Flying the Delta California Shuttle from SFO to LAX (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
It seems that every time Delta has announced updates to its SkyMiles program recently, we all braced for bad news.
But today, Delta rolled out come changes for the good…for a change. Here’s what’s in store:
- New one-way award tickets for 10,000 miles plus taxes and fees, available through Dec. 31, 2015 for travel in select U.S., Mexican and Caribbean markets– these appear to be only short-haul markets like Atlanta-Florida, Los Angeles-Las Vegas, or San Francisco-Los Angeles. Catch: there’s a 21-day minimum advance purchase for most of these awards. But still this is good news since the previous minimum was 12,500 miles– too much for a short flight.
- Improved award redemption on more airline partners when booking on delta.com in addition to the new Fly Delta app. [UPDATE:] However, Delta quietly cut the number of MQMs earned on Alaska Airlines flights to as little as 50% and won’t offer MQDs on Alaska flights at all starting April 1.
- Delta is now offering MQDs, regardless of ticketing carrier, for travel on most of its airline partners. And it’s making the MQD offer retroactive back to January 1 of this year. Delta says that MQD earning varies based on carrier, percentage of distance flown as determined by Delta and fare class paid.
Here’s how Delta detailed and expanded upon its press release on FlyerTalk today:
Increased award availability
When we announced the SkyMiles 2015 program we committed to making more award seats available at the lowest prices and since the start of 2015 we have expanded award availability at the lowest prices by greater than 50%. We are seeing a double digit increase in award redemptions since January and other customer-positive award redemption trends in terms of the average number of miles redeemed, partner awards, and one-way award usage.
New (lower) One Way Award
In 2015 we will be offering One Way Award tickets beginning as low as 10,000 miles (plus taxes and fees) in select markets in the contiguous 48 United States and between the 48 contiguous United States and select Mexico/Caribbean destinations. Travel will be valid through December 31, 2015 with a 21 day advance purchase.
Bloodbath for airlines a boon for travelers
Award shopping calendar additions
We are pleased to confirm that we have added four new airline partners to our award shopping engine over the past few weeks following a quiet soft launch. You can now book awards online with China Airlines, China Southern, China Eastern and Gol. We will be adding more partners in the coming weeks and even more by summer of 2015.
Mobile award shopping
In January, we added the ability to book Awards from your smartphone. You can shop for our new One Way Awards, our new partners and other Award Tickets using the Fly Delta mobile app. We are seeing great usage of this new and easy to use feature right out of the gate.
Restrictions on free-flowing airport booze?
Earn MQDs on most partner-ticketed flights, exception fares
New for 2015 when you travel on flights ticketed by most of our airline partners you will now earn MQDs, which will help you qualify for Medallion status faster. This change will be retroactive to January 1, 2015 to include your travel from this Medallion year. Flights marketed and ticketed by partners may earn MQDs based on a percentage of distance flown as determined by the fare class paid. You can visit www.delta.com/partnerairlines for details by carrier. It’s going to take us a little bit of time to process retroactive credit for past flight activity, but they should post to your accounts between now and March 20. You can also earn MQDs on most exception fares, such as bulk, consolidator and group tickets. Learn more by visiting www.delta.com/exceptionfares. In addition to the MQD changes we’ve also made minor changes to the way you earn Medallion status on Alaska Airlines flights, effective April 1.
Diamond Medallions now board first
Many of you have caught on to this already, but as part of our branded products experience that launched on March 1, we are pleased to confirm that Diamond Medallion members are now invited to board the aircraft with customers in Delta One or First Class as part of our Premium boarding zone.
So what do you think? Does any of this make you feel better about SkyMiles?
–Chris McGinnis
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LOL. Maybe you think my writing is over the top… Fair enough, but my BP is fine. Sorry monopolistic business practices and lying don’t boil your blood. I usually place ethics in front of feelings and image. Delta offends me because I have seen this game for years.
So much anger… If you don’t like Delta, fly with someone else; don’t have a coronary!
For me, I chose an airline based on who’s most likely to get me to my destination, on time, with my bags, and take care of me if things go bad. In that regard, Delta wins hands down. Frequent flyers miles are a bonus to me, but they are secondary. I’m SFO based as well, but Delta could immediately stop awarding miles altogether and I’d still fly them over United; cause they simply do much better in every category of performance and service.
