Delta Plans Radical Change To Skymiles Program

flybry · Wed Feb 26, 2014 10:05 am

Looks like HUGE changes are coming to Delta's Skymiles program that will fundamentally change its structure. A new Fortune article says Delta is completely revamping its frequent flier program. It will no longer be based on the distance you fly to earn miles. Instead, you will earn miles based on how much you pay for your ticket. I guess this puts an end to the mileage run, at least on Delta.

The article says this will take effect in January 2015.

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2014/...frequent-flier/?source=yahoo_quote

"The new program goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2015, and all flights after that date, even if the tickets are purchased this year, will qualify. The customers in each category will receive a rising level of rewards for every dollar spent, depending on their elite status. If you sign up for Delta SkyMiles, but don't fly or spend enough to rate as elite, you'll receive five times the dollars you spend in miles. That's right, the rewards will still be expressed in miles. "It's the currency accustomed to for many years," says Jeff Robertson, vice president for SkyMiles. But the number of miles you receive will be based entirely on what you pay, not how far you fly.

For that customer who flies twice a year from New York to Los Angeles on a $650 fare, reserved months in advance, it's a downer. Today, he or she would book 5,000 miles. Under the new program, the credit is just 3,250 miles, or the $650 fare multiplied by five."

TSS · Wed Feb 26, 2014 10:20 am

Quoting flybry (Thread starter):
That's right, the rewards will still be expressed in miles. "It's the currency accustomed to for many years," says Jeff Robertson, vice president for SkyMiles. But the number of miles you receive will be based entirely on what you pay, not how far you fly.

So even though the new system is based on money spent rather than miles traveled, DL won't be changing the name of the program from "SkyMiles" to the unofficial-but-widely-used "SkyPesos"?

AWACSooner · Wed Feb 26, 2014 10:23 am

Whatever...at this point, I have zero hope of ever redeeming my skypesos on that airline...this just goes to show how much they truly value their long-haul customers.

BD338 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 11:26 am

No surprise really. Only a matter of time. Spend/revenue is a much better indicator of who a company should consider a more valuable customer, i.e who contributes the most to the company. Only surprise is it came so quickly after MQDs were introduced. I just hope there isn't a get out clause for having a certain type of credit card. I'm guessing the combined AA/US plan will also be on this basis.

Should be fun to watch all the wailing and crying over on FlyerTalk...

All the details are on www.delta.com/skymiles2015

[Edited 2014-02-26 03:32:07]

ual777newpaint · Wed Feb 26, 2014 11:42 am

I knew this was coming, but I'm very sad that the day has finally come. I just flew BOS-DTW-PEK and will fly NRT-JFK-BOS in a few months, earning around 14,000 miles on a $1300 fare. We can all do the simple math of how many "miles" that ticket will earn next year.

BD338 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 11:42 am

Quoting BD338 (Reply 3):
All the details are on www.delta.com/skymiles2015

...always read the instructions first. No change on how medallion status is earned, just how miles that can be redeemed for travel are earned. No big deal. Redeeming miles at any sort of a reasonable level is near impossible anyway. Will the 2016 program make Medallion qualification on the same basis as these changes?

a380787 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 11:52 am

officially .... SkyPILES

Thanks to delta's "leadership" - first in 3 tier nonsense then MQD crap now this, I can now safely send my traveling dollars to JetBlue .... At least they can guarantee me 34" legroom on any a320 flight

Another stupid rule .... The cap of 75000 miles per person per reservation

A Business class ticket for a DM can easily bump up against that limit, thus forcing you to buy 2 separate one way tickets to maximize mileage earner .... Waste of people's time

[Edited 2014-02-26 04:47:35 by SA7700]

flybry · Wed Feb 26, 2014 12:15 pm

Here's Delta's official press release:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/delta-...15-skymiles-program-095700737.html

jjsilver · Wed Feb 26, 2014 12:19 pm

One way rewards at half the mileage caught my attention. This was one peeve a lot of people had with the program.

DL747400 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 12:40 pm

Quoting AWACSooner (Reply 2):
Whatever...at this point, I have zero hope of ever redeeming my skypesos on that airline...this just goes to show how much they truly value their long-haul customers.

Perhaps you are not the customer DL is targeting?

