I received this email the other day from a reader. It got my attention. I have permission to post as is! Take look and see what you think.

“Dear René,

This thing about Delta tightening up on sky milers tells me they have gone overboard on revenue enhancement straight into penny wise and pound foolish. They are tripping merrily down the primrose path of big data. I see it in the company I represent and many other companies.

Big data is a good thing but many companies are showing that they are “educated beyond their intelligence” and are trying to make decisions before they fully understand what they should do with said information.

That said, I am carefully watching what Delta does with the program. I’ve been a medallion flyer for at least ten years now but I can tell you my loyalty is going the way of the dodo along with my Delta gold Amex and my business Delta Reserve card which I use for about $70,000 in purchases per year for my business alone.

So, I am spending my miles down to 100k, I like to keep that many because we live in the east and have one child on the west coast and another in middle of the country and its just a safety cushion for emergencies.

Over the past two years I’ve begun to branch away from Delta. I am writing this from the Caribbean where my wife and I flew on 58,000 British air miles on American. Priority access boarding to boot. A month ago, I flew to Florida one way on United miles via us air (yuck) but the cabin crew was great!

I am fortunate to live within a one hour drive of three regional airports and can usually get a reasonable fare anywhere I want. I think delta is doing a great job but if they continue to squeeze every last drop of blood from us turnips, revenues eventually will fall and they will be in trouble again. There are many lessons delta can learn from JCPenneys and Sears. They better start paying attention and quick.

Cheers!” – KM

Thanks KM for this. Delta struck out at the Freddies this weekend. It was SO BAD in fact that Delta was not even in the top 4 in ANY of the categories! What has Delta done this year to make us proud of them? Crossover Rewards is a great new perk and is a brilliant idea. Delta DieMiles® and the SDC rule are not. The latter needs some time to see just how bad it really is.

I get e-mails like this one almost each day from readers. Delta flyers are fiercely loyal and have been treated well by the airline for many years. It takes a LOT to push someone with that kind of loyalty away. Unless Delta is careful, they will push that hard. Please don’t Delta – please! – René
 

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This year, will all the updates and “enhancements” from Delta, I feel a bit like the 3:20 mark in the clip above. Each week I wait to see what our beloved airline will “buzz” me/us with (yeah I know that makes me Cliff Claven, but so be it)! Even when we have complained back to the mothership, it’s kinda like when Cliff says – “well let’s see how you like it pal”… And I think you get the rest!

Anyway, back to today’s post. The above chart, as some most upset readers know ( right Steve ) who, thanks to working on cruise ships, does get to fly Delta, but does NOT get full credit for each flight.

Could the above chart be a message of what is to come for the rest of us soon? KLM for example, already gives you less depending on the fare class and economy tickets do not ALL earn full credit.

In fact, on my latest flight to Istanbul, one segment, that was booked in Delta “T” class, accidentally was credited to my Flying Blue account and I only got 343 elite qualifying points compared to the 1,376 Delta MQM’s I did, in the end, get credit for.

Had the fare been a consolidator fare then I would have only earned 343 Delta MQM’s for this segment (and I would not have taken the mileage run to begin with).

My question to you all is this: If Delta were to move to this kind of award chart for ALL Skymiles and MQM’s, would that be enough for you to be pushed over the edge? So far, all of Delta’s changes, have been for the most part,  just  accepted  and put up with by Delta flyers. Some have bolted to other airlines, but most just say “ah well”. Would a change like this, if it were implemented system wide, make you stand up and complain until they changed back or would you just take this too?

Now I am not saying this is about to happen tomorrow (and as we know Delta will NOT tell us but we will just find out on our own), but the expanded fare class and synchronization with the rest of Skyteam sure does set the stage for this to happen at some point in the future. Remember kids, unless you are spending money with Delta and spending big, they do not love you! I would love to have your input and thoughts and would this be the last straw?! – René

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Yesterday ThePointsGuy (TPG) Brian Kelly had a post about a new Delta Air Lines test program you can read more about HERE. I also reached out to Delta CORP about this program and was told:

“We are testing an Upgrade with Miles option to offer customers the ability to redeem miles for upgrades in select markets on Delta.com. All of the SkyMiles accrual rules apply as currently described on Delta.com.” – Delta CORP

Now that sounds very fishy to me since, as we all know, the use of any Skymiles to pay for a ticket will VOID your chance to earn any Skymiles or MQM’s. And, if we look at the internet “way back machine” we will see this was the wording on Delta.com very clearly.

