Delta Diamond devalued, but not destroyed

Delta Diamond status is highly regarded among frequent flyers – so much so that it has seemed worthwhile to Greg to spend enough money on Delta credit cards to keep that status. Unfortunately, Delta is working on giving away the benefits and taking away value – though it’s not all bad news. Watch us discuss that, why the Hyatt spending offer isn’t the no-brainer you think it is, how to enter for free Frequent Miler swag and more on the show this week or read more below.

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This week at Frequent Miler:

Frequentmiler.com is ours! Celebrate w/ huge swag giveaway

Home sweet home! It kind of feels that way anyway now that our home page is finally the URL that you’d have always expected: FrequentMiler.com. It wasn’t for lack of trying to make that happen over the years and I am glad to finally see it happen. If you want to rep Frequent Miler with your coffee mug, face mask, playing cards, etc, comment by Sunday evening for your chance to win one of 80 prizes.

Is Delta loyalty still worth pursuing? (on my mind)

I’ll answer Greg’s title question for him and save you the time spent letting him try to convince you otherwise: no, it isn’t.  At least not on the level that Greg has pursued it. As you might have caught in the post roast section of FM on the Air this week, I think that deep down Greg knows that it isn’t worth pursuing and he just doesn’t want to face the music. Don’t get me wrong – if you’re in a hub and you fly Delta for business, by all means keep doing that. But this whole status-from-credit-card-spend thing is just nearly impossible to justify given how:

Delta torpedoes SkyMiles value for partner awards

The big problem I have with spending for Delta Diamond status, apart from that whole $250K credit card spend requirement, is that it necessitates earning boatloads of Delta miles that I’d have previously said have questionable value. I’d no longer say that because Delta has answered the question: they’re worth about a penny each and not much more. This devaluation goes to show that point.

Delta global upgrade certificates now improved for Air France and Virgin Australia flights

The upgrade certificates you get as a Delta Diamond member are unquestionably valuable and the ability to use them on Air France and Virgin Australia makes them even more valuable. If you can status match to Diamond and get the shortened path to these upgrades, enjoy it.

Delta Diamond Choice Benefits: Which to choose and when

If you’re thinking about doing the incredibly generous Delta status match, you’ll want to know what to do with your choice benefits when you get them. This post can help you decide.

Planning for a miles & points afterlife

If something happened to you today, would your family even know all of the programs in which you have stacks of rewards no less how to log in and access your points? I spend too much time and energy on this hobby for my family to lose access when I’m gone and a recent presentation made me think a bit about what I need to do to make it as easy as possible for them should they need to get control of the loyalty accounts. What’s your plan?

Gold card adds Uber benefits, but is it enough?

The Amex Gold card will be losing its airline incidental benefit in 2022. This week, they announced a coming Uber benefit that will take its place — and in 2021, both credits will coexist on the card. That’ll make the Gold card a very good value for most readers in the short-term, but is this a good long-term change? In my opinion, it isn’t – and not just because Uber isn’t convenient for me. In the past, it has always been possible to get the full value of your annual airline incidental credit before cancelling your card. Now you’ll only have been able to redeem for however many months of the year you’ve been a cardholder, significantly reducing value in your final year,

Which Premium Cards are Keepers? Version 3.5

With benefits constantly changing, Greg has had to update his premium credit cards spreadsheet several times this year. This latest update tweaks the way he views Ultimate Rewards points, but no matter what premium credit cards you have you’ll want to bookmark this resource for when it’s time to decide whether to keep or cancel.

Chase Sapphire Reserve & Preferred add Peloton benefit (up to $120 in credits)

I know that many readers are Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders and there is a good chance that at least some of you are also Peloton enthusiasts. If you find yourself in both groups, you’ll be happy to take Chase up on putting some money back in your pocket for a fitness subscription.

Deal of the week

Huge New 100k Offers On JetBlue Plus & Business Cards

I tend to view JetBlue miles as being a niche currency since