With the exception of the true lover of most things widget, I suppose I blog about Delta Air Lines and SkyMiles as much as anyone. I do live in Atlanta afterall. As we approach the half-way point in 2015, I’m finding myself thinking more and more about my Delta future. In keeping with a promise I made to myself, I haven’t spent a dime on my Delta Amex this year, and with the booking of a fall biz-class trip to Paris, I’ve spent my SkyMiles account down to effectively zero. That doesn’t mean I’m purposely avoiding Delta. Quite the opposite actually. It’s just that I’ve made peace with a few things frequent flyer, one of which is that I’m not going to go out of my way to have a certain “status” with any airline. And I’m certainly not going to spend hundreds extra just for the sake of maintaining status or the outside chance of being at the top of an upgrade list.
I’ll take what I earn. If I wind up tantalizingly close to the next level, I’m not above booking a mileage run to pick up the MQMs to put me over the threshold, but that’s about as aggressive as I intend to get. My spend focus is on flexible currencies, Ultimate Rewards and Arrival Miles….and I’m even reaching for my original flexible point earner, the SPG Amex more often of late.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com.
That’s all well and good, but I’ve been asking myself a question lately – do I really want to live in Atlanta without a cache of SkyMiles in my account? Increasingly, the answer I have for that question is no. While I’m not convinced Atlanta is a city that team MJ on Travel will reside in forever, I live here now. Yes, Southwest is a viable option, and my experiments over the last year tell me that American is too. SkyMiles isn’t the best loyalty program out there, but it is the loyalty program of a really good airline that happens to operate a roughly 1,000 flight a day hub 20 minutes from my front doorstep. I don’t think the sun is yet ready to rise on a day when I completely write off SkyMiles.
Just sharing what’s on my mind this Saturday morning.
-MJ, June 6, 2015
I feel your pain…but sticking with Delta for now. I was a “Charter” Diamond Medallion and have requalified every year since. I have alway bought the cheapest fare and enjoyed 80-90% of the time being upgraded. As Delta has improved the airline and sold more first class seats I think I am dropping to a rate of 50-60% upgrades. For the first time I am buying some higher fare classes, an occasional First Class ticket, using Regional Upgrade Certificates, and doing some same day confirms on routes with better open seating…and probably keeping 80% or so on the upgrades. More… Read more »
Delta is a good airline to fly (and my preferred in the US besides AS), as long as you don’t need status with them. Period.
I’m torn as well. I spit my time between IAD and NYC. After 1.5 mm miles on UA, I’ve totally written them off. No more flying on UA unless its the only option. Delta has been the best travel partner (customer service, flexibility, etc) but the SkyPesos program has become a bad joke. If you can find a free flight it takes at least 1.5 times as many miles to redeem an award than any other program. AA is up and down. Sometimes good, sometimes downright objectionable. So do I stick with Delta and accept that SkyPesos just are not… Read more »
I’d definitely hit the 1M milestone on AA if close.
As a former resident in Minneapolis trapped by the lure of frequent Delta flights (or forced to fly them given their dominance at MSP), the move to Nashville was a welcome change. Even as a Platinum Delta flier with the very expense Delta Reserve Amex. I realized there better options and quickly moved to American Airlines as my go-to carrier. The people are friendlier. The credit card has actual benefits. And they don’t screw frequent fliers. I have 300k Delta miles in my account and still retain Gold status (which means I have to pay for economy comfort seat choices),… Read more »