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Delta's new 72-hour SkyMiles policy infuriates top flyers

Is loyalty really a two-way street, as Delta points out here in a recent ad campaign?

Delta really raised the ire of its frequent flyers this month with a last-minute, poorly announced rule change. Starting August 15, if you want to change or cancel a SkyMiles award flight within 72 hours of departure, your miles will be forfeited.  You read that right: If you must change or cancel your award flight within 72 hours of your trip, you now forfeit the miles. Poof! Gone! Buh-bye…

SkyMiles can still be redeemed for flights within the 72-hour window (without a close-in booking fee), but all awards now become non-refundable and non-changeable within 72 hours of the departure flight. There are no exceptions to this rule for Platinum or Diamond members. Delta “announced” the rule change just this week (see below)–only six days prior to its effective date of August 15.

This means, for example,  that if you redeemed a ticket for a flight at the high level and it drops to the lower level two days before departure– too bad, you are stuck paying the higher amount of miles.

Delta claims this is to prevent misuse by members who have been booking award seats and then not actually traveling on them (later requesting a change or refund) and causing as many as “a million seats”  to fly empty.

Limiting cancellations with this policy might hold some weight…but we feel Delta’s very best customers– those who have shown enough loyalty to earn award flights–   should still be allowed to at least change their ticket within 72 hours.

We at The TICKET were as stunned as everyone else when we received word of this most recent, radical change, and contacted Delta for confirmation. The news was indeed confirmed, and we were told to find Delta’s explanation for the change on social media channels…interestingly, the change was not officially announced anywhere on Delta’s web site. [Update: We found it on Delta’s site today.]

On Milepoint.com, we found the following (surprisingly smug and somewhat condescending) post from Delta’s social media maven:

Late last month, I posted information about recent changes to our Award redeposit policy. The changes were made after we reviewed the number of award seats that were going out empty and the number was large – massive, in fact. So we made some adjustments to help address the situation and increase award availability.

In response to that post, members asked if we were looking at making changes to the policy for any time prior to departure. In fact, we were. During that review we determined that there are more than 1,000,000 award seats that were going unused at the 72 hour mark prior to departure. That is 3 days in which those seats could otherwise be sold or used for other SkyMiles members who truly intend to sit in the seat and travel.

As a result, we’re updating this policy once more. So, effective August 15, 2011, SkyMiles members who wish to cancel or make changes to their award ticket now need to do so at least 72 hours before their flight departure (for changes, this applies to each flight segment – outbound and return). This change will make those seats available to other members and ultimately increase award availability. Miles for tickets cancelled within 72 hours will be nonrefundable. Taxes and fees for award travel cancelled within 72 hours will be refundable upon request. Same-day standby options will remain.

For changes or cancellations made at least 72 hours prior to departure, Diamond and Platinum Medallion members will continue to receive reissue and redeposit fee waivers. Reissue and redeposit fees will continue to apply for other members.

We will be sending out an email to customers with advance award travel booked later today – delta.com is being updated with this information as well.

Because it was a trending theme in last month’s thread, let’s address another issue head-on. We understand that extenuating circumstances do happen and our agents are equipped to review those situations on a case-by-case basis to determine if an exception is warranted. (Just do us a favor and try to make sure it’s not the 8th time your great uncle has passed away.)

Candidly, we expect that this change may be unpopular with some – and we will hear all of your concerns related to it – so we are communicating this early and will be sending a variety of communications to customers later today. When program changes occur, we want our members to be aware of them so that they can adapt accordingly.

Now let’s start the conversation. I’m gathering your comments and bringing them all back to the team…

Michelle, SkyMiles | Delta Social Ambassador

A Delta 2-Million Miler wrote to The TICKET in disbelief, but thankful that he made a last-minute change last week, before the policy went into effect, “I was one of those last minute changes just last week when an unexpected business meeting caused me to cancel plans for AMS and CDG. But these things do happen, and to lose your miles is just harsh, very harsh.”