Perhaps, based on your air spend, you might not be as valuable of a customer to an airline as you think you are?

FWAERJ · Wed Feb 26, 2014 12:53 pm

Quoting BD338 (Reply 3):
I just hope there isn't a get out clause for having a certain type of credit card.

There is-sort of. According to the press release, those who book with a Delta SkyMiles American Express will get two extra miles per dollar spent on top of the 5-11 normal miles.

5 miles per dollar for normal members
7 for Silver Medallion
8 for Gold Medallion
9 for Platinum Medallion
11 for Diamond Medallion
Add 2 miles/$ to all tiers if paying with a Delta SkyMiles American Express card

AWACSooner · Wed Feb 26, 2014 12:58 pm

Quoting DL747400 (Reply 10):

Perhaps, based on your air spend, you might not be as valuable of a customer to an airline as you think you are?

Why? Cause I plan ahead and book my tickets when they're cheaper instead of the last-minute travelers?

EricR · Wed Feb 26, 2014 12:58 pm

Quoting ual777newpaint (Reply 4):

I knew this was coming, but I'm very sad that the day has finally come. I just flew BOS-DTW-PEK and will fly NRT-JFK-BOS in a few months, earning around 14,000 miles on a $1300 fare. We can all do the simple math of how many "miles" that ticket will earn next year.

That is one way to look at it. However, another way to look at it is that you can fly 1 domestic first class flight from ATL-LAX and earn the same amount of miles instead of wasting days flying around the world for the exact same mileage. Also, considering fares have increased so much over the past few years, it may actually work out to your advantage on short haul flights.

This is a policy that makes the most sense for airlines. I would not be surprised to see others follow this concept soon.

MAH4546 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:02 pm

Delta already has the worst frequent flier program in the industry. It's miles are worthless and it's elite benefits suck outside of the top tier (as opposed to other carriers, which give meaningful, tangible benefits to lower tiers). So now people just earn worthless Skymiles at a lower rate.

And while Delta is probably hoping UA and AA quickly follow, I don't see them doing them (and the entire global industry) following them anytime soon, placing DL at even more at a disadvantage on earning the high value travelers that will absolutely not like this move.

a380787 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:02 pm

This will probably mean the middle tiers will cleaned out

The airline would be left with a few DM who would love them since they now control all the award seats ... And a whole lot of kayakers in the back

Basically DL is saying : if you're not a last min biz traveler paying us the kings ransom, don't let the door hit you on the way out

MIflyer12 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:16 pm

Quoting a380787 (Reply 14):
Basically DL is saying : if you're not a last min biz traveler paying us the kings ransom, don't let the door hit you on the way out

Twenty seconds with the new mileage credit estimator could properly disabuse you of that notion. Even a simple $300 r/t ATL-LGA as a Silver would earn more miles than it does today. Make the investment of your time, please.

http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...gram.html?icid=SM_15_announce#earn

MAH4546 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:18 pm

Quoting EricR (Reply 12):
However, another way to look at it is that you can fly 1 domestic first class flight from ATL-LAX and earn the same amount of miles instead of wasting days flying around the world for the exact same mileage.

But elite earning will still be based on distance. The amount of elite qualifying miles you earn doesn't change. You still need to fly 25,000 butt-in-seat miles to qualify for the lowest tier.

FlyASAGuy2005 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:20 pm

There seems to be enhancements to award tickets as well for the good. Like not piling everyone into the same window and allowing one-way redemption among other things. I don't know enough about the program to understand the lingo maybe someone that actually takes the time to read the entire article would be able to explain better than I.

Quoting AWACSooner (Reply 11):
Why? Cause I plan ahead and book my tickets when they're cheaper instead of the last-minute travelers?

Basically.

Cubsrule · Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:23 pm

Quoting Mah4546 (Reply 13):
placing DL at even more at a disadvantage on earning the high value travelers that will absolutely not like this move.

Which high value travelers does this change hurt? I buy a lot of refundable tickets and expect to earn significantly more miles, and it doesn't affect status.

