It’s no secret – Delta Air Lines isn’t a fan of freebies, even to its most loyal passengers. Their recent investor day highlighted this fact, as Delta nixes elite upgrades, providing preference to those that would pay for the experience instead.
Delta SkyMiles provides what is, perhaps, the worst value in the travel loyalty space of any program, though Hilton Honors is in a similar space, while Marriott Bonvoy is quickly catching up with the two. However, Delta has been particularly vocal about its stance, making it known for a while now that they no longer want to give away domestic first class upgrades anymore. And, while they haven’t and won’t eliminate the practice altogether, in effect, Delta nixes elite upgrades to further its commitment to earning more revenue from its existing products and services.
Delta Nixes Elite Upgrades
As reported by numerous blogs already, Delta executives highlighted the airline’s long-term strategy of minimizing elite upgrades in favor of paid first class passengers. This has been a long game for them, with the airline first setting sights on this strategy back in 2010 – the same year Delta completed the integration of Northwest Airlines. At any rate, back then, executives explain that 6% of first class passengers paid for their ticket, another 6% were connecting from a premium international itinerary, and the rest were upgrades. That, in their eyes, left a lot of money on the table.
Now, roughly a decade and a half later, Delta has succeeded in minimizing its elite upgrades. In fact, the above metrics have completely flipped. Whereas 12% of first class passengers had paid for their seats before, now only 12% of those seats are occupied by someone that received a free upgrade for having Medallion status.
This trend comes as Delta has made major strides to make their aircraft more premium, which includes Comfort+ seating. At the start of the journey, only 10% of seats were premium, and was mostly first class seats. However, since then, 30% of seats are now premium, with some sort of premium product across the entire fleet, inclusive of regional aircraft.
Delta’s philosophy here is to make premium more accessible, as once people experience premium products, they are less likely to go back to a standard Main Cabin seat. There’s truth to this, as airlines can seem to install enough extra space and premium economy types of seats. Your’s truly also primarily flies in Alaska Air Premium Class and Hawaiian Air Extra Comfort seating, though I’m by no means a frequent flyer.
Medallion Status – What’s the Point?
As others have already posited, with a slim and declining chance of snagging an upgrade as Delta nixes elite upgrades – even as a Diamond Medallion – what’s the point in chasing status anymore? Yes, having status can save you during irregular ops, but Delta claims and aims to be the most reliable airline out there. So, how much does that matter, either? Sure, you can still get free upgrades to Comfort+ at check-in, earn extra miles, etc., but Delta is constantly devaluing miles and will continue to make securing upgrades more difficult.
Of course, the fact that Delta nixes elite upgrades is only half of the equation. We know that Delta plans to unbundle its premium cabin experiences, including Delta One, so even if you pay for your premium seat, you could get less for it in the future. Moreover, Delta has also massively changed the how members earn status, effectively doubling the amount you have to spend (or more) to earn status, and making that the only way to do so.
So, Delta wants you to spend more ($35,000 to earn Diamond Medallion) and will give you less for doing so? How does this make any sense? Why on Earth would anyone try to earn status with Delta unless you’re hub-captive?
Delta Nixes Elite Upgrades, Final Thoughts
I have no skin in the game – I have no frequent flyer status, and never have except for the one time American gifted me AAdvantage Gold status for some reason. Plus, I’ve flown Delta all of once. So, that Delta nixes elite upgrades, means nothing to me. That said, it does concern me, as loyalty seems to be headed in this direction overall. After all, as mentioned earlier, Hilton Honors and Marriott Bonvoy are both in a race to the bottom, too. However, I don’t see American playing copycat here, as AAdvantage is quite possibly the only thing keeping them afloat right now. Alaska, too, can’t change anything for at least six years, thanks to its acquisition of Hawaiian.
Nevertheless, it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. Will Delta have to backdown from its incredibly bad stance? Or will enough SkyMiles members not care?
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