[Update:] On the other hand, another TICKET reader from Dallas writes: “Diamonds were booking business/first class seats using miles but not putting in their Skymiles number (since you can book a seat using miles for anyone). Then, the same Diamond would book a coach seat in hopes of getting an upgrade to business/first -naturally this reservation contained the sky miles number. The net result is a double booking of this person. Once they get the upgrade on the coach booking, they would call and cancel the second reservation booked in business/first with miles – sometimes while at the gate – which caused seats to go empty. I find it hard to believe that it resulted in one million going empty – but I see Delta’s point. A few people found a loop hole, exploited it, and we are all paying for it.”

So, TICKET readers, what do you think? Is this fair? Will it affect you? Is Delta making a smart business decision that will improve SkyMiles for everyone? Or is this just one more of the proverbial 1000 cuts? Does it make you feel more like checking out what Southwest will bring to the table next year?  PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW!

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Comments

  1. Since it is the Diamonds and Platinums who are causing the problems, why doesn’t Delta simply charge the Diamond and the Platinums the fee that they charge the Golds and the Silvers to redeposit the miles if they cancel.

    Problem solved.

  2. Wow a sad day in travel…I just read of Delta’s new 72hr cancel policy on frequent flyer. I have read through the comments and guess there is abuse going on they’re trying to address.

    My personal feeling is that the market is flooded with skymiles and they have become so devalued which is why it takes 50,000 points for a coach ticket these days instead of 25,000, etc. etc.

    If there is abuse they could stop it by pulling points immediately for the mileage upgrades and require if the ticket gets cancelled/changed the points CANNOT be redeposited, regardless of what level membership you have with them. You can change the date/destination on the tickets for a change fee up to one year from the date the original ticket was issued. After the year the points are no longer ‘out there’

    They could put in a oneway frequent flyer mile ticket for those who only need one way like some of the other carriers already have

    When I go online to check if frequent flyer seats are avaialble, if it’s not there, it’s not there, I either pick different dates, try a different city nearby, choose to purchase a ticket or don’t go. The end. I have logged on and found seats available closer to departure and really feel they don’t release ‘frequent flyer seats’ until closer to departure so they can try to sell revenue seats first.

    Regardless, it’s harsh to say, sorry you lose the hard earned points you saved up for especially for those who book farther in advance and have no idea what will happen just days before the trip. We shouldn’t have to call Delta because something came up that is causing us to cancel/change the trip and feel we have to ‘lie’ that our aunt/uncle died so we don’t lose the ticket.
    What a waste of time for the Delta agents to have to determine lie or not a lie…
    Just make the customer pay the change fee when they go to reissue/change the ticket and most importantly don’t let them redeposit the points.

    That’s really what it’s all about…getting the miles out of the system…so just don’t let anyone redeposit them after they are pulled. They’ll expire within a year and everyone is happy.

    Please consider modifing the harsh new 72hr policy to this please.
    Thank you for your ear.

    Becky

  3. This is the confluence of the old saying…never assume malice when stupidity adequately explains the problem. Stupid passengers plus malicious merchant (Delta) equals big problem. Thank goodness for AirTrans and look forward to Southwest. I joined the Delta and Eastern FF programs the first month they started and have seen the steady decline of both the programs and the airlines. All I can say is they deserve everything they get, and someone will step in to moderate their behavior.

  4. My letter to Delta, let’s see if they even respond in a meaningful way:

    “Recently, Michelle, your Delta Social Ambassador; mentioned an update to your policy regarding SkyMiles award tickets that they are unchangeable within 72 hours. Not only were her choice of words condescending at best, but at the same time the policy is unreasonable. If I end up going to India, and I need to make a last minute change, and you don’t deem my reason to be worthy of an exception, I will either be forced to part with a lot more miles or thousands of dollars. The reason Michelle gave that 1M award seats were unused, not only sounds like an impossible number, but rather an excuse to “steal” the miles we earned, and diminish our sense of loyalty as well. No other airline has this unreasonable policy. As a Platinum member (I have been Gold, Platinum, or Diamond for most of my years with Delta since January 2000) I really hope you undo this change in policy. Towards the end of the year I will make my decision to switch my frequent flyer program, as I cannot be loyal when Delta is not demonstrating their loyalty with this change. Thank you in advance for your time in listening to my concern. Kindest regards, Eddie”

