You Missed the Real Delta SkyMiles Scandal
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- čas přidán 27. 09. 2023
- Access to the SkyMiles lounge is the least of our problems.
Delta's recent changes to their SkyMiles program prioritizes profit over customer loyalty, and people are outraged.
But it’s not just airlines: There’s a deep dissatisfaction with essential services from education to healthcare. The solution, unfortunately, seems to be paying more for elite status and bypassing normal services. These two-tier systems feed the perception and reality of two Americas: one for elites, and a lesser one for everyone else.
Bloomberg Opinion's Nir Kaissar explains why Delta's decision to create a culture of elitism is not the answer.
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#opinion #delta #elite #incomeinequality #wealthy #education #healthcare #airlines
Delta is now a credit card company with airplanes.
Every other airline in the US is absolute crap so we have no choice, I’m staying with delta
This was inevitable. Inflation simply effects the status with airlines. When I flew 10 years ago the upgrade list was less than 5 for top tier status customers. Nowadays even more than 15 :)
Its always been that the moment I'm travelling outside the US I don't even consider American-flagged carriers.
An idealistic and impossible solution. It’s quite clear consumers, on average, are not willing to pay for a better experience. And this is precisely because most can’t afford it.
Agreed but also not just about affording. I think people ask themselves is it worth it. Like for me to fly on Nov 14 on around a 1 hour and a half flight (airtime) nonstop to Atlanta is $363.60 basic economy while flying the same route Business class (it says first but it's business I'm pretty sure) is $738.60. So even if one can afford it you have to ask yourself is it worth paying an extra $375 for a better experience on a flight (airtime) that's less than 2 hours.
God bless you.
Oh many can afford it. Many are just entitled and expect something for the lowest price. Travel is an optional thing. You don't do it if you can't afford it.
@@johniii8147 I think its more about making such drastic changes so quickly (possibly) See changing miles to dollars suddenly is going to upset people and also limiting lounges is going to upset people. People join these programs because they have a realistic expectation to be able to get somewhere (lounges certain prestige levels) but if they don't believe they can realistically make it in a reasonable amount of time they'll probably leave the program.
God bless everyone.
While healthcare and education are indeed complex issues, the same perverse incentives identified are at play with them too. Lobbyists for private and charter schools, and for-profit medical systems, help elect politicians who make public education and healthcare so unpleasant that people will seek the exits and pay more for "elite" status.
Actually what you suggested at 4:30 exist already, at least in long haul flights. It's called Premium Economy Class. The airlines squeezed the cost and price on Economy but also recognizes that there is a portion of the Economy passengers who want to keep the original service and seats that they had in Economy 30 years ago. So they downgrade Economy to what it is now, keep a portion of the Economy seats with what it used to be, and calls it Premium Economy. At the end of the day, even with the low inflation in the last 20 years, there has been inflation, but Economy ticket price has gone down during the period. Simple arithmetic shows you that service can only go down at the same time to keep up with the cost. For passengers who want the original service, they need to pay up, and you would notice that the Premium Economy ticket price is actually about the same as a Economy ticket price 20 years ago, adjusted with inflation. However, it is clear that most passengers, even for long haul flights, prioritizes price over service, so that's why airlines split the seat proportion to about 9:1 to 8:2 between Premium Economy and Economy.
Yeah I've had enough. Just booked another international flight with United instead of delta
This is the last straw by Delta I'm now doing all my travel by Greyhound
Great sarcasm
You’re not alone. They do the same to its pilots.
Agree. We put away X dollars for funzies and were planning to travel to Europe or wherever when we retired. But airline travel ... and airline travel on Delta has become so miserable that we might make one long trip a year (go to one place and stay). And screw delta.
There are tens of thousands of anecdotes of loyal Delta passengers in the lower medallion tiers willing to spend 5% sometimes up to 10% more to stick with Delta. The changes to the frequent flyer program just destroyed the excess pricing power they had with this group. I’m not sure if it was arrogance or something else that caused Delta to be blind to this.
