Throughout my entire life, I have been an American loyalist. The airline offered the most connectivity out of Puerto Rico, and their product was not that much better or worse than their competition. However, over the past years, American has been slowly becoming worse and worse, making life more difficult for elite flyers. For example, adding a spend requirement and not offering a waiver has been very upsetting. The reduction of SWU from 8 to 4 and the termination of many of their codeshare partnerships have made the airline less attractive.
Now, after studying all other airlines in the US I am leaning on switching alliance from American to Delta. Although I love Delta as a company (I believe they are the best run airline in the US), I despise the way they try to prevent elites from upgrading. That being said, their Diamond status level seems to be more lucrative than American’s Executive Platinum.
Where I am Now:
I am on track to re-qualify for Executive Platinum on American. Although it will take the whole year this time, by December 31 I will have met all requirements. I am very upset, however, at American’s lack of sAAver awards on international routes. The process for redeeming SWU has become more cumbersome as some flights clear the day of departure. I love American as a concept, they have been my airline of choice for 23 years, but is it time to cut the cord?
Delta Airlines:
Delta offers the most international network in the US, and have a solid business class product. The airline has invest in partnerships all across the globe, not to mention SkyTeam Alliance. What really upsets me is their treatment of the SkyMiles program. They don’t give elites as many chances at upgrades as American doe,s and their award chart is non-existent. Their constant devaluation of miles also worries me. That being said, Delta’s product is quite compelling.
Status Challenge
I was looking into the Delta status challenge, where I could possibly accelerate my qualification to Delta Platinum. The problem is, do I want to go from EXP on American to PLT on Delta? I’d be sacrificing being a top tier elite to being a middle level elite. However, the status would be valid until the end of 2019. Is it worth the hassle, and should I go for it? The question is up in the air ( lol 😉 ).
Landing Thoughts:
I am torn by this decision. I don’t know if Delta really is that much better than American. American has disillusioned me a lot recently. I wish they would try to improve their AAdvantage program, to make up for the cuts they have made the past few years. If they did make a substantial improvement on their elite program in the next few months that might keep me with them, if not, Delta seems to offer a tempting product.
What do you think? Are you a Delta Elite? What has your experience been like? Have you recently switched alliances from one airline to another? What was it like? Let us know!
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If your reason for switching is because AA doesn’t offer international premium saver awards, absolutely not. I don’t think anyone should fly Delta for the miles unless you’re crediting the flights somewhere other than skymiles. You fly Delta because you put a premium on a solid, comfortable flight experience and more reliable operation. I’ve been a loyal Delta flyer for years (silver for 2 years, gold for one, platinum for 3) and I’ve never redeemed miles for my own travel. For big, expensive blowout trips I use something else (Amex MR mostly) through something like ANA or Aeroplan.
I’ve been a Delta loyalist since I fired US/HP when that merger started landing me on dirty old US metal with battle axe FAs. (Don’t judge. HP worked very well for me based on the routes I flew.) I will say this…you don’t fly Delta to get award travel. You fly Delta because they are good at operating an airline. Truthfully, you need to look at where your travel takes you. As much as I love Delta, I now live in Denver and I’m starting to throw more and more of my business to United, an airline I’ve traditionally despised,… Read more »
Screw United and especially in Denver; A TWO HOUR delay while they looked for a lost cell phone on the incoming flight and all we got was a BAG of pretzels and some “gummy” candies; NO Sorry for the Delay, No here’s a coupon for a free burgers, nothing. AND THEN when we landed in LAX at 2:00 AM we were at the gate furthest from the baggage area, a LONG LONG walk with NO slide walks (and UP HILL in some places) in LAX terminal building #7. Past experience with them has been late flights and one from Phoenix… Read more »
I disagree that DL has a “solid business class”. My recent flight JFK -FCO was mediocre at best. Returning LHR-MIA on AA was far better. When you can find AAdvantage awards at the saver rate, which is sporadic at best if you want to avoid BA (and who doesn’t) you’ll need 115K round trip. DL is now 164,000 and much scarcer. Over the past few years I’ve redeemed DL to Europe round trip at 90K, 120K, 140K and soon 164K, which will nearly wipe out my Skymiles account. Good riddance. I can get by with 300K plus at UA and… Read more »
United and Star Alliance blow Skyteam out of the water, both in terms of destinations covered, as well as the quality of airlines. I fly regularly to Delta’s Detroit hub, and had been a Delta customer for years before switching to United. Delta does a great job marketing itself and being flashy, but they really lack on substance. Here’s why: 1) United’s network is unparalleled on a global scale: they codeshare with the most airlines, the codeshare with the best airlines, and where they don’t codeshare, there’s a Star Alliance partner airline that will get you there. United’s network covers… Read more »
Did you get Chris Lofting’s permission to re-post his photo of that AA A330 from flickr? https://www.flickr.com/photos/53104577@N07/15555208860 The photo clearly states “all rights reserved” which is described as: “All Rights Reserved You, the copyright holder, reserve all rights provided by copyright law, such as the right to make copies, distribute your work, perform your work, license, or otherwise exploit your work; no rights are waived under this license.” It’s frustrating how bloggers think they can just ignore photographers copyright while copyrighting their own work. I can’t imagine you would be thrilled if someone went around copying your writing word for… Read more »
Hi AvPhotographer,
This photo was found on Wikimedia Commons, a repository of free media, if the photo is infact owned by the person above, and was wrongfully posted on Wikimedia Commons, I will gladly change it! I take all my photos from Wikimedia Commons unless stated, and I can find you the link if you’d like!
Here is the Wikimedia Commons file! Hope this helps, and if there still is issue, let me know!
