Bye-bye Delta SkyMiles
Similar to why I ditched American Airlines AAdvantage, I've decided to ditch Delta Airlines SkyMiles. Why? The answer is Korean Air has a better loyalty program with family mileage pooling capabilities and more achievable path of lifetime SkyTeam Elite Plus status with just 500K miles flown.
Why I decided to abandon Delta
1, The loyalty program
People I've talked to point out Delta has no mileage expiration policy and praise the service and aircraft improvements in the past few years. That's all true, but I think Korean Air's SKYPASS Club is just as great. The table below sums up the differences. The benefits for SkyTeam Elite Plus are otherwise the same.
| Feature | Delta (1 million miles) | Korean Air (500K miles) |
|---|---|---|
| SkyTeam status | Elite Plus | Elite Plus |
| Mileage Expiration | Never | 10 years |
| Lounge access | Only Int'l flights | Any flight, plus 1 guest |
| Award perk | None | Off-peak rates during peak |
The table makes it easy to see why Korean Air SKYPASS is better
- 500K miles flown (including partner flights) instead of Delta's 1 million miles.
- Lounge access on any flight, plus the ability to bring a guest.
- Award ticket redemptions with fewer miles.
It's not possible for me to dispute mileage never expiring is longer than 10 years, but I would say the pattern of mileage devaluation is a reason to spend mileage instead of holding onto mileage for as long as possible. With 2 round-trip Economy flights from Korea to North America in 10 years, you already earn 20K miles, which is enough for a one-way Singapore to Korea flight.
If you have a family of 4, you earn 1 round-trip from Singapore to Korea with just 1 Korea to North America holiday. This is possible because Korean Air SkyPass offers family pooling of mileage. Delta SkyMiles does not offer mileage pooling. i.e. it would take you a few times more long distance flights just to earn enough mileage for a 1-way redemption.
2, The seats
Korean Air economy seats have more width, legroom and recline than Delta economy class seats. That's a fact. This is one reason why Korean Air is a 5-star airline and Delta isn't.
3, The service
Do I really have to compare Korean Air service with Delta service for you?
4, Status is mileage-based, not spend-based
The only people I know that prefer spend-based to mileage-based are those that don't get the benefit(s) they expect even after spending a lot. The blame goes to the US credit card issuers that are basically selling airport lounge access. The blame for why airlines switched to spend-based and not mileage goes to those people doing mileage runs in the old days. Spending as little as $2K USD to get 100K miles, or $20K for million miler was the game back then. $20K to get million miler status does indeed seem ridiculous when someone can also spend more than $20K in first class on one trip and still not get lifetime status.
As for the other "elite" benefits .....
Seat upgrade benefits are based on member "seniority" and availability, so I can't place a value based on luck.
Extra luggage benefit I don't care about because 1, I like to travel light, and 2, I don't think hauling extra (heavy) luggage as you get older is going to do any wonders for your back or enjoyment.
Another downside to spend-based airline loyalty programs is the PhD you need to understand the qualifying miles and/or spend. It is crazy you need a website like Where To Credit to calculate or optimize.
When does it make sense to abandon Delta?
Yes, it felts like I threw 122K Lifetime Miles Flown away, but let's just do the math.
To get the desired SkyTeam Elite Plus benefits (plus more in Korean Air's case), I'd have to fly 878K more miles (1m - 122K) on Delta. On Korean Air, even if I started today, I would only have to fly 500K.
Simply put, if you have more than 500K Delta Lifetime Miles Flown already, you may want to finish the job on Delta. If you have less than 500K, go with Korean Air as you will reach status and have more benefits to gain.