  5. This is wrong, unfair, and the bottom line -Delta is stealing your own Skymiles back from you.

    This applies to any travel, even if you need to only make a change to your return; you will forfeit all miles from the original ticket, then need to come up with addtl miles in order to get home-

    2 major issues w/ this

    1)Delta doesn’t have a ONE- way award ticket which means you’ll have to give up the same amount of miles that a round trip would cost-Absurd.

    2)And, if you don’t have enough miles to cover whatever they’re asking for on the new flight-you’ll be forced to buy a one way ticket w/ NO ADVANCE-Criminal.

    This is as foolish as the policy Delta recently reversed of charging our Military ‘Excess baggage fees’ -Thanks to the media for letting the world know, and humbling DAL to clean up.

    If you agree- Please log in to your Skymiles account and send an email to the Skymiles Service Center

    https://www.delta.com/emailus/servlet/EmailUs

    -or send an actual letter to:

    Delta Air Lines, Inc.
    SkyMiles Service Center, Dept. 654
    P.O. Box 20532
    Atlanta, GA 30320-2532

  6. THE REASON DELTA DOES THIS IS BECAUSE THEY KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE THAT ALL YOU WILL DO IS GRIPE, COMPLAIN AND THREATEN—THEN YOU WILL CONTINUE TO FLY DELA–ALWAYS HAVE AND PROBABLY ALWAYS WILL.

  7. It would be interesting if the extensive “analysis” that led to this decision factored in all the PO’ed elite flyers. Unless you are plat/diamond you already had the annoying fee to rebank miles… As a plat getting close to a million flight miles, it is certainly making me look to status match on another airline and to shift some business. I think adding a fee to rebank miles within 72 hours would be much more appropriate than losing the miles.

  8. Shame on Delta. This marks a major milestone in the history of poor decisions by the people who run the program.

    Delta can’t have it both ways, if you want a loyalty program then it should reward loyalty, not punish customers. Delta created this problem with holdback of low award seats until 48 hours before departure and lack of one way awards. They should have sophisticated enough systems to find those who may have abused the rules rather than such a harsh response that affects EVERY custom

  9. The notion of a flat policy really bothers me. Stepped penalties make more sense, as does giving diamonds and platinums one or two exceptions per year. The issue is habitual offenders, not occasional needed changes.

  10. If the Platinum members – or anyone who has miles to use – would stop abusing the system and looking for loopholes, Delta would not have had to make this change. I worked for a major U.S. airline (No, not Delta) and frequently overheard conversations between mileage flyers, comparing “notes” on how they got mileage, tickets, upgrades, etc. by using/sharing loopholes and basically “cheating” the system. Time to stop it. And look for other airlines to make the appropriate changes also.

  11. Delta does this because THEY KNOW FROM EXPERIENCE THAT THEIR CUSTOMERS WILL GRIPE, BITCH AND COMPLAIN AND THREATEN–THEN CONTINUE TO FLY DELTA !!!
    ALWAYS HAVE–PROBABLY ALWAYS WILL.

  12. 2.7 million miles and I’m out of here….Back to American where I had sensational service last week and have my lifetime Platinum due to my 2 million with AA as well. had to use 220,00 for first class to St Thomas this summer….Had business or sickness caused me to loose those points, I would have gone nuts….Shame on you delta….
    Bye Bye

  13. I think Delta’s goal of capturing millions of dollars of lost revenue is certainly understandable by professionals. Giving us 72 hours before flight i think is flexible enough. No cmplaints here. I dont live in ATL anymore so I think you all in ATL don’t realize how good you have it with Delta as your home town airline. Try living in an AA or USAir city!!! It will shut you up quickly.

  14. I think this could go viral. Let’s ALL tweet and email this:

    @Delta @DeltaAssist DELTA-72=NEWCOKE enjoy the new refreshing taste of DELTA 72hs before flight crack a NEWCOKE & ENJOY!

