I have not been paid by any entity in any way (financially, benefits) to write the following post. Any airport, airline, lounge, and/or loyalty program policies may have changed since then.

Delta Air Lines is regarded as one of the best U.S. carriers flying in the skies today, offering some of the best domestic lounges with their Delta Sky Clubs, a great (for the U.S.) soft product in business class, and generally good all-around service. While I do not dispute the quality of their product, I believe that Delta has taken steps to squeeze as much money as possible out of everybody, whether it be corporate flyers to the occasional vacationers, pushing the industry to a point that is all about the bottom line and not at all about the customers or the product. Their actions have made flying worse for just about all travelers, and I need to get some of my grievances of my chest.

Basic Economy

Nowadays, when I am looking for the best flight deals to post on rgvtraveldeals.com or dmvtraveldeals.com, I always come across great fares that I’d actually want to take advantage of, like a $440 round-trip ticket to Spain. But, when I go to look at the booking options, these great fares are actually in Basic Economy, which as a frequent flyer elite, negates some of the status benefits I earned. Every time I see “Basic” Economy fares, I reminisce about the good ol’ days of traveling, when everything was already included in the price.

So why am I mad at Delta? Well, in 2012, Delta became the first of the big 3 U.S. airlines that introduced Basic Economy, with United and American introducing it later in 2017. Originally announced as a way to compete with low-cost carriers like Spirit and Frontier on specific routes, Basic Economy expanded to all U.S. domestic routes, and in 2018 Delta introduced Basic Economy on transatlantic flights, and later on all international routes. Anybody with eyes can see that Basic Economy is not at all about competing with the low-cost carriers, and is instead a tactic used to pressure customers into paying more for regular economy. How do I come to this conclusion? I’ve seen the prices Delta puts out versus Spirit or Frontier, and I can tell you that “Basic Economy” is at best $80-$200 dollars more expensive than the low-cost airlines, negating this whole “competition” argument. Remember, you are paying the same price for less perks with “basic economy” that you used to pay for good ol’ regular economy before Delta meddled.

Depending on the airline, these restrictions can include no carry-on bags, no free seat selection, no flight changes, no standby, no upgrades, boarding last, zero or very limited mileage earnings, no lounge access, no cancellations whatsoever etc, etc. And to top it all off, in my years of researching fares, I rarely ever see Basic Economy fares matching the price of Spirit or Frontier.

Oh, and if you happen to be travelling in Basic Economy and hold Delta co-branded credit cards that provide lounge access, kiss that good-bye! Delta has axed access to the Sky Clubs for any passengers flying in Basic Economy, even if you paid for Sky Club membership.

So the next time you pay for Basic Economy on any airline, feel frustrated about it, or feel like you’ve been short-changed, you can thank Delta Air Lines for that.

Loyalty Program Cuts

Once upon a time, loyalty was about how much you flew with an airline, not how much you spent.

Frequent flyer programs are loyalty programs offered by airlines to encourage customers to fly with them repeatedly. By enrolling in a frequent flyer program, you’ll receive a membership number to track your points or miles. In ye old times, elite miles or points were earned primarily by flying with the airline, with the net amount earned based on the fare class purchased and distance flown. This simple and common-sense approach made earning elite status attainable and worth more than it is now, giving you perks like free upgrades, priority boarding, and free checked bags. Then, your accumulated points or miles could be used for various things, such as booking award flights, upgrades, etc. The primary benefit is the opportunity to earn free or discounted travel.

However, Delta thought that your loyalty should be shown by the amount of money you’re willing to throw for a bag of peanuts and ginger ale while sitting in that middle seat, not your choice of airline. Delta introduced money-based metrics for customers to “earn” frequent flyer status and points, all while devaluing the overall benefits you’d receive as a “loyal” customer. And of course, being the good followers they are, American Airlines and United followed suit after. This means that you now earn status primarily through the amount of money you spend on Delta, not how many flights you take with them or how many miles you’ve flown on a Delta plane.

This means that, in order for you to earn the lowest status Delta has to offer, their Silver Medallion, you have to spend a minimum of $5,000 dollars (Medallion Qualifying Dollars or MQDs) on Delta tickets. Oh, but don’t you dare think of booking a Basic Economy ticket, those don’t earn any MQDs for Medallion status. But in 2009, you could earn Silver Medallion by flying 25,000 miles on Delta Air Lines; you’d have to fly approximately twice roundtrip between New York JFK and Tokyo Narita to earn Silver Medallion status. And while that may seem like a lot of travelling, it is only four total flights that you could do for well under $5,000 in economy.

In fact, in September 2023, Delta had infamously introduced more changes to their Medallion status program, by raising their qualification metrics (a ton more money), in some cases requiring double the amount that was required to earn status, with the lowest amount of money necessary to earn Silver Medallion status starting at $6,000 dollars/MQDs, but was reduced to $5,000 after a slew of loyal customers raged and lambasted the changes.

