Delta’s New Frequent Flyer Policy

Old Dec 31st, 2021, 10:20 AM
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Delta’s New Frequent Flyer Policy

I was aggravated to see that Delta will no longer give FF points for economy tickets. My understanding is that you can still get an economy seat with FF points. Was this how you heard it?
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Old Dec 31st, 2021, 10:46 AM
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It applies to basic economy. Main cabin tickets still get miles. But yes, that kind of sucks, although I try to avoid basic economy and all its restrictions.
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Old Dec 31st, 2021, 11:06 AM
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I'd be far more annoyed that they are eliminating the flexibility to change and cancel they instituted with Covid. I don't count on flights to earn miles anyway; we use our CC spending for that. We are United FFs, not Delta.

https://www.travelandleisure.com/air...-miles-program
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Old Dec 31st, 2021, 11:06 AM
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Originally Posted by tom42
But yes, that kind of sucks, although I try to avoid basic economy and all its restrictions.
We almost always fly basic economy.

The "best" tickets were when we ended up in the very last row of seats that don't recline next to the bathrooms on the way to Hawaii. The FA felt bad for us and gave us free prosecco the entire trip so it wasn't completely awful.
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Old Dec 31st, 2021, 11:22 AM
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Originally Posted by kureiff
We almost always fly basic economy.

The "best" tickets were when we ended up in the very last row of seats that don't recline next to the bathrooms on the way to Hawaii. The FA felt bad for us and gave us free prosecco the entire trip so it wasn't completely awful.
If I am traveling alone, I am more likely to book a basic economy ticket. But the scenario you described is what I would like to avoid. Even with the free prosecco! Like schlegal, I get most of my miles from my credit card.
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Old Dec 31st, 2021, 11:56 AM
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Originally Posted by tom42
Like schlegal, I get most of my miles from my credit card.
Same here. We don't fly enough for me to pay much attention to what miles we're amassing from flights.
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Old Dec 31st, 2021, 12:17 PM
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It should be universal consumer law that loyalty programs must publicize a summary of “How We Are Shafting You Now”. I rarely check my Air Canada points total anymore. Between the additional fees and the lack of available Aeroplan tickets it isn’t really worth it.

(That’s a bit strong but I hate getting shafted.)
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Old Dec 31st, 2021, 12:30 PM
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Moved to Air Travel forum
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Old Dec 31st, 2021, 12:44 PM
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I wonder how long FF programs will even continue. I have heard there are murmurings to eliminate them in some countries because of how air travel contributes to climate change and it's considered unconscionable to incentivize it with FF programs. I don't foresee that in the USA soon but I wouldn't be surprised if it happens way down the road.

We always fly basic economy unless we are using points for the booking (we saved up oodles of them to fly to Rwanda 2022 in business class--fingers crossed).

I'm so thrifty I won't even pay to select seats when we are in basic economy.

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Old Dec 31st, 2021, 02:48 PM
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My best economy seats were the last row too, I had the entire row so was "lie flat" all the way to Hawaii.
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Old Jan 2nd, 2022, 07:42 AM
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United and AA have had that policy for a couple of years, I think.
US airlines make $billions by selling FF miles. Banks that offer mileage credit cards buy them.
I don't have any mileage earning cards. I have cards that earn hotel points instead.
I always pay up for a better seat. My shoulders and legs demand it.

I had a $49 fare on a 65-minute flight and paid Southwest an extra $15 to get a better boarding position. They don't have assigned seating. I think I was A-30. I then paid another $90 to get A-2. I did use a $49 credit that I had for a ticket that I forgot to cancel and had decided I would never use. Got row 1 with plenty of legroom and nobody sat in the middle seat. That was worth the extra $41 - at least it would have been worth it to me if it had guaranteed that nobody would be next to me.
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Old Jun 23rd, 2022, 03:10 PM
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I was so happy to read these comments. I haven't been able to book a flight with FF miles in, like, forever. I thought it was me. We mostly fly on Delta and I like them. They've been pretty good for us. So I pay $95 per year for an AmEx / Delta CC and get miles from my CC as well as some from trips. But so far the biggest benefit has been the checked luggage allowance we get by paying with that card. Covers the annual fee in one trip.
I'll keep trying to use those miles. But they seem to be worth less every year.
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Old Jun 23rd, 2022, 07:05 PM
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Originally Posted by mrwunrfl
... I don't have any mileage earning cards. I have cards that earn hotel points instead. ...
Now I have two Visa mileage cards: United and American.

Got the AA card for the sign-up bonus miles after I figured an easy way to get to the minimum spend: make a charitable donation through my employer's website - and the company matched it. Now I have a free business class ticket to Fukuoka on Japan Airlines.

I got the United card for some bonus miles and a particular benefit: extra award availability for cardmembers. I used that benefit before with a United card account that got closed when I didn't use it for a year.

Some of those cardmember awards are pretty good: I got business class nonstop on United from Tokyo to LAX due to that benefit.

The award search results flag itineraries that are available to card members. But some of the search results are annoying. You see a good mileage price on the search calendar and click on date only to find itineraries like:
LAX to Newark in United economy, find your way to JFK to fly in business class on Ethiopian to Addis Ababa (after a fuel stop in Togo), layover in ADD for 8 or 10 hours and then fly ET business class on to Tokyo.
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Old Jun 24th, 2022, 12:32 PM
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I cancelled American because I just hate flying them so much, plus anything through London tends to hit you with the BA Taxes. I did use up a chunk of miles back in 2018 from Lisbon, and another chunk to get to Alaska last year (codeshare on Alaska)

I have Delta which came with a 60K bonus, which I converted to a no fee card, and United (bonus) which I also had converted to the no fee model. The no blackout feature is great, as is the retention of no penalty for cancelling mileage flights on Delta as long as you book above basic economy.

.

Last edited by mlgb; Jun 24th, 2022 at 12:35 PM.
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