Quote:
Originally Posted by luvinhsv
Smart enough? That's a pretty ignorant statement. For most Delta FF travelers, it isn't so much about accumulating points - I am now Diamond status plus I use a skymiles AMEX for most purchases. Therefore, I have more FF miles than I know what to do with. For a true FF, the main reason I will almost always choose Delta is for the fringe benefits - I want to maintain things like:
1. No baggage fees.
2. Free upgrades - rarely do I not get an upgrade - and I don't care about the 24 minute flight to ATL on a CRJ. I do care about the 4,5, and 6 hour flights to the west coast, however!
3. New this year - Complimentary Crown Room membership.
4. Award Flight options not available to general public.
90% of my travel is for work so I don't care what they charge - then when I have to pay for my family of 4, I use miles.
And to say that you can't use the points? I have NEVER had a problem finding an award flight in the last 8 years - NEVER whether it was 3 days notice or 6 months. I have flown to MSP 3x in the last year for 25K miles everytime - once on 48 hours notice for a funeral. Flew to Vegas last month for 32,500. But I also noticed that these flights weren't available to my friend who was not Medallion status.
Airtran coming to HSV would be a good thing, but I wouldn't count on a lot of FREQUENT (not ocassional) fliers to switch from Delta.
|
You just proved my point. You don't care how much it cost, as long as you keep you F points. That's great and all, but you earn twice as many free flights with Airtran vs Delta, but again I doubt most Delta customers are smart enough to notice.
BTW, Airtran lets you fly standby for free regardless of your status. Last I checked the bag check fees where cheaper too. Not to mention you earn elite status in a fraction of the time which also means you get free upgrades. No Crown room access, but lets face it, who arrive earlier enough for a flight to enjoy the Crown room to begin with. I mean free peanuts and couple glasses of wine are about the only thing the Crown room really offer.
You don't have a problem using your points because you spend a small fortune in flights and its the absolute very lest that Delta can do for you. I doubt very few people out of HSV will even be more then Gold status, so your experiences will nott normally apply to most of us.
And you will care about the cost when your company starts to realize it can save lots of dollars by switching you to Airtran flights. But again you'll fight the change to keep your large pile of FF points which will get you a couple of free flights to Vegas, if you are lucky.
I fly both airlines week in and week out for 5 years now, and by far Airtran has a better FF system. You have no basis for comparison other then maybe US Airways.
In the end Airtran may come HSV but they'll have a hard time changing the minds of the Delta FF junkies. They'll pull out and the cost of flights will skyrocket, again.
Threaded Mode