But, notice a massive change in the wording about spending miles to buy a  first or business class  ticket now with “Pay with Miles” that I first posted about yesterday on FlyerTalk!

“Pay with Miles tickets booked in First or Business Class are eligible for mileage accrual, Medallion Qualification Segments, and Medallion Qualification Miles.” – Delta.com

This alone is shocking and major news. We now must all run the numbers to see if it is worth spending Skymiles to book an award ticket, OR, to use them to pay for a ticket with Pay With Miles, thanks to our Delta AMEX card that you need to have to do this in the first place, and then be able to EARN Skymiles and MQM’s for a trip we paid for WITH Skymiles. It makes the head spin!

Now back to the test upgrade program. With this, a flyer can earn HUGE class of service bonus Skymiles and MQM’s. Notice what TPG said yesterday in his post:

“I wanted to test out some the routes where this was offered, so I randomly checked Atlanta-Cincinnati on April 12. The lowest coach fare was $262 for this one-way flight, and Delta was offering upgrades for either $59 or 5,900 miles. This route can be rough for complimentary Medallion upgrades, but for 5,900 miles I could confirm the upgrade at booking.” – from TPG

Well DUH! And think about this. Say your employer is willing to reimburse you for ONLY a coach class ticket; ANY coach class ticket as long as it is coach. You can sometimes find a full “Y” class ticket for almost the same price as first class. But, your employer will ONLY let you buy coach. No problem, you burn a few Skymiles, ride up front, and earn a bunch more Skymiles and MQM’s on top of that. Easy peasy!

Oh, but one thing, you can do this as a general Skymiles member and you have just taken a “free” upgrade away from a medallion member. Think how many times this will happen each and every day. Now, think about the heavy medallion routes. Can you see a situation where when you are NOT buying an upgrade with Skymiles just about squashes any possible chance for an upgrade?

Notice what else TPG had to say:

“The bottom line is that Delta is trying to sell more upgrades, whether with miles or money, instead of upgrading elites. Over time I expect Medallion upgrade percentages to drop as less seats become available for last minute complimentary upgrades. United has also been aggressively marketing upgrades and I know many elites have been disenfranchised by the process, but I’m curious how much business Delta and United have lost as a result. I’d bet less than the amount of revenue they are bringing in- that’s what I suspect the hacking of elite upgrades will continue as airlines seek to squeeze as much revenue from paid upgrades. Great news for shareholders- frequent flyers? Not so much.” – from TPG

I agree with most of this. I am about as PRO Delta as any blogger in the blogosphere but as of late, it is getting very hard. The MQD move, while unpopular, will, I feel, have the positive affect of opening up some 1st class seats as so many either jump ship and go over to AA or UA or drop down from DM to PM or lower and on down the chain. This, will have the exact opposite effect if it comes into play fleet wide as it is being tested now.

On top of all of this, with many more seats being sold and upgraded with points, just how many less business class seats will this make available for Skymiles redemption at low, medium or high level? I just don’t see this policy resulting in an increase of award seats being opened up by Delta.

This one is a hard one. There will be fliers who are just over the top in love with this one and it will have an impact for Delta as I think many will be happy to burn Skymiles for this perk. But for others, the chance for an upgrade will be even lower than it is now. So what do you think. Do you like this idea? Is it one more potential “enhancement” you love or hate? Comment below please! – René
 

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Last January I had a post on the fact of what would happen upon the death of  a loyal Delta flyer who spent their life flying Delta, their next of kin would at least get to enjoy their Skymiles and think of them.

Well the new Skymiles guide is out and “DwayneSkyMiles Company Representative – Delta Airlines” rep posted on FlyerTalk that things have changed.

If you die,
so does your
Skymiles account!

Delta has been doing a lot of customer unfriendly kind of moves as of late; I don’t know about you but this one is just reprehensible and turns my stomach and is a HUGE insult to a grieving family.

Delta went from one of the BEST IN CLASS polices in this area to the worst now! They could have changed to a policy to charge a fee like others do, but to just close the account? Really Delta?

What do you think about this? Are you outraged by this? Delta asks us to comment on Delta.com if we don’t like something – this may be a good time to do just that! – René

EDIT: You can also LIKE and ReTweet THIS post from AA who just charges $50!

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Those who do not read the blog and learn how to redeem Skymiles at low level, can spend a TON of points to get a seat.

But wait. Just what would it cost me to buy a ticket to fly from the NYC area to LAX? in coach?

A layman may say that the cost for the ticket is almost $400 so the redemption at 1 cent per mile is not all that bad. We know better. We do know that redeeming for 25,000 Skymiles would be a good value redemption. But then we have this.