Cactus739 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:24 pm

Quoting AWACSooner (Reply 11):

Exactly! You've been around long enough to know that the people who pay the most are the ones airlines want. I'm the same as you, I buy tickets early and save money but I don't have an over inflated sense of my importance to any airline.

a380787 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:28 pm

Quoting MIflyer12 (Reply 15):

I don't bother with short haul ... 99% of my domestic flights are transcon to SFO LAX and LAS ... And I'm at less than 50% earning rate in nearly all scenarios I've plugged in

And no ... $300 is not a normal fare for that route if u purchase in advance ... You're inflating fares to make your point

Also, it's the same stupid system as MQD where taxes and fees don't count, so that $300 invoice would only end up with ~$252 base fare

EricR · Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:32 pm

Quoting Mah4546 (Reply 16):

Quoting EricR (Reply 12):
However, another way to look at it is that you can fly 1 domestic first class flight from ATL-LAX and earn the same amount of miles instead of wasting days flying around the world for the exact same mileage.

But elite earning will still be based on distance. The amount of elite qualifying miles you earn doesn't change. You still need to fly 25,000 butt-in-seat miles to qualify for the lowest tier.

I don't think so. In fact, the new program provides even greater incentives for elites........see below from article referenced by the OP

"Say you're a Delta Platinum member, and on Monday your mercurial boss suddenly orders, "Get to that conference in London on Thursday." So you book a flight from JFK to Heathrow in business class for $5,000. Today, you'd get a credit of over 20,000 miles, the round-trip distance across the Atlantic (plus a bonus for being a Platinum member). In the new SkyMiles regime, you'd receive nine times your fare in miles. That's 45,000 miles, more than double what you'd receive today on Delta or any other U.S. major."

UALWN · Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:33 pm

Quoting MIflyer12 (Reply 15):
Make the investment of your time, please.

I just did. I regularly fly between BCN and SFO. I pay around $1200 r/t. Currently this gets me 11,942 mi. Next year: 6,000 mi. If I were Gold Medallion (I'm a UA Premier Gold, so I could be a DL Gold Medallion if I jumped ship to DL), I'd get 23,884 mi in 2014, vs. 9,600 mi in 2015. Guess what? I'll stick with UA...

FlyASAGuy2005 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:34 pm

Quoting cactus739 (Reply 19):

DL has an internal moniker. Their HVCs represent only 5% of their pax population but contribute something like 50% (could be slightly more or slightly less) to pax revenue. This is why they're called High Value Customers. Now, make no mistake and don't let anyone fool you that they also need "regular" travelers because they make up the other half. There is a need for bargain shoppers, once a year travelers and those without any loyalty but DL is simply saying that they will not reward them the same.

MAH4546 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:45 pm

Quoting EricR (Reply 21):
But elite earning will still be based on distance. The amount of elite qualifying miles you earn doesn't change. You still need to fly 25,000 butt-in-seat miles to qualify for the lowest tier.

I don't think so.

What don't you think? EQM earning does not change. Again, you need to fly 25,000/50,000/75,000/125,000 butt-in-seat miles to earn each status tier.

Quoting EricR (Reply 21):
"Say you're a Delta Platinum member, and on Monday your mercurial boss suddenly orders, "Get to that conference in London on Thursday." So you book a flight from JFK to Heathrow in business class for $5,000. Today, you'd get a credit of over 20,000 miles, the round-trip distance across the Atlantic (plus a bonus for being a Platinum member). In the new SkyMiles regime, you'd receive nine times your fare in miles. That's 45,000 miles, more than double what you'd receive today on Delta or any other U.S. major."

It's a lot less than 45,000 miles since a very huge chunk of that fare is taxes, but yes, you will earn more redeemable miles. There are definitely situations where travelers benefit in RDM earning - namely travelers flying premium tickets internationally and flying short-haul out of high-fare markets like HSV, XNA, etc.

And of course, how does one value 45,000 Skymiles? I personally rather have 25,000 AAdvantage or Alaska miles, you can do a lot more with that on average.

EricR · Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:56 pm

Quoting FlyASAGuy2005 (Reply 23):

There is a need for bargain shoppers, once a year travelers and those without any loyalty but DL is simply saying that they will not reward them the same.

Any why should they? Almost every for-profit business in the country provides better incentives (perks, pricing, etc) based on the more you spend with them. Airlines are no different. Heck, even at Walmart you will get a better price per roll of TP if you spend more to buy a larger package.

