity for engagement is really right in front of me and the answer is NO Delta. Regular readers know that even before these reprehensible changes I had chosen to go free agent and I will simply convert my rollover MQMs in 2024 into SkyPennies and spend them and be done. That said, even with a cut to “discounted” partner business class tickets from 40% of distance in MQDs to 30%, mileage runs will still be very much alive for those who want status at a big discount!
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Agreed 100%.
I am going to become a free agent and ditching my 2 Reserve cards
Good for you Rene. A very good post and to the point. I am sure someone at Delta reads your post. However, this sorta reminds me of the Bud Light fiasco. Bud Light forgot about who made them the biggest beer and could not have cared less. Similarly, Delta seems to forget who made them and now I think we should really move on. I will only fly them when they are the cheapest flight or lowest point proposition. I have gone from 1 MM points down to 4,000. When I use to work I flew Delta about every day and felt like they like me on their planes. Now, they could care less. If anything, AMEX could put the pressure on Delta if we all cancel accounts and cut up our CC.
@Byron – Think how much worse Delta becomes when Glen Ham Sandwich becomes CEO!
And who was that who made Bud the biggest beer? Bigots and intolerant people?
Haha, you can’t be serious.
Ren’e
I have really enjoyed your site for years and I can say as Diamond for the last eight years and almost a 2 million miler I am done with loyalty as well. With the Covid rollovers and bonuses I have 673k mqms and a few more to come this year with scheduled travel that now mean nothing. Not to mention the Skymiles I’ve been saving. I didn’t know I could convert mqms to miles but I’ll do the same as you and burn through them quickly. AA and United service my regional airport so I’ll be booking the best deal.
Regarding the sky club, they are a total joke of what they were as well as Delta as a whole. Since Covid almost every flight is delayed for some mechanical reason or you sit on the tarmac forever waiting for takeoff or a gate when you land. The airline industry has gone to pot.
People on all the blogs are forgetting that their current inflated MQM balance will be reduced by 75,000/125,000 on 12/31/23. Only rollover after this deduction counts for the 2:1/20:1 conversion. So the “huge” 325,000 MQM balance today after deducting DM 125,000 is only worth 10,000 MQDs or slightly over halfway to Platinum. Personally I would rather take the 100,000 RDMs.
Do you think you will keep a Gold card so that you can burn SkyMiles with 15% off resumptions? It would not surprise me at all if Delta decides to limit that perk to the Platinum and Reserve cards in the future.
I do plan to drop my Reserve card at some point and will be watching for a good welcome offer for the Gold card. Right now, I see a pretty attractive offer for the Gold business card, which I have never had. However, my Reserve card renewal is still two months away and I am hoping for a nice retention offer to get one more year of unlimited Sky Club usage.
I think I’ll keep a Gold — or maybe even a Platinum for the Companion Certificate.
The Sky Club changes don’t kick in for, like, 16 months. So, we have plenty of time to decide.
The companion certificate is a joke. Unless you are retired and can take a flight mid week early in the morning you have no chance in using it.
And then there are those of us that have little choice with airports that are Delta hubs, like SLC and small airports that use only SkyWest/Delta. 🙁
I’ll be downgrading from Delta platinum back to gold and using primarily CSR and Chase cards that have better value due to partner transfers.
100% correct. I will be doing just what you laid out. Convert my rollover to miles and use ’em all in 2024 before the changes kick in. Then, I’m off to United. My wife and I both have our own Reserve cards and it’s so we can both use the lounge. 2 cards at $550/card for 10 measly lounge visits is an insult that I will not forget. So, we’ll get the United card that still provides that as an unlimited benefit.
There was an absolute better way to handle this. And, don’t you love that the Reserve card changes don’t start till Feb. 2025? Delta is hoping you forget all about it by then. If I didn’t already have travel booked on DL for 2024, I’d drop the card now. As it is, I will never put another dime on that card and in the fall of 2024 it will be cancelled.
at least one thing is VERY certain –
You *KNOW* a pandemic is DEFINITELY over when MQD screwing is back in vogue.
At first, I said no big deal with my spending on airfare, hotels, and rental cars. But looking into it, I give up by booking through Delta, Marriott Titanium with benefits like 7.5 points per $ spent or no longer use National Executive Level when booking through Delta? Please correct me if I am wrong. I am a member of a few hotel memberships with some in Europe. As a 2 MM and several years Diamond level, and I already book first class or Delta One on every flight, why would I want to chase Diamond status? I refuse to book a hotel or car through anything powered by Expedia (long, multiple stories). I can fly JetBlue from Atlanta to London in business next month and save over $3000 per ticket. No boosts from Delta to achieve 3 MM. I never use all my regional or global passes. Seriously SkyClub isn’t worth it.