Delta asks us to Shop Your Heart out:

“Miles can be used for more than just travel. Now you can shop luxury gifts, Broadway tickets, exclusive auction items and more using miles. So next time you find an item you just can’t live without, put away your wallet and bring it home with miles.“

Well gee whiz kids that just sounds like such a great deal! A way to use my Skymiles for something other than flying. But wait, who can use these Super Neat-O redemptions?

Ah. Well this must be a great deal since it is only open to some of the best of the best who support Delta Air Lines right? You would be very wrong. Years ago there was some good value. You could get a $100 AMEX gift card for example for 11,000 Skymiles. Look what that costs now!

OK that is a gift card. What else? How about this. The Chicago Seminars this year is OCT 11-13. Say you want to spend Skymiles to book a hotel. Let’s take a look.

So you could stay at a Best Western for just 14,976. Now since you can, if you have a Delta AMEX card, any day redeem ONE Skymile for ONE cent when buying a ticket. So, are two nights $149.76?

Ah. $118 plus tax. So, not such a great deal. Once we add Chicago tax it gets a little better but still not full value. Then let’s forget about the hotel, how about a rental car so I can get around Chicago?

So, we can get a car for 17,685 points. Is that a good deal? Is $176.85 a good deal vs. just renting the car and paying for it less or more?

Oh. $118.98 plus tax. So again here we are not getting full value for our Skymiles for renting a car either. Since you have to be one of those Delta LOVES, should these deals not be a GREAT deal? These are, at a stretch, almost equal to “Pay with Miles” remediation. Skymiles marketplace is not a value to those who qualify.

OK that is just cars & hotels. There are many other things like being able to catch a show. Look at this

Hey, in Chicago we could go and catch a show if we come in early or stay a day after the Chicago Seminars. Is this a good deal? Let’s take a look.

So to redeem points it would cost 17,200 Skymiles. That does seem like a lot, $172.00 for a ticket. Maybe this is just an expensive show. Lets look.

YIKES! Seats for $64-$84 can be had. So, once again, redeeming Delta Skymiles for a show would be a HUGE mistake. These three redemptions would cost you almost 50,000 Skymiles. To me, I would rather redeem 45,000 Skymiles and fly in 1st class to Chicago and spend my own money on the hotel, car & catch a show.

Most of us are already well aware that the Skymiles Marketplace is 99.99% of the time NOT a good way to spend our Skymiles, but a review is always good now and then. – René
 

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We were NOT supposed to be able to register for the Crossover promotion until the 1st. You can register at Delta.com (if you qualify) or at SPG.com HERE!

As you can see, it allowed me to put in my Skymiles Platinum number and register early. I then logged in to my SPG account and sure enough it shows I am registered

Then, just a few minuets later, I get a very nice e-mail from Delta saying I am registered also.

The reason you should JUMP on this is if you have a stay or flight on the 1st as it takes up to 48hrs AFTER registration before you get credit! Enjoy – René

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A week does not go by without an e-mail from a reader who says something like:

“Rene, I need 100 miles to have enough Delta points to book an award ticket. What is the best way to get them?”

Naturally, the best way to get not just 100, but a bunch more, would be the Delta GOLD or PLATINUM Delta AMEX cards. But, even with spend, that can take 30-ish days. What if you need something faster? What can you do?

If you have membership rewards points, like from the Gold MR AMEX card,  they transfer over almost instantly so they are a good option to consider if absolute speed is needed (and you have the MR points).

Another good option is Skymiles dining. Right now there are ZERO bonus points so I would wait to join until they offer one but if you are in a RUSH, according to this FlyerTalk post, it can take just about a week to get the points. That is FAST-ish to me.

Starwood points, from your SPG personal or business card are also a good option. It will take 1-2 weeks to get the points from SPG to Delta. You can also use many other hotels to send points over. Keep in mind this is often NOT a good value, but you can do it.

Another one that can be reasonably quick, the focus of this post, is FedEx. You can get 500 bonus points with your first shipment and  even more with your fourth shipment.

And following the outstanding news this morning, after March 1st, if you are a medallion you can get Delta points for your SPG stays that could also help to top off your account.

Can you think of any other FAST ways to pick up just a few quick Delta Points? – René

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First off I value my Skymiles at 2-4 cents each. Why this value? Because the main reasons I fly is to go see my family in Sweden; plus, when I go I want to go in business class. But, I cannot afford business class tickets so I need points to travel the way I want. Please know I am not trying to start a argument about just what any point is worth in real market value converted to cash etc. as the value of a point is very subjective from person to person. But, to some extent, this does come into play when talking about using your points directly as cash to buy a Delta ticket.

