Delta Skymiles are changing starting in January! [MERGED]

[amycurl]

You know, one solution not mentioned in the article….creating additional capacity in regards to lounges, etc.


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[dougp26364]

Well written reason to more or less ignore FF Programs.

Delta’s SkyMiles changes have convinced me to stop chasing airline status, and that’s liberating - The Points Guy

Delta Air Lines announced major changes to its SkyMiles frequent flyer program, which will make it harder for many passengers to reach Medallion elite status. It’s finally convinced me to stop chasing airline status and be a free agent.

thepointsguy.com

I’ve been mostly ignoring FF programs when booking flights for years. Sure I take the miles or credits, but my choice of airline hasn’t been based on the awards programs for years. Same with hotels when it comes to booking a room. These programs have been mostly gutted for years. The only loyalty program we really stick with is Royal Caribbean’s, and that’s mostly because we like their product and there is still value in it for us.

Oddly enough I have the airline CC’s for most major carriers. The reason for those was initially to give us a way to keep our points active between fights, free checked bags and “priority” boarding. Honestly, with the cost of the cards and what the airline considers “priority” boarding, the cards aren’t really worth keeping.

 

[tombanjo]

Pretty soon actually flying on Delta will disqualify you for upgrades to first class or lounge access.

 

[Carolinian]

Well written reason to more or less ignore FF Programs.

Delta’s SkyMiles changes have convinced me to stop chasing airline status, and that’s liberating - The Points Guy

Delta Air Lines announced major changes to its SkyMiles frequent flyer program, which will make it harder for many passengers to reach Medallion elite status. It’s finally convinced me to stop chasing airline status and be a free agent.

thepointsguy.com

I kept moving programs as long as there was a decent program out there. Now there no longer is, unless one is out west where they can use Alaska Air. I fly price and convenience and prefer the European carriers.

Delta was the first program I had elite status in, and they were the first US airline in the race to the bottom, following Air France which screwed up their program the same time they bought KLM and merged Flying Dutchman and Frequence Plus into Flying Blue. There was a huge campaign over at Flyertalk called "Save Sky Miles" over that first downgrade with ff'ers doing all sorts of things to push DL to abandon the changes like passing out "boarding cards" which you could download at FlyerTalk to other passengers, raising money and putting up billboards near major DL airports, and showing up at DL shareholders meetings. Eventually DL reversed most of those changes, but only temporarily. I had already bolted to NW by that time myself. Many former DL ff'ers at Flyertalk call that program "Sky Piles".

 

[tombanjo]

New updates - got an email. I am sure pointsguy will respond shortly.