Now, if I were a mistreated Delta loyalty member, I’d try to find the silver lining and consider the perks of status justifying these insults from the airline, but I can’t say that is the case. Delta’s SkyMiles, the redeemable currency you can use to buy award tickets or upgrade your originally purchased cabin is regularly referred to as SkyPesos, because they are in so many instances basically worthless. Sure, if you know the system and do your research, you can find an obscure low-cost SkyMiles award ticket, but they’re not exactly easy to come-by without the proper knowledge and tools.

Whereas in the past, you’d have a reasonably priced chart that would outline how much you’d pay for award tickets, depending on the region you were flying to and fare class, Delta’s dynamic mileage pricing has completely axed that, which means that the amount of miles required to for such a ticket can now vary on demand, price, and so on. While this makes perfect sense on the corporate side, it’s hard to see the benefit it has for loyal frequent flyers, as it’s essentially undercutting a fundamental component of any frequent flyer program, no matter how airlines want to spin it.

On top of that, the cash prices for Delta tickets have been a major sticking point for so many loyal members (per the Reddit forums), and honestly, their overall status perks don’t seem to be better compared to American or United, except for the Delta Sky Club Membership options for Diamond members. In their original September 2023 announcement, they insulted their loyal customer even more by introducing reduced perks of their co-branded credit cards, cutting back access to the Sky Club, and the prospect of stripping Million Miler status from those that had previously earned it by retroactively recalculating the amount of miles the account holder has flown with Delta and its partners.

Now, Delta did marginally walk back some their changes following the outrage from its frequent flyers, making some changes to douse the fire it had started. But make no mistake, it is likely that Delta fully intends to move its frequent flyer program toward the originally announced changes (and beyond), which will only their most loyal customers for the millionth time. Again, top dollar spenders and corporations likely won’t mind this (although they have a bottom line too, and Delta tickets impact that), but the other loyal customers will likely find themselves looking for a new airline to give their money to, whether it be next year or the year after.

Business Lite

Delta has once again sought out to innovate the premium cabin experience for U.S. based airlines, looking into “unbundling” or essentially removing some of the perks and amenities that come with their international business class product, Delta One. Now, Delta doesn’t actually get the credit for creating this “idea;” several airlines already do this, such as Qatar Airways, which has dropped lounge access for its cheapest business class fares.

But what I am worried about is Delta making this into Basic Economy, Part 2, where the price will actually stay the same as it is today for the business class, without any of the amenities and perks that currently come with it. And I know that American and United will absolutely follow Delta straight into the abyss.

A Reddit user stated: “…I would consider a business light ticket if it’s truly less expensive and not priced at the current business baseline so they can then mark up full business.” Sound familiar? In the modern history of Delta Air Lines, what would make any sane person think that their goal is to make Business Class more affordable and “competitive” after seeing how their supposed strategy for Basic Economy played out? It is all about the money, it always has been and always will be for Delta.

Bottom line: there is no doubt in my mind they’re gonna devalue the Delta One product and yet charge the same or more for less.

Final Thoughts

This rant is long overdue for me, and I just want to clarify that I hate Delta for what they’ve done to the industry, particularly against frequent flyers, but I do not argue against their products and their service, largely because I haven’t flown them enough to get an accurate feel for it.

However, In my opinion, I consider Delta to be the most loyal-averse airline, as it looks to squeeze every last dollar out of every single customer while penny pinching on every benefit they give to any of their elites. They have made flying an unpleasant experience with all the money-grabbing we now see from the Big 3 U.S. airlines, acting like Frontier and Spirit while charging triple the price.

Some may justify Delta’s actions, and I get it, they’re more concerned with their share price since they have an obligation to shareholders, not passengers and loyal customers. What amazes me though is how many people remain loyal to Delta given the amount of insults and disrespect thrown at their Medallion status members and credit card holders. I am further angered because there are so few alternatives to escape this money-grab model that’s been pioneered by Delta. United and American always follow suit, imitating Delta at every turn, devaluing their miles and their perks so that they can remain “competitive” in the industry.

The only U.S. airline that still values loyalty in my eyes is Alaska Airlines. Unlike the other airlines’ money-based programs, Alaska’s Mileage Plan program does it the right way, rewarding frequent flyers based on the Elite Qualifying Miles they’ve flown on Alaska Airlines or their partners instead of the amount of cash paid per ticket. Unfortunately, Alaska is fairly small and does not serve the airports I regularly travel to, as is the case with others that may want to join, but simply can’t due to logistics.

However, I conclude by saying this: while United and American race to the bottom in an effort to catch up to Delta, Alaska soars high on rewarding their loyal customers, and I only wish more folks rewarded that with their hard-earned money instead of paying Delta more for less. 

As always, Live Life One Trip at a Time!

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