Let’s start with some background on what the Pay with miles program is. You must have a Delta GOLD or Platinum or Reserve card to be able to Pay with miles. You are going to get 1 cent value per mile, that is it, and you WILL NOT earn any Skymiles for a trip where you use even ONE single Skymile to pay for a ticket! If you are Gold Medallion (GM) or higher you are still eligible for medallion upgrades. However, if you are on a ticket with anyone who is NOT GM+ you will not be upgrade eligible (you could split PNR – i.e. the booking – but that can have negative consequences so understand this before you do this). There are other restrictions and here are the basics from Delta.com.

There is no fee for using your Pay with Miles benefit. Pay with Miles redemption are flexible based on the price of the ticket.

For fares less than $100: Redeem 25,000 miles to cover the total fare. For fares equal to or greater than $100 and less than $250: Redeem 10,000 miles for $100 off the total fare or Increase the redemption to 25,000 miles and increase from that point in increments of 5,000 miles ($50 off) to cover the total fare. For fares equal to or greater than $250 and total fares less than $1,000: Redeem 10,000 miles for $100 off the total fare or Increase the redemption in increments of 5,000 miles ($50 off) to cover all or part of the total fare (15,000 miles for $150 off, 20,000 miles for $200 off, etc.)

For total fares equal to or greater than $1,000: Redeem 10,000 miles for $100 off the total fare or
Increase the redemption in increments of 10,000 miles ($100 off) to cover all or part of the total fare (20,000 miles for $200 off, 30,000 miles for $300 off, etc.). If you choose to pay for a fare with both miles and a credit card, you must use an eligible American Express Credit Card.

So just when would this be a good idea? I have used pay with miles a few times, but not for myself. As you all know I work hard to always find low level Delta seats for Lisa & me. However, there are times when I spring for a ticket for a friend to fly out and say come skiing with us from another city. Once I find the perfect Skymiles tickets for us, I then start working on seats for my friend. Finding low level seats so that they will end up at the same HUB as us so that the last flight we are all together is often VERY hard to do (well most times we are in 1st and my friend is in coach, but at least we’re on the same plane). But why not just book a Skymiles ticket in this case too? Look at some math.

As I search for seats I may only find Mid or High level seats (or a mix of low and high) when I check to see what buying a ticket on the same flights will cost. Check this out: if a ticket is less that $325.00, then spending 32,500 points would cost MORE than paying with miles. So, say it costs $250.00 for the ticket, then, in effect, you ARE getting the seat for 25,000 miles with pay with miles compared to using the points for the higher award ticket! Have you ever thought about getting “low level” seats by buying the ticket with points. This can work for you so always check the real price to buy! You may say I value my points more than that – OK – but then why would you book a 25,000 point ticket ever? (There are some who will argue that since Skymiles are worth much more it would be better to spend cash and save the points for another ticket – but that is an argument for another post – clear?).

Are there times, with the illustration above, this is a bad idea? Sure. Say you can only find 40,000 point seats. To pay with points is $300.00. This is clearly less, right. But, if you are PM+, it may be better to grab the higher point ticket and hope that a 25,000 low level shows up that you can change to. For me, spending the extra 5000 points to just grab the ticket would be well worth the pay with points.

Also, it may be worth checking for business class seats. 45,000 low level business class seat would be a much better choice than say a $400 coach class pay with miles seat to me or even a 40,000 point coach class Skymiles seat. So always check both the coach and business class option.

Another reason would be if you were trying to get a ticket and were a few points short of an award. Let’s say you only have 10,000 Skymiles; this way you could at least get $100 off the ticket you are going to buy. Again, to me, not a great value, but it is a way to use some points that you could not use otherwise.