  15. Unfortunately, carriers have unintentionally left themselves open to abuse. There is no reason why awards should not be simltaneous reservations and ticketing. But to lose all your miles ?!!- the airlines have figured out how many passengers will be on a flight. So, if Delta is losing a million empty seats, either close their loophole or get a new yield management forecast system. That said, with all the enticements to the consumer to “collect’ miles, I do believe that the airlines should all be forced to offer a certain number/percentage of lowest cost award seats on every flight in every market on every day of the year. I’m tired of flying on February 31 only on flights that leave at 06:32:31 am. If it’s scheduled for 06:32, you lose!

  16. THERE ARE ALWAYS THOSE WHO FEEL RULES SHOULD NOT APPY TO THEM.
    THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE 72 HOUR RULE, AS A PREVIOUS AIRLINE EMPLOYEE I SEE THE NEED.

  17. Brazen. Outrageous. Disrespectful. Onerous. Pick one. They all apply. First they rip off our military members with the extra bag charges. Then they keep our tax payments after the tax has expired. Now they cancel our miles with the most bogus excuse I’ve heard yet: one million unused seats? Please. When was the last time you even saw an empty seat? They have constricted supply for years. Demand remains high. Non-revs cant’s get on flights. This is not just a naked money grab, it’s a loyalty mile grab. Unscrupulous would be an applicable word if Delta had any scruples to begin with. Sad for me to admit, as I have 3.5 million miles and used to regard the purple, blue and red cabin as a home away from home.

    It is also worth pointing out how busy they are marketing loyalty, quality, caring service and the like. It’s the height of cynicism: use mass media to promote all the values you don’t actually embody. Sooner or later, this behavior is punished in the marketplace. Ask Detroit. The Big Three marketed change for a long time without actually changing anything. The Japanese, then the Germans, and ultimately the Koreans, all ate their lunch. I hope we don’t have to bail out the airline industry.

  18. I have always maintained that the airlines should treat award tickets on par with revenue tickets. After all, we did pay for the tickets – albeit with miles (which do have value) rather than money. I believe the same policies should apply to both types of ticket.

    This move further devalues the SkyMiles program – and reinforces what experts have said all along: use them as you earn them – don’t bank them for the future. Policies and award levels will continue to change to devalue our points even more, so use them now! Just plan more carefully!

    One thing I find insidious in this announcement is its retroactive quality: those of us with award tickets already booked (I have two) did not make those bookings with this policy in place and could not factor it into the decision-making process.

    And I find it very had to believe that 1 million seats were left vacant because of last minute cancellations and changes. This is the equivalent of over 4,464 777s flying empty each year. Delta is skidding back into its past modes of justifying moves with outrageous claims – remember when they eliminated meals because “customer surveys” (which no Ticket reader have ever seen) said that Delta fed us too much?

    Their explanation for the reason they have taken this measure may be the case, but they are using a hammer to take out a mosquito. I find it difficult to believe that this is the only way they can eliminate the double-booking problem.

    The bottom line is that Delta has one purpose for its existence: to maximize revenue. This will help in that by eliminating, arbitrarily, the miles from those reservations that will fall into this category because of personal emergency, canceled business meetings, etc, since unused miles are a liability and they will be removed from the books.

  19. I was on the phone with the Delta rates desk yesterday making a change and they explained this policy to me and why it came about. I hate to say it, but the actions of a few (or many) Diamonds / Platinums resulted in this policy change affecting us all.

    As explained, Diamonds were booking business/first class seats using miles but not putting in their skymiles number (since you can book a seat using miles for anyone). Then, the same Diamond would book a coach seat in hopes of getting an upgrade to business/first -naturally this reservation contained the sky miles number.

    The net result is a double booking of this person. Once they get the upgrade on the coach booking, they would call and cancel the second reservation booked in business/first with miles – sometimes while at the gate – which caused seats to go empty.

    I find it hard to believe that it resulted in one million going empty – but I see Delta’s point. A few people found a loop hole, exploited it, and we are all paying for it.

