@red259 wrote:I think I am going to pass. While I probably could use the miles to redeem for a transcon flight in J or something of that nature I don't like the way Delta does busines and I'm worried I wouldn't be able to redeem the trip when I need or they will jack up the mileage requirement. With other airlines it feels easier to gauge what the miles will be required. Since I won't be earning additional Delta miles the way I do with United or AA I'm just not feeling its worth the effort. A big part of my concern is that if a high offer on the plat or PRG business cards opens up I want to be able to move on that. I already have the business spg card and I don't know that I will be closing it anytime soon, so I don't really want delta cards cluttering up my amex accounts and maybe causing me an issue on approvals for the business charge cards down the line when I really need them. It just doesn't feel like the right move at the moment and usually when I feel that way it is for a reason.
It's good that you are going by how it suits your needs though. Sometimes that is hard to do. Smart way of thinking imho.
Delta makes it very difficult to utilize miles for trips. Years ago, my husband's family let him use some of their miles for us to go on a trip. It took me several weeks and calls back and forth to Delta to find a flight they would allow us to use miles on - and this was many months in advance of travel. We actually ended up having to go during a month and time that was not convenient for us at all in order to be able to use miles. This was a domestic trip to Hawai'i. 
I also recall that the mileage redemption suddenly increased when I called to book, and was higher than the mileage redemption shown online just 10 minutes prior.
Fast forward to an international trip we have planned for next year. My husband has Delta miles saved up for the outgoing part of the trip.
He does not have an Amex Delta card, just has a lot of miles with Delta.
I went back and forth with Delta in June, having 6 conversations with them during the month, and doing lots of figuring on my own in between calls, in order to be able to find any route they would allow us to use miles on. This is for an international trip.
There were all kinds of restrictions: can't use miles at all to connect through Charles De Gaulle airport (ridiculous), can't use miles on this route or on this day. The restrictions seemed endless. And this is for a trip that will not take place until next year. Finally after I planned out some different possible scenarios (Delta was zero help with this, and none of the scenarios were convenient for us), we ended up having to take a flight on a specific day and arrive TWO days later. This was with a twelve hour layover in a place and during a month that will be cold. Had to take it because they would not offer any other possibility on miles, despite there being many other routes that Delta offers to our destination.
We then received an email about two weeks later that part of that route was being changed and now we would be arriving at midnight into a different country, and have a shorter layover ( so now we can't even enjoy the country we originally had 12 hours in, and decided to see a few things). Now, thanks to Delta, we have to check into a hotel at probably 1am, not exactly a good value for a hotel stay. We will still be traveling on the flights for TWO full days and will be exhausted when we arrive. There is no reason anyone should have to take a flight and arrive two days later. That's also a very big waste of our vacation days and time off.
Contrast that with American, with whom we are using miles on our return flights. They were stellar, helped me look at different possibilities for our situation, and had many more possible options for us. In talking with each airline 6 times for this trip, there is no comparison - American came out far ahead of Delta. I have known other travelers in our family as well who have tried to use Delta miles, both domestically and internationally, and run into numerous problems with restrictions.
This is just one reason that I will be closing my Amex Delta card in December when it hits 13 months of age and folding its limit into the BCP. Delta does not appear to be geared to meet the customer's needs, even when you plan travel out a year in advance.
Delta offers many routes from our location, they just don't seem to want to offer them using miles. And we had flexible dates as well! 
@Anonymous wrote:Delta makes it very difficult to utilize miles for trips. Years ago, my husband's father let him use some of his miles for us to go on a trip. It took me several weeks and calls back and forth to Delta to find a flight they would allow us to use miles on - and this was many, many months in advance of travel. We actually ended up having to go during a month and time that was not convenient for us at all in order to be able to use miles. This was a domestic trip.
Fast forward to an international trip we have planned for next year. My husband has Delta miles saved up for the outgoing part of the trip. I went back and forth with Delta in June, again probably having about 6 conversations with them during the entire month, and doing lots of figuring on my own in between calls, in order to be able to find any route they would allow us to use miles on. This is for an international trip.
There were all kinds of restrictions: can't use miles at all to connect through Charles De Gaulle airport (ridiculous), can't use miles on this route or on this day. The restrictions seemed endless. And this is for a trip that will not take place until next year. Finally after I planned out some different possible scenarios (Delta was zero help with this, and none of the scenarios were convenient for us), we ended up having to take a flight on a specific day and arrive TWO days later. This was with a twelve hour layover in a place and during a month that will be cold. Had to take it because they would not offer any other possibility on miles, despite there being many other routes that Delta offers to our destination.
We then received an email about two weeks later that part of that route was being changed and now we would be arriving at midnight into a different country, and have a shorter layover ( so now we can't even enjoy the country we originally had 12 hours in, and decided to see a few things). Now, thanks to Delta, we have to check into a hotel at probably 1am, not exactly a good value for a hotel stay. We will stil be traveling on the flights for TWO full days and will be exhausted when we arrive. There is no reason anyone should have to take a flight and arrive two days later. That's also a very big waste of our vacation days and time off.
Contrast that with American, with whom we are using miles on our return flights. They were stellar, helped me look at different possibilities for our situation, and had many more possible options for us. In talking with each airline 6 times for this trip, there is no comparison - American came out far ahead of Delta. I have known other travelers in our family as well who have tried to use Delta miles, both domestically and internationally, and run into a lot of problems with restrictions.
This is just one reason that I will be closing my Amex Delta card in December when it hits 13 months of age and folding its limit into the BCP. Delta does not appear to be geared to meet the customer's needs, even when you plan travel out a year in advance. And we had flexible dates as well!
Wow I am afraid now, I only got the card for an international trip and when I was looking at bookings it seemed most days werea available and it didnt say anything about restrictiosn. I guess I will wait and see when that time comes, its too late now as I already got the card so I will have to take my poitns lol
@Anonymous wrote:Wow I am afraid now, I only got the card for an international trip and when I was looking at bookings it seemed most days werea available and it didnt say anything about restrictiosn. I guess I will wait and see when that time comes, its too late now as I already got the card so I will have to take my poitns lol
No need to be afraid, but be aware that I have personally experienced situations where I can see availability via miles by looking online and I then call and they tell me that I can't do it using miles.
Delta just seems to have many more restrictions than American or other airlines that I have experienced. Here are some tips: try to figure out alternate dates and at least 4 or 5 alternate routes on your own before calling them, and be as flexible as possible. I'd also recommend booking as far in advance as possible.
Also, I hit a wall when I was on the phone with them because they were just not coming up with any flights that would work (i.e., they had us flying for two days with long layovers). I finally suggested an alternate arrival destination, which was a place we were planning to go to anyway during the course of our trip. So flexibility in your arrival destination may help you, if you plan to visit multiple places while traveling.
That made booking possible, but we will still be flying for two days.
Delta seemed to have fewer options than American as well in my opinion. I'm sure you will be able to work something out when the time comes with advance planning and some level of flexibility, Enjoy your trip!