Hey JD… I do think the end is near for the Delta-Alaska partnership. Just not room for both of them in Seattle. I always thought that Delta would buy Alaska…failing that, I would think AA would be the most likely partner. –chris
Chris:
Do you see a point in time coming when Alaska will end its “partnership” with Delta? If so, could SWA or AA be a potential partner with Alaska??
This is too little, too late, from my perspective. Delta began alienating me last September, and it has continued on a steady, down-hill slide ever since. Although I’m Diamond Medallion (and a Million Miler), I’ve made a conscious effort to switch airlines, so my loyalties are elsewhere (easy to do when flying out of the SFO market). Sticking with Delta is just not worth the bother.
This is Delta playbook 101…. First let’s start with their favorite move, lying through omission. Start advance purchase award travel requirement, don’t mention it, thus making customers figure it out for themselves.
Second move…waiting for the storm to pass. Yes, no better way to bury a headline than just stay silent. Then, bringing up the rear, slap everyone in the face by popping champagne bottles over a piddly nothing move. Wow…save 2500 on a few routes with 21 days notice. Yippee! Southern foreplay strikes again….”I ‘m sooooo drunk”. What a shameless team. I have no respect for them as they have no respect for us. And, BTW, my Delta Amex card is worth that much less as well. Slice it any way you want it, Delta misleads again. Bait and switch…create a scene to the left as they pick our pockets on the right. They ARE UNABLE to change. It’s the culture. Unethical..spin artists…unfamiliar with the truth.
Mike….on an Alaska Airlines flight as we speak…and yep, they dinged me on baggage charges. Delta even craps on their partners. Lone Wolf Airline.
Thanks, KMF. You can see here how Delta will cut the number of MQMs earned on Alaska flights starting April 1. Further evidence of the disintegrating relationship between “partners” http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/earn-miles/earn-miles-with-partners/airlines/alaska-airlines.html
The changes with Alaska are not trivial. As an Alaska mileage plan flier I used to try and fly Delta whenever possible because of the partnership. Then Delta started paring it down, starting with bag fee exemption. At this point it looks like they do not really want the partnership, and their expansion into the northwest markets makes me wonder how long it will run. I know that I will not be flying Delta at all if I can possibly avoid it. Which probably does not bother them at all since I am one of those customers who usually flies economy.
You know what would be interesting to write about, the true value of your miles and how some routes are so cheap that you would be better off to pay for it instead of using frequent flyer miles.
The bottom line, is it worth spending $400 to fly from Dulles to L.A. and then upgrade for 20,000 miles each way. Or is it better to just buy for $850 that first class ticket and save that 40,000 miles.
Its’ a big game frequent flyer redemption and a lot of people really waste them.
Thanks for the comment, S! We never said this was great. We said Delta “eked out some good news” 😉 –chris
I am sorry but I don’t buy into this being that great. Ten years ago when Delta had a lot of flights out of Dulles I flew them some, to the point with the Northwest merger got over 100,000 miles. But I cashed out those miles for my family to go on vacation to New Mexico six years ago and the four of us in the Johnson family haven’t been on a Delta flight since.
Let’s face it, it’s all about money and how much Delta and all of them can bring in. They are bringing in a lot by nickel and dimming us to death, but they want the big fare which makes them more money. So now with all of these changes these airlines feel they can force folks into spending more to gain frequent flyer miles.
To a certain extent it’s working but at the same time leaving many of us not feeling great about flying the airline. I am now finding ways of flying and paying for cheap first class, to make the flight from coast to coast more humane, and yes it’s costing more. But the goal is I only need 37,000 miles on United to be a million mile flyer and get Gold for life. Once that happens it’s flying more Virgin, Jet Blue and going to Europe on nice airlines, no more United.
See Chris to answer your question, there is no more loyalty from us flyers, we have all be abused by Delta and United the last four, five years and we are sick of it. All I can say, you can paint this new thing from Delta as being great, all I see is frequent flyers holding on to something that they all shouldn’t have lost in the first place. They are giving away for 10,000 miles stuff that only cost the flyers like hundred dollars. To fly from L.A. to San Francisco is $69, so it’s not like they are giving away a lot to us.