Quoting Mah4546 (Reply 24):

What don't you think? EQM earning does not change. Again, you need to fly 25,000/50,000/75,000/125,000 butt-in-seat miles to earn each status tier.

Yup. I misinterpreted your original post.

Cubsrule · Wed Feb 26, 2014 1:58 pm

Quoting Mah4546 (Reply 24):
There are definitely situations where travelers benefit in RDM earning - namely travelers flying premium tickets internationally and flying short-haul out of high-fare markets like HSV, XNA, etc.

It doesn't even have to be high fare markets (unless you are counting places like LGA and DCA as "high fare markets," which they arguably are but are not generally mentioned in the same breath as the likes of HSV). BNA-LGA is about 1500 miles roundtrip, and a typical restricted fare with modest (1 week) advance purchase is around $330. A traveler with no status comes out about 150 miles ahead in the new scheme. A silver comes out a bit ahead as well. Interestingly, in this "middle" case, golds, platinums and diamonds come out a little behind.

Quoting Mah4546 (Reply 24):
And of course, how does one value 45,000 Skymiles? I personally rather have 25,000 AAdvantage or Alaska miles, you can do a lot more with that on average.

YMMV, but I find all legacy miles pretty much equally worthless. Rapid Rewards (for WN flights/stations) and AmEx points (for everything else) are far more valuable.

DL747400 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:00 pm

Quoting BD338 (Reply 3):
Should be fun to watch all the wailing and crying over on FlyerTalk...

Forget about FlyerTalk. There's plenty of wailing and crying on this board, including this thread.

delta2ual · Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:06 pm

Quoting flybry (Thread starter):
For that customer who flies twice a year from New York to Los Angeles on a $650 fare, reserved months in advance, it's a downer. Today, he or she would book 5,000 miles. Under the new program, the credit is just 3,250 miles, or the $650 fare multiplied by five."

I noticed when quoting the article, you conveniently left out this part:
"By contrast, the top elites will reap a big windfall. Say you're a Delta Platinum member, and on Monday your mercurial boss suddenly orders, "Get to that conference in London on Thursday." So you book a flight from JFK to Heathrow in business class for $5,000. Today, you'd get a credit of over 20,000 miles, the round-trip distance across the Atlantic (plus a bonus for being a Platinum member). In the new SkyMiles regime, you'd receive nine times your fare in miles. That's 45,000 miles, more than double what you'd receive today on Delta or any other U.S. major."

For those that spend the most, they will get the most-as it should be.

D L X · Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:11 pm

So, this system favors short flights and discourages connections?

On DCA-MCO (~350) you end up with about 200 SkyMiles more. On DCA-LAX (~$350) you end up with about 50% less!

AT · Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:14 pm

The article states "The announcement will affect all classes of travelers."

Yes, true. But it's retrogressive, as it will disproportionately affect lower-fare (predominantly Economy) passengers.

Related question: Will the 'pay with miles' option that is currently a feature of the Delta American Express card remain in place? Whilst I agree with the above posters re: the terribly utility of Skymiles (particularly compared to AAdvantage Miles), the pay with miles ($100 off your ticket for every 10,000 points) is a fantastic alternative and one that does not rely on award-seat availability.

FlyASAGuy2005 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:17 pm

Quoting D L X (Reply 29):

So, this system favors short flights and discourages connections?

On DCA-MCO (~350) you end up with about 200 SkyMiles more. On DCA-LAX (~$350) you end up with about 50% less!

Unless the connection cost more. It's spend based so yes.

Flying JFK-SFO may be sexy but if you're popping out $300 r/t when i'm (theoretically) flying LIT-ATL at $550 r/t one-week advanced fare then yes they will reward me more because i'm bringing in more money. Being a frequent traveler will still have an advantage over Joe Traveler because DM/PM/GM/FO has a higher multiplier. Add on using an AmEx card and you're in good shape.

MAH4546 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:19 pm

Quoting Cubsrule (Reply 26):
YMMV, but I find all legacy miles pretty much equally worthless. Rapid Rewards (for WN flights/stations) and AmEx points (for everything else) are far more valuable.

RapidRewards can't fly to me to Hong Kong in first class for 67,500 miles each way (a very easy-to-get redemption with AAdvantage), and AmEx points are indeed very valuable, ironically because they can be transferred to the likes of Emirates or British Airways.

