Delta SkyMiles

Back in 2021, Delta made a positive update to its Million Miler elite status program by giving flyers the chance to lock in its top-tier SkyMiles Diamond Medallion status for life (albeit for the life of the program, not the life of the traveler) and that was a surprisingly positive move for Delta to make. From the start of 2024, however, Delta has made lifetime elite status harder to earn, so this is what you need to know about its Million Miler program:

It’s possible that Delta may be seeing (or is predicting) a significant decrease in the number of SkyMiles elite members, and that its 2023 devaluation may (finally) be the straw that broke the camel’s back for a lot of its frequent flyers. I say this because it looks like Delta is going fishing for new SkyMiles elites in 2024 with a promotion that's coming at some point this month.

The radical changes to Delta's SkyMiles program were only made public a couple of weeks ago, but already the vultures are circling. On Monday, Alaska Airlines was the first to offer SkyMiles members an alternative home and now JetBlue has joined the fray with what appears to be a very generous status match offer to Delta flyers looking for a more appropriate frequent flyer program.

The dust may not have yet settled on the remains of the old Delta Skymiles program, but with details of the new Skymiles program already angering, upsetting or annoying what appears to be a significant number of people, Alaska Airlines is making moves to capitalize on Delta's disenchanted flyers.

Delta has had a problem with overcrowding in its Sky Clubs for some time and in the past couple of years, it has brought in various measures to try and sort the problem out. Unfortunately, none of these measures have made much of a difference so far.

Delta has announced that it will be moving down the path that American Airline's forged back in 2022 by revamping its frequent flyer program and using just a single metric to decide what elite status (if any) members of the program should have.

Delta and Starbucks have announced a new partnership that allows customers with SkyMiles and Starbucks accounts to earn miles and stars when they buy their morning coffee and when they fly.

In the miles & points world, it's often a bad sign when you read of a loyalty program announcing that it is "enhancing" benefits, as no one running any of the major loyalty programs appears to know what that word means.

It's not like Delta isn't known for devaluing its currency as frequently as possible, but at a time when the airline industry claims to be on its knees and very few people are flying out of choice, Delta's decision to quietly increase the cost of partner awards by 25% (and more) is very hard to understand.

Delta Platinum and Medallion members have long been able to change award bookings without incurring a penalty but now, with immediate effect, everyone else can feel a little bit more like an elite flyer with Delta after the airline announced that change fees on domestic award bookings are now (mostly) a thing of the past.

Delta has today announced the introduction of it's "Reclaim My Status" program which allows SkyMiles Medallion Members to restart their travels with a challenge which offers them the opportunity to regain their old status after taking time out for one of life's expected or unexpected major events.

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I hold absolutely no status with Delta or Virgin Atlantic but as I look to possibly change my airline allegiances going forward I'm paying a lot more attention to what the like of Delta and Virgin Atlantic offer....and that's why an update posted today caught my eye. An alert I received today let me know of a change posted to the Skymiles News & Updates page today (15 November 2018) which suggests that Delta Silver Medallion members now get at least one checked bag on Virgin Atlantic operated flights.

Delta is not an airline I write about a lot because it doesn't come up in my travels very much and, to be frank, I really don't know enough about it to make too many useful or insightful comments. But I do know just how badly the airline has been squeezing its frequent flyers over the years (my commiserations if you're one of them) and I do know that the way Delta has peen prioritising upgrades for those flying with companions has been a big issue for Delta flyers. But things are about to change.