Yeah, don’t book hotels through Delta if you want to enjoy status. You should be OK with rental cars.
Delta is the new Bud Light! They have Screwed Up their Sky Miles program and offended the majority of their loyalty base. I am a Million Miler w/5 AmEx cards & fly DL exclusively now. But it’s time to say “ENOUGH”! United.Airlines, here I come.
The days of me carrying multiple delta Amex cards for the MQM Boosts are over. I have had a personal platinum, personal reserve, and business reserve for years to harvest the various MQM boosts. Now all I need is to funnel everything through a single reserve card. I canceled the other 2 cards today, lowering Amex’s fee revenue from me significantly. I’m sure many others are doing the same thing.
The shrewd move for me is to put my 3 DL Amex cards in a drawer and wait until my annual fee hits on each of them and the 3 companion certs are safely in my DL wallet before I cancel any of my cards. With no prorated annual fee refund there is zero upside to closing any of them now. Plus Amex could clawback the 100,000+ RDM bonuses I earned if I close any card within the first year.
Do you guys think other airlines will follow Delta? If they do, what can we do? But I will say, if they don’t, I am definitely switching to another airline (Maybe American). As a Platinum Medallion for mayn years, I feel like Delta just kicked me out of the party and slammed the door in my face.
@Michael – Many are speculating that will happen but if they are smart they will not follow Delta. I plan to fly AA much more and have not been on a United jet in 10 years but may now.
Thanks, René! I’m with ya! Also, big fan and thanks for the reply!
Wondering what will happen to 22,000 MQM’s from my January 2024 award ticket to Sydney?
@Tom Hoover – You will no longer earn MQMs for that trip – only MQDs for ticket price.
Thanks Rene – Tom
You’ll earn MQM towards Million Miler status. If that’s worth anything now
I canceled.
Do you know if cumulative spending on different Delta cards will still be in place toward spending thresholds? As someone who pays out of pocket for travel and does not have huge annual spend, this new program is beyond depressing.
I’ll double check.
UGH! I live in Atlanta. Are there other options? I’m a self-employed consultant, more than a decade as a Platinum, and only one year did I spend more than $60k on my biz reserve amex. I go to the clubs mostly to get some peace in my travel day. I used to be one of Delta’s most loyal customers, I literally loved the shit outta this airline but I’m so disillusioned now. TEN visits for $550?? That will be gone in five trips.
Mr. Bastian,
I have been a loyal Delta flyer since 1992 nearing 3MM. I have “weathered ” several changes implemented by Delta such as Song, reduction in value of Skymiles, increasing MQD Thresholds, however these new changes take the cake and will be the nail in the coffin to look at dating someone else such as United or AA. The most egregious change is limiting me to 10 Skyclub visits a year (with an annual of $550) or spend an outrageous $70K a year and not even get a waiver for PM status. What marketing genius developed this idea? Can you please elaborate your strategic thinking on this move or give me a reason to keep the Amex and continue to fly with your airline? On a side note, a recent trip to LIS in Delta One (on a 30 year old 767) the hard product was awful; Song era IFE, dowdy herringbone lie flat seats (my partners did not work and was swapped to a seat occupied by NRSA). Clearly IMO, our loyalty is not important – but maybe that’s what happens when finance executives dictate the front office.
Regards,
I’m at 833k lifetime MQMs. Worth it to make a push for the rest of this year to get closer to 1MM before that option goes away? As a taller person it’s nice to have access to extra room seats.
It might be worth it.
810k now worthless MQM for me. I took my first American flight this week in over 10 years and got Hyatt points for it also. They treated me pretty good. Even tho I always spend over $75k per year on Delta flights, I am still leaving them. This is the last straw. Goodby Delta.
Dear Ed Bastian:
Just heard about the changes your making at Delta and all I can say is, THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU…THANK YOU…and if we’re not saying it correctly…OH BOY! THANK YOU!!!
Sincerely,
Your friends at United, American, Southwest, Jet Blue, Alaska, and…ah heck we’ll even let Spirit sign the card!
Thanks Rene, I too am saying ‘no’. Delta/Amex just lost another customer that they could care less about.
Just my observation, but as someone who flies every other week, the planes are always full. They don’t need our allegiance as frequent flyers because with the current situation we don’t make a difference to their bottom line. The whole point of a frequent flyer program is to woo the business travelers as they provide the most consistent revenue stream, but it obviously does not matter to them. When the economy softens and their bottom line is affected perhaps they will need the business travelers again and make changes to the program. Time will tell.