Rapid Travel Chai: Delta and SkyTeam at FTUA SNA 2015

Delta LikesOblivious CustomersDelta LikesOblivious Customers

Delta Adores Big SpendersDelta Adores Big Spenders

Delta RespectsPassengersDelta RespectsPassengers

Delta Hearts InvestorsDelta Hearts Investors

Delta Loves ItselfDelta Loves Itself

Delta LoathesUsDelta LoathesUs

Delta and SkyTeam
FTU SNA 2015FTU SNA 2015
Stefan Krasowski
Rapid Travel Chai

Ground Rules
1. Comments and questions should be applicable to
others in the audience
2. No customer service/irregular operations stories
©Stefan Krasowski, All Rights Reserved

My Delta Experience
Grew up in Minnesota as NWA flyer
Lived in China 8 years flying NWA
NYC-based, Delta as primary airline
Diamond Medallion and Million MilerDiamond Medallion and Million Miler
Flown most SkyTeam partners
Have had Silver, Gold and Platinums in the family

Itinerary
Talk about Delta and SkyTeam

Should SkyMiles Be Your
SkyTeam Program?SkyTeam Program?

Air France/KLM FlyingBlue
Cons:
Customer service
Booking process
Pros:
Promo awards
Israel in Europe
Fees
Freeze accounts for
credit card transfers
Book AF first class

AeroMexico Club Premier
Cons:
Customer service
Pros:
Award sweet spots

Korean SkyPass
Cons:
Booking process
Pros:
Book first class
Award holds
Stable program

The Problem With Partner Programs

Awards on Delta Require
Delta Saver Award Availability
(but wait, it might be better than(but wait, it might be better than
for SkyMiles members)

Delta SkyMiles
Cons:
No notice changes
Deceptive/mispricing
Pros:
One-way awards
Virgin Atlantic/Australia
Still broken website
Delta award prices
72-hour cancel rule

Delta is Also an Airline

Delta as an Airline
Cons:
Still a US airline
Non-elite customer
service
Pros:
In-flight experience
Solid operations
service
twitter @DeltaAssist

About Delta Customer Service
Call or twitter
email and website customer service forms are atrocious
Even missing mileage I call in to get resolved

Delta Cutting Off Interline Agreements
First American
Now Emirates
What next?

Delta Screwing With Seating/Updates
May 16, 2016 Comfort+ upgrade system

Separate PNRs for Travelers
Helps with individual upgrades
Hassles when things go wrong

But Pajamas are Coming
Hard to find any actual good news!

Medallion Program

2015 Earning

Where are the Promos?
Few promos since merger

The Promos are in Seattle
Occasional geographically targeted promos (Washington
state residents)

By the Way, Seattle is Annoying!
Revenue and award tickets pushed to Seattle
From the East Coast that is 6 hours in a 737 (some 757s)

2016 Elite Status

Rollover MQMs
MQMs rollover
Be strategic: 124,999 to roll over 49,999?

Silver Medallion
“It’s really more of a teaser”
Upgrades on paid tickets
2 free checked bags

Gold Medallion
+ Upgrades on award tickets
+ Same-day confirmed fee waiver
+ SkyTeam Elite Plus

Platinum Medallion
+ Award ticket fee waivers
+ Choice benefits

Diamond Medallion
+ Sky Club Individual Membership
+ more Choice benefits
+ unofficial co-terminal SDC (LGA/JFK/EWR)
My take: much better than United 1K (upgrades & service)
My take: much better than United 1K (upgrades & service)

Delta 360
Invite-only elite tier, reported $40k+ annual spend

Choice Benefits
Platinum 1 choice, Diamond 2 (plus Platinum)
Diamond Global Upgrades improved
Available when qualify – 2016 status good to 1/31/2017

SkyBonus
Small business program for $5k+ annual spend
Cancel accounts for not meeting spend

Lounges

SkyClub
Improved snacks, some have paid dining
Bartender hassle
Individual $450 or 70k miles
Executive $695 or 110k miles
Executive $695 or 110k miles
Diamond gets individual, 1 Choice Benefit to upgrade
Amex Delta Reserve (+2 guests)
Amex Platinum cardholder only (not Amex Delta Platinum)

SkyTeam Elite and Elite Plus
Delta Silver = Elite, Gold and up = Elite Plus
Elite gets Sky Priorty-type things
Elite Plus gets lounge access + 1 companion on same-day
international travel (not 3rd-party lounges for economy)

Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse
Transatlantic to London biz class on Virgin or Delta
Gold in economy: JFK, EWR, IAD, BOS, SFO
Platinum & Diamond in economy: + LHR, LGW
Gold and above: 1 guest
Gold and above: 1 guest

Where SkyMiles Can Take You

Virgin Australia to Guadalcanal

Aerolíneas Argentinas to Argentina

AF/KL Caribbean-ish to Europe

Gol to Fernando de Noronha

Tarom to Romania

AF/KL to Africa, North, South, East, West

AF/KL/KQ to Indian Ocean and Kilimanjaro

China Southern to Central Asia and Siberia

Korean Air to Palau

Saudia to Middle East & South Asia

But How to Book SkyMiles Awards?