I can't help but wonder if the industry has spun out of control post regulation era. While airline regulation in the 70's/80's created bureaucracies and inefficiencies it did help to keep the airlines themselves in check. Regulation carefully set the terms under which airlines could do business. It was designed to ensure that they remained a stable business and a reliable mode of transportation. Deregulation, in turn, allowed the airlines to pursue profits in whatever way they could-including getting into the financial sector. The proponents of deregulation made a few big promises. The cost of flying would go down once airlines were free to compete on price. The industry would get less monopolistic as hundreds of new players entered the market, and it would be stable even without the government guaranteeing profitable rates. Small cities wouldn’t lose service. In the deregulators’ minds, airlines were like any other business. If they were allowed to compete freely, the magic of the market would make everything better. Whatever was good for the airlines’ bottom line would be good for consumers. They were wrong. After a relatively short period of fierce competition, the deregulated era quickly turned to consolidation and cost-cutting, as dozens of airlines either went bankrupt or were acquired. Service keeps getting worse, because the airlines, facing little competition, have nothing to fear from antagonizing passengers with cramped legroom, cancellations, and ever-multiplying fees for baggage and snacks. Worse still, without mandated service, cities and regions across the country have lost commercial air service, with serious consequences for their economies. And when a crisis like 9/11 or the coronavirus pandemic comes along, the airlines-which prefer to direct their profits to stock buybacks rather than rainy-day funds-need massive financial relief from the federal government.
Yup, Amen! Is there any possible way we could put you in charge, Nir? 🤔✌️😎
You pay a lot today to fly on main cabin and all you get it half poured Coca-Cola and 80 air filled bag of chips and unhealthy biscoff cookies. I think it’s not worth it. They care more about money than their customer. Not worth flying with them.
This is absolutely correct, please do better.
What is the best kept secret on wall street?
You spoke of the grand old days of legroom and meals on flights. Welcome to the 21st century! That does still exist at some airlines just not US ones and hasn't since de-regulation (think 70's). Delta is still chasing the concept of higher margin business fares, which aren't coming back after Covid. They have successfully addressed the average passenger with free airborne internet, after becoming a skymiles member and a robust inflight entertainment program. Try to find that in your nostalgic airlines of yore!
Having flown since the "grand old days", such as for $75 one way on Delta transcontinental standby with two stops in 1968, which is about $660 in current dollars, it is clear that one can fly with pretty much the same quality, and often non-stop, in first class for a similar price. (Back then, I did not get wine and beer included; now I do.) People who would never have flown in 1968 now do, but they choose cattle class because it is cheap. That said, I and my wife are both reconsidering our airline status choices (Alaska for her, Delta and American for me), due to the now low value of the status. We may switch to United for 2025 status, given where we now live (where Delta and American have few nonstop flights).
What is the best kept secret on Wall Street?
Still the best US airline. I’m sticking with Delta
Shame people are so stupid and entitled. There's not enough resources for everyone to live like kings, and airlines are LOW MARGIN firms, barely making profits on a good year, hence why so few of them exist these days. The old ways aren't economical. What Delta did makes sense, but they executed a good idea POORLY and that's the issue. Delta is still the BEST Us airline, next to Southwest for the value. AA & United are just high priced versions of & Alligiant & Spirit
This elite business is a little more complicated than it appears at first blush.
First off, to explain this whole crave for elite status, I think it would be useful to get the insights of an evolutionary biologist. The airlines are touching a genetically programmed mandate and exploiting it.
I’d also argue that customer (myself included) aren’t loyal; we’re addicted. Our supplier has raised the price.
Finally, maybe brutally, customers are getting the service they want. Relaxing, carefree travel is readily accessible, but the majority of passengers choose no-frills, basic economy. Just look at any plane and how it fills up over time.
The real story here isn’t that airlines are changing the bargain: the question is why now and why not decades ago. Have the major carriers been managed by blithering idiots for the past six or seven decades? Why did it take them so long to realize that since restaurants don’t throw in a free flight with food that they perhaps shouldn’t do the opposite; they should charge for food, baggage, etc. Airlines are slowly waking up to the fact that they’re for profit businesses.
Idk man, these days, any time I get on a plane, all the first class and business class seats are taken. Usually basic economy is all that's left.
Good for delta.. about time they did this to clean house
buy a new mike or learn how to use it