DL747400 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:19 pm

Quoting AWACSooner (Reply 11):
Why? Cause I plan ahead and book my tickets when they're cheaper instead of the last-minute travelers?

Umm...... well, yes. Now that you mention it, that could be one good reason.

Clearly, DL is targeting the big spenders and rewarding them with more miles than the leisure travelers who are buying inexpensive fares in the lowest fare buckets. Pure speculation on my part, but it makes me wonder whether in 2016 or beyond we could see changes to how frequent flyers qualify for elite status, aligning even more to air spend than what we see today.

mptpa · Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:21 pm

The main issue with DL is redemption, so are they going to increase availability because supply will be less? Probably not. They want cold hard $ into coffers.

DL747400 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:23 pm

Quoting Mah4546 (Reply 13):

And yet, DL's record financial results would seem to contradict your rather harsh and biased opinions.

diverdave · Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:25 pm

Quoting Mah4546 (Reply 24):
It's a lot less than 45,000 miles since a very huge chunk of that fare is taxes, but yes, you will earn more redeemable miles. There are definitely situations where travelers benefit in RDM earning - namely travelers flying premium tickets internationally and flying short-haul out of high-fare markets like HSV, XNA, etc.

Thanks for remembering HSV.

Quoting Mah4546 (Reply 24):
And of course, how does one value 45,000 Skymiles? I personally rather have 25,000 AAdvantage or Alaska miles, you can do a lot more with that on average.

I presently value Skymiles at about 60% of AA or UA miles. I base that on Delta's mid tier awards being the great majority of flights available for redemption, and works out that 45K Skymiles are worth about 27K AA miles so we're pretty close on that.

This gives me more reason to maybe stick with AA after my complimentary plat status ends in May. (Extendable through next February if I fly enough.)

David

Cubsrule · Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:27 pm

Quoting mptpa (Reply 34):
The main issue with DL is redemption, so are they going to increase availability because supply will be less?

There's some corporate doublespeak, but here's what the press release says on this point:

Quote:
The program updates will be effective Jan. 1, 2015 and will also include a new mileage redemption structure that will improve Award seat availability at the lowest mileage requirement levels

AT · Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:34 pm

Here's a question:

With airlines, there always seems to be a 'one starts, the others follow' pattern. We saw this with elimination of free meal service on domestic flights; charging for checked luggage; etc etc..

So, how certain can we be that American, United, and others will jump on to this bandwagon?

airmailer · Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:34 pm

Hmmmm....

I'm going to have to put my Data Skillz to work and model a bunch of scenarios. Sounds like I would have earned 45,000 - 50,000 miles flying last year based on the new system, not too different.

Funny that Medallion status is based on miles flown. Makes sense though, once change at a time. They can change Medallion status to be based on spend next year.

bond007 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:43 pm

Quoting Mah4546 (Reply 32):
RapidRewards can't fly to me to Hong Kong in first class for 67,500 miles each way (a very easy-to-get redemption with AAdvantage),

Nothing except 195,000 miles each way for the next 12 months on AA.com on the routes I was looking at.

Where are you flying from? and when?

It's not an "easy-to-get redemption" for me anyway!

Jimbo

n7371f · Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:49 pm

I'd love to see this Award Chart. The reason you can't see it is, it's not good. Otherwise why would Delta hide it?

MAH4546 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 2:58 pm

Quoting n7371f (Reply 41):
I'd love to see this Award Chart. The reason you can't see it is, it's not good. Otherwise why would Delta hide it?

Exactly. All this increased mileage earning on certain types of flying is only going to be beneficial if the award chart largely stays the same. And the let's not forget it already sucks as is.

Quoting bond007 (Reply 40):
Nothing except 195,000 miles each way for the next 12 months on AA.com on the routes I was looking at.

Where are you flying from? and when?

Cathay Pacific awards are not visible on AA.com. You need to call. They have a reputation for being incredibly easy to get. I just got a pair on LAX-HKG, one ~4 months in advance, the other ~3 days in advance (CX releases unsold F seats like clockwork a few days before the flight, and with AA's no-fee change policy on awards, it's an easy switch).

YouGeeElWhy · Wed Feb 26, 2014 3:00 pm

Quoting bond007 (Reply 40):
Where are you flying from? and when?