If all this is making your head spin a bit, good, it should. When it comes to flying and points we must get it. There is great value if we are willing to work. Willing to be travel enthusiasts. While there is no free lunch, there are great deals for those who “clip coupons” as my friend Jen would say! – René

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If someone you know is going to fly Delta, obviously they will want to join the Skymiles program first. Now, they can earn some bonus Skymiles with this link:

http://dmn.delta.com/ace_offers/SkyMilesNewMemberRT/

Here are the T&C of the deal:

• NEW MEMBER BONUS EARN UP TO 40,000 MILES WITH THESE SPECIAL WELCOME OFFERS. The special offers below will have you earning miles and your first Award Ticket (at just 25,000 miles) faster than ever:
• FLY & EARN UP TO 15,000 MILES. Enjoy 5,000 bonus miles on your next round-trip Delta flight to any of our 350+ destinations. Plus, you’ll earn an additional 2,500 bonus miles for each of your next four subsequent round-trip flights.
• SHOP & EARN 5,000 MILES Not already a SkyMiles Credit Cardmember? Get up to 30,000 bonus miles with the Gold Delta SkyMiles® Credit Card from American Express. That’s up to 25,000 miles for getting the Card. Plus an additional 5,000 miles now as a new SkyMiles member. On top of that, earn one mile for eligible everyday purchases and double miles for Delta purchases. Plus, get a free checked bag on every Delta flight.
• LOUNGE & EARN 10,000 MILES Join the Delta Sky Club® and earn 10,000 bonus miles with a one- or three-year membership. Discover this exclusive travel retreat and its amenities at more than 50 airport Clubs or 35 partner lounge locations around the world.
  
• USE 10,000 MILES & ENJOY 5,000 BONUS MILES. Redeem your first 10,000 miles toward Award Travel, hotel stays, car rentals, a Delta Sky Club membership, and more. You’ll enjoy 5,000 bonus miles as a new member. For all the ways you can use your miles, visit delta.com/usemiles.
  
• SHOP, DINE, DRIVE & STAY TO EARN UP TO 5,000 MILES. Discover our 100+ SkyMiles partners and their special member offers. Enjoy 500 bonus miles for each unique partner you participate with in your first year of membership (up to 10 partner transactions). Be sure to provide your SkyMiles number during your transaction with each SkyMiles partner. The miles you earn will be credited to your account.
  
• First, register for these five exclusive bonus mile offers, then start earning your way to Award Travel and more.

So, also, having the Delta branded AMEX will save them a bag fee and Zone 1 etc. And with this promo pick up some extra points when using the new card too!

If for some reason the link does not work (I got some mixed results in testing), then you should be able to see the link after joining Skymiles in the middle of the “My Delta” page. – René

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As my twitter followers have seen, I have been out west in Denver enjoying “bluebird” ski days and have been trying via my phone to stay up to date and post. But, much of what we are learning, due to the fact that it was clearly NOT to be out this soon, is pouring out and my guess is some of it will change.

The bottom line of all this is Delta only loves you if you are spending money on TICKETS. No government fees count toward your yearly spend so just because you pay $500 for a ticket don’t expect to get $500 credit toward you MQD’s. Take a look from THIS LINK at the Delta.com web site:

What spend counts toward Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs)?

MQDs are the total of the SkyMiles member’s spend on Delta-marketed flights (flight numbers that include the “DL” airline code), inclusive of the base fare and applicable surcharges, but exclusive of government- imposed taxes and fees. Flight spend for travel on other airlines ticketed through a Delta channel (featuring a ticket number beginning with “006″) will also be included in MQDs. Certain specialty tickets, including but not limited to unpublished, consolidator, group/tour and opaque fare products will not count toward MQDs.

Do bag fees, seat purchases, etc. count toward earning Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs)?

No. Ancillary purchases or fees including but not limited to checked baggage fees, Economy Comfort™ seat purchases, Priority Boarding, Delta Sky Club® memberships, Wi-Fi passes, in-flight food and beverage purchases, in-flight entertainment, unaccompanied minor fees, pet travel fees, Mileage Booster™, ticket change fees, Direct Ticketing Charge (DTC), Same Day Confirmed Fee, Administrative Service Charge (ASC), External Reissue Charge (ERC), and Standby Upgrades purchased at the gate, do not count toward earning MQDs.

You have got to be kidding me! So all the other money we pour into Delta they do not care about! Also, and I have a big post on the way soon, they are telling us to PLEASE STOP paying for EC, bags, wifi and ANYTHING ELSE Delta is trying to sell us as NONE OF IT will count toward your MQD’s. (the total accounting FOOL who recommended this to the airline should be demoted to the mail room – IMO)! Think about this, and a question that has not been answered, will your spend to BUY MQM’s each year count toward your MQD’s? My guess is NOT – but why not. This is just a stupid statement from Delta and I hope they change this.

Most of what Delta has done has some logic. The above does not. Delta should 100% understand that ALL Delta revenue is good for Delta and therefore should be rewarded and count toward your MQD’s! Am I way off base or what do you think? – Rene

Also I have added a new MQD poll on the blog – please vote!

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