    The agent at the rates desk went on to explain that changes/cancellations within 72 hours still allow a case by case examination – meaning the agent will be looking at the flight to see if two names match up as well as the skymiles account used for redemption in an effort to see if the person is ‘playing a game’ or has a legitimate claim.

    I think this is completely fair and if it opens more seats for upgrades- even better!

  20. As a Medallion frequent flyer on Delta, I understand concern by frequent award users but this change does not throw any wrinkles into my plans as I pay for all business flights and use miles for recreational flights. My recreation plans are usually not spur of the moment and the new 72 hour will not influence my use.
    As a Delta stockholder, I can support the plan as I feel the Skymiles program rules are being abused by many and are requiring more labor for non revenue passengers. An entire cottage industry has sprung up dedicated to abusing and circumventing the purpose of rewarding frequent business travellers for cash outlay.
    I value my market investment more than the ability to play musical chairs on free flight benefits.

  22. I’ve been Diamond in the past, but pretty much locked in at Medallion now that I’m a little older and don’t travel as much:

    I don’t blame Delta for this. It is a phenomenon you can see unfolding, and Delta’s response has been to overbook. I believe they exaggerate the empty seats count. It may start as 1 million seats exposed to non-travel, but most Delta flights I travel on are full. It all happens at the gate; I can never remember all the suddenly available seats, the upgrades, all on the ground, at the gate. I think the gate agents may be complaining; it is nuts at the gate as Delta handles overbooking and switches in seats.

    Delta is accurately describing what folks are doing to try to get award travel in place, then backing down to suit their needs at the time. But they exaggerate the impact.

  23. I use my 2-million miler husbands’ miles when I fly with him which means I know several months in advance and book my ticket accordingly. I have had to use 50,000 miles for a COACH ticket at least the last three tickets I was “awarded.” Delta has NEVER given me a reduction in mileage and I have NEVER not used a ticket I was “awarded.” We recently moved from Atlanta and my husband has been flying american airlines – guess we can become just as “loyal” to american as I was to delta.

  24. I agree that this significantly reduces the value of miles–when you suddenly have to factor in the likelihood your trip will not be subject to ANY last minute emergency. Ironically, I’ve found that my chances of needing last-minute changes have increased in direct proportion to the amount I fly during the year. This means that when I’m taking enough paid trips to qualify as a Platinum on DL and a 1K on UA, I need even more flexibility with my personal travel. The ‘last-minute changes’ I have to make most frequently are postponing vacations and booking new, paid tickets.

  25. I also think this is an extreme penalty. I could possibly see a penalty for cancelling within 72 hours (but not a total loss of miles), but there should not be a penalty for changing your ticket to use less miles.

  26. If these supposed million empty award seats exist (which is questionable without seeing more data), I suspect that many are booked with miles generated from buying groceries and such with the SkyMiles cards…it seems that there are lots of miles sloshing around the system from non-flying sources, which are devaluing the miles that some of us feel we really *earn* by paying very high <3 day fares and sitting in lots of crappy seats for many actual air miles (this week a couple of Pinnacle CRJs…last few weeks the wretched "757-200(N)" configuration that we inherited from our friends in MSP). Point being, there has to be a status exemption on this…it's one thing to punish those who are getting the miles without the hard-earned MQMs, but give those of us who actually contribute all of the airline's profits a break. When my clients were in the middle of the US, I found myself needing to take SWA now and then and was pleasantly surprised at the experience, so I will consider them viable competition when they show up in ATL for real…so Delta will have to make status more worthwhile to continue buying my loyalty, and one way to do that is to make status more "rewarding" relative to the policies it puts in place around award travel

  27. @Haiku360
    The rumor about Delta discriminating against Jews has been debunked many times over. If Delta were discriminating, would they operate a non-stop route from JFK to Tel Aviv? They need Jewish passengers to fill the seats on that route. If Delta were bowing to Saudi pressure to discriminate against Jews, the JFK-TLV route would not exist.