Booked on CX not AA's DFW-HKG.

[Edited 2014-02-26 07:01:55]

Tdan · Wed Feb 26, 2014 3:20 pm

Quoting n7371f (Reply 41):

I'd love to see this Award Chart. The reason you can't see it is, it's not good. Otherwise why would Delta hide it?

And those miles are just going to continue to be devalued. Pretty soon, the only travelers who'll be able to redeem miles for award travel are DMs with the credit card.

I would have rather seen DL eliminate miles as a basis of earning and convert them to dollars earned based on dollars spent. That way when redeeming award miles, one can use 'miles' plus cash and there is actually some value in those earned miles. In this new program, there's absolutely no incentive to earn DL miles unless you are going to be an elite traveler, flying on someone else's dime.

william · Wed Feb 26, 2014 3:33 pm

Using miles for free trips is old fashioned anyways, log into their skyshopping and spend miles on something tangible and lasting. That's what I do.

whiskeyhotel · Wed Feb 26, 2014 3:37 pm

Quoting delta2ual (Reply 28):
I noticed when quoting the article, you conveniently left out this part:
"By contrast, the top elites will reap a big windfall. Say you're a Delta Platinum member, and on Monday your mercurial boss suddenly orders, "Get to that conference in London on Thursday." So you book a flight from JFK to Heathrow in business class for $5,000. Today, you'd get a credit of over 20,000 miles, the round-trip distance across the Atlantic (plus a bonus for being a Platinum member). In the new SkyMiles regime, you'd receive nine times your fare in miles. That's 45,000 miles, more than double what you'd receive today on Delta or any other U.S. major."

For those that spend the most, they will get the most-as it should be.

This analysis ignores the purchasing power of those 45,000 SkyMiles under the new earning regime vs. what 20,000 SkyMiles yields under the current regime. Delta has not yet disclosed the revenue-based redemption rates under its new 5-tiered redemption system. So, until those figures are available, it isn't really possible to determine whether the new system is a net positive or net negative under your hypothetical. If the change is anything like WN's switch to revenue-based redemptions, I suspect that in the vast majority of cases, redeeming for premium international travel with DL is going to take a lot more mileage than it currently does.

[Edited 2014-02-26 07:41:36]

Flighty · Wed Feb 26, 2014 3:38 pm

Quoting Mah4546 (Reply 24):
What don't you think? EQM earning does not change. Again, you need to fly 25,000/50,000/75,000/125,000 butt-in-seat miles to earn each status tier.

Yeah... PLUS new revenue requirements at a minimum 10 cent RASM (edit: RPM). Otherwise, Forget you. AFAIK

(referring to $12,500 plus 125k miles to reach Diamond)

Roughly speaking, IMO miles were worth 1 cent each.

Now, the airline is willing to pay you 5 miles per dollar - so, whew! It's exactly the same as before, as long as you ALWAYS pay at least 20 cents per passenger mile! You're coming out "ahead!" Cough, sputter, choke.

What confuses me is, on one hand it's $12.5k or 125k miles. On the other, they say if you spend $12.5k, they will give you only 61.25k miles no matter your distance flown. Or is that a minimum? Can anyone explain this?

[Edited 2014-02-26 08:05:30]

whiskeyhotel · Wed Feb 26, 2014 3:41 pm

Quoting Tdan (Reply 44):
I would have rather seen DL eliminate miles as a basis of earning and convert them to dollars earned based on dollars spent. That way when redeeming award miles, one can use 'miles' plus cash and there is actually some value in those earned miles. In this new program, there's absolutely no incentive to earn DL miles unless you are going to be an elite traveler, flying on someone else's dime.

This would almost guarantee that the IRS would reevaluate its position of non-enforcement regarding the taxability of frequent flyer benefits earned via employer spend as fringe benefits. If employer-paid business travel results in taxable income by crediting to one's personal FFP account, then FFPs are dead.

a380787 · Wed Feb 26, 2014 3:48 pm

My 2014 YTD :

PQM : 20,535 (all Y)
PQS : 12
PQD : $1,005
Status : Plat

If I directly apply the new DL formula to UA =>

Old miles = 20535 x (100% base + 75% status bonus) = 35,936
New miles = 1005 x 9 = 9,045

Net change = -74.8%

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