How to Book SkyMiles Awards
Go to Tiffany’s Award Booking sessions 

What’s New in Awards
One-way awards
No free stopover
Website mispicing many awards (still)
5 award price levels (as of now)
5 award price levels (as of now)
Award charts gone
Intermittent, unofficial 21-day domestic saver award cap
Promo discount routes from 10k one-way
Many more partners online

The Old Rules Still Apply
Know what an award should cost
Don’t relay on calendar (but it is improved)
Search segment by segment
Call if website is wrong
Call if website is wrong
Call back if agent is clueless
Don’t ever agree to be sent to delta.com web support

Use Schedule Changes to Get What You Want

Consider Pay With Miles

Airline Partners

Partner Airlines Principles
Group 1 airlines have good earning, 2-4 terrible
New: MQDs based on distance flown
Delta-coded flights earn as Delta

Partner Airlines Awards
Partner awards price at low award level
Many Delta agents don’t know how to book partners
Call Delta to get partner PNR (Korean RSVN 8-digit #)

Partner Airlines with Fuel Surcharges
Aeroflot (especially domestic)
Air Europa
Air Tahiti Nui
China Airlines
China Airlines
China Eastern (massive, nearly same for biz and economy)
China Southern (slightly less than China Eastern)
Kenya Airways

Partner Airlines Call to Book
Air Europa
Air Tahiti Nui
Czech Airlines
Kenya Airways
Kenya Airways
Tarom
Xiamen Airlines
*And always check case by case and if website working

Partner Airlines Blackout Dates
China Airlines
China Southern (new, most of the year)
Korean (peak dates replacing blackout)

AeroMexico (Group 1)
New Joint Venture application – expect more to come
Lie-flat Dreamliner New York – Mexico City
Flights to Tokyo and Shanghai

Air France (Group 1)
Missing trans-Atlantic award space
Indian ocean network

KLM (Group 1)
Seat assignment issues (even on Delta metal out of AMS)
Gate upgrades to premium economy
Long AMS lounge shower waits

Alitalia (Group 1)
Better experience than assumed but chaotic
Poor IT links with partners, Rome transit a pain

Gol (Group 1, non-SkyTeam)
Dumpy experience
Orlando flight to Brazil
Good award availability

Virgin Atlantic (Group 1, non-SkyTeam)
Great award availability
Fun, noisy flight experience
Great lounges, even at Newark

Virgin Australia (Group 1, non-SkyTeam)
Great award availability, when working
Absurdly overpriced awards for Australia domestic

Air Europa (Group 2)
Overlooked Europe option
Generic EU-style flight experience

Kenya Airways (Group 2)
Good award availability, hard to get agents to book
Not great, but neither is Ethiopian

Middle East Airlines (Group 2)
Regional flights
Pastel uniforms

Saudia (Group 2)
Still good award availability
Transit times and process a pain, no more transit visas

Tarom (Group 2)
Functional Eastern Europe option
Lots of ATRs in fleet

Aeroflot (Group 3)
Great award availability, fastest NYC to Maldives
Better experience than expected
Surcharges makes domestic awards absurd, use Avios on S7

Aerolineas Argentinas (Group 3)
Reportedly unreliable
Argentina domestic tickets others very expensive

China Airlines (Group 3)
The Taiwan-based SkyTeam airline, not mainland China
New planes on the way

China Eastern (Group 3)
Massive fuel surcharges on awards
Shanghai Airlines awards possible but poor availability
Delta co-locating at Shanghai PVG and expanding presence

China Southern (Group 3)
Also big fuel surcharges on awards
Better than Lucky says

Czech (Group 3)
Typical EU-style

Garuda (Group 3)
Most reliable Indonesian airline

Vietnam Airlines (Group 3)
Decent Southeast Asia option
Revenue tickets buy from airline, not OTAs to save $$$

Xiamen Airlines (Group 3)
Regional Chinese airline
“The soaring egret leads you to a wider world”

Alaska (Group 4, non-SkyTeam)
Devolving frenemy relationship

Great Lakes (Group 4, non-SkyTeam)
Regional US airline

Hawaiian (Group 4, non-SkyTeam)
Inter-island flights only

Korean (Group 4)
Delta and Korean plain don’t like each other

WestJet (Group 4, non-SkyTeam)
Earn only, no awards

Air Tahiti Nui (No group, non-SkyTeam)
Awards only, no earn

Asia/Japan Residents Only

Non-Airline Partners

Amex Delta Cards
Delta Reserve $30/60k = 15/30k transferrable MQMs
Delta Platinum $25/50k = 10/20k MQMs
Reserve/Platinum companion certificates are ok
Gold card is crapGold card is crap
Targeted sign-ups for elites

Starwood (Marriott?)
Reciprocal earning
Pseudo-elite reciprocal benefits
Business class bedding

Hertz
Delta elites gets Hertz elite status
Bonus rental mileage earnings

Enterprise
First mileage-earning airline on Enterprise

Why I Sort-Of Stick With Delta

I Have Been Sort-Of Boycotting Delta
Delta’s arrogance really irritates me
No notice changes
Deceptive practices and website that fleece customers

Why I Haven’t Cut the Cord
United is decrepit and dispirited
American is hardly a NYC hub anymore
Diamond customer service and upgrades are great
SkyTeam works for me, especially in AsiaSkyTeam works for me, especially in Asia
SkyMiles value on partners

This is What I Get on United

And I Listen to Gary Leff
Gary’s preferred US airline:

Thank You
stefan@rapidtravelchai.com
@rapidtravelchai
rapidtravelchai.com

Rapid Travel Chai: Delta and SkyTeam at FTUA SNA 2015

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Rapid Travel Chai: Delta and SkyTeam at FTUA SNA 2015