    I have a Jewish sounding name and booked travel a few days ago using Skymiles.

  28. Remember the slogan… Delta Gets You There? Well NOT ME Anymore! I’m calling US Air and United and asking them to meet my credentials on Delta to get my future business. Delta just lost a loyal International high dollar paying passenger.

    So long crooks….

  29. This latest change by Delta is an outrageous change for frequent flyers, especially for Platinums and Diamonds who spend a lot of time and money earning their miles. The total forfeiture of miles is beyond the realm of acceptance. Business travelers require frequent last minute changes to their itineraries. The opportunity to utilize miles with the ability to change is a necessary option for travel. If Delta does not retract this Skymiles change, they risk losing their most premium paying customers.

  30. Well, air travel is a bus service now. If you believe any airline will have your back for the long haul, you should rethink your frequent flier strategy. In a nutshell, all loyalty programs will become a liability for the customer and the business offering the service eventually. Airline service has been so marginalized, Delta being at the top of the list, that it is just not worth the effort for casual fliers.

  31. I agree with don. This is such a punitive penalty that not only is there no incentive to let them know the seat will be empty but there is a desire to be punitive in return and check in on mobile ( getting the 1000 mile bonus of course) and THEN doing a no show! After all, they are rewarding loyalty with loyalty so let’s do the same.

  32. This is par for the course for Delta these days. I can’t wait to see what new restrictions they place on award travel for Jews or people with “Jewish-sounding” last names to placate their new BFF’s at Saudi Air.

  33. As a Diamond Member with 3.5 million miles, I find it unbelievable that Delta would make this type of change without offering some sort of compromise. As we all know, Delta only makes low mileage awards available within a few days of the flight itself versus in the past one could plan a year out and get a seat. This just appears to be another way to squeeze more sky pesos out of us loyal flyers I can understand the 72 window for cancelling (unless it is an emergency) but often a lower award level seat becomes available within 24 – 48 hours and it cost Delta near $0 to make the change why not allow changes? In a change scenario the seat still goes out full and Delta gets their sky pesos and the client is happy….this is a win – win.

  34. Just emailed Delta customer care:

    “This is too extreme – it is the equivalent of asking paying passengers to forfeit 100% of the airfare. Surely you could come up with something less draconian?

    1. One reason that Diamond and Platinum members cancel award tickets is to rebook them at a lower cost in miles. If Delta, like Amazon, were to offer a ‘lowest price guarantee’ — in which you promised to credit the flier for the difference in miles if the ‘price’ goes down between booking the award ticket and flying — then a lot of what appear to be cancellations would not happen.

    2. You also should consider an exception where a member cancels and Award ticket and rebooks it on an earlier flight. This gives Delta a longer time in which to sell the empty seat in that perhaps an unused seat for tomorrow is used and a seat for travel in 2 or 3 days time is released. That means that there is more of a chance of the unoccupied seat being used–you should thank fliers for that change rather than penalize them.

    However, even with these two exceptions, the 72-hour/100% forfeit is too severe. You should reduce it to say 100% of miles for same day; 50% for second day; 25% for three days in advance. That would be reasonable while discouraging the behaviour you want to discourage.

    Dave Marcus
    Diamond Medallion & Million Miler”

  35. My first reaction is to state that if Delta were FAIR in the amount of skymiles they charge for a ticket, i.e. where are the “low” mileage seats? Calendar shows the dates but nowhere to be found on flight listings, then they might be justified in whining about the million seats that allegedly went vacant. However, when they charge outrageous miles – and one can’t even figure out how the mileage numbers are arrived at- then it is justifiable to cancel at the last minute and rebook on the lower mileage seat. Be fair Delta. You are punishing your frequent flyers and you know it. I believe the reason those alleged million seats have gone unused (a statement I cannot believe is true), is due to one of two reasons: first of all the miles charged were too high and an airfare became more reasonable to buy then use miles; or the insult of being charged so many miles was unbearable and one just had to cancel and fly another airline. NEVER have I seen a FF seat for less miles than I was charged for initially. And let me tell you, I have booked many domestic FF seats this year in the “low” coach category — each costing me 65000 to 77500 each. Ridiculous! Delta, give us more credit than that. It’s insulting to think that you feel we’re so stupid that we believe your verbage.

  36. “Ask them first what they have done to deserve this….” so goes the end tag line of the Delta ad.

    So, Delta, I am asking what have I done to deserve this harsh treatment? Seems like loyalty doesn’t buy much any more. “Those miles never expire”, but it seems they can go “poof.”

    I hope “the team” gets the message that this punishment needs to be re-examined.

  37. I’m a Delta Diamond Medallion member.

    Obviously I would’ve preferred that Delta didn’t do this, but I think it’s fair. 1,000,000 empty seats could translate into billions of dollars in lost revenue. I think a lot of people were abusing the policy by making multiple reservations and then canceling the ones they didn’t need at the last-minute.

    The silver lining is that a lot of seats will be freed up 72 hours before departure, which will be great.

  38. So, if the 72 hour window passes, and I miss it, I have no incentive to call Delta to let them know and release the seat making it available to others. How does that help other flyers. In fact, if I miss the window, they can get stuffed and fly my empty seat around. Damned if I’m going to tell them so they can sell it again. Glad I used up most of our 3 million miles a long time ago.

  39. I find it hard to believe that they have 1,000,000 cancellations every year on FF seats! With the vast majority of flights being oversold and overbooked, I’ll bet they can usually sell those seats at the last minute. Their statment that those seats could have been given to other SkyMiles members is just playing the sad violin!
    Last year my wife and I were flying first class to Dubai and then home from Singapore after a cruise. Delta NEVER released a single business class seat on the ATL-Dubai flight. All our other legs were confirmed in business class, and we HAD TO PAY BUSINESS CLASS MILES FOR THE WHOLE ROUND TRIP, even tho we were only confirmed in tourist from Atlanta to Dubai. We were told every week, “Don’t worry. There are 28 empty business class seats on the flight to Dubai and you are waitlisted for them. They will release them to you on the day of departure.” Well guess what? On the morning of the evening departure there were still 14 empty business class seats left. When we got to the airport, we learned that there was a problem on an oil rig in the Persian Gulf, and Halliburten had taken all 14 business seats. We flew coach, even tho we paid for business class seats. Outrageous.
    Delta often does not release ANY business class FF seats on solidly-booked international flights, as they think they can sell them. When you call at the earliest possible time (11 months in advance) and the entire plane is empty, there are often no business class seats offered to anyone–even premium FF members. I have this on authority of a senior Delta vice president who is an acquaintance and confirmed by numerous reservation agents at Delta.
    I sympathize with their need to generate revenues. But those of us in Atlanta who have been LOYAL DELTA CUSTOMERS for many, many years have lost all our love for the company due to these restrictive practices. WAKE UP DELTA! THERE ARE OTHER CARRIERS!

  40. I find this new policy is totally unacceptable. Emergencies do come up and we should not have to forfeit our miles (which are hard enough to use and you require too many of them as it is). This will make me rethink flying on Delta and using my skymiles card.

  41. This is so par for the course. These guys will never change. All I have to say is….SOUTHWEST IS COMING TO ATLANTA. If I was Southwest I would launch an ad campaign with Aretha Franklin signing respect……Sad to see Delta still get in it’s own way…..

  42. Good point on the “loyalty ad” reference — this certainly doesn’t show any loyalty to Delta’s frequent fliers; if anything, it’s the exact opposite! This absolutely deserves a second look by calmer heads at Delta.

  43. I am a Diamond Medallion and I very disappointed in Delta. Low award availability is horrible out further than a few days. Many of us took the higher award until a lower one became available. This is just an unfair mile grab my Delta.

  44. I see Delta’s point, but I think that their solution is almost insultingly harsh. Is the next thing to happen that if you cancel a paid ticket within 72 hours, you lose 100% of the ticket price? They could argue the same point–that last-minute cancellations cause seats to go unused. I hope that they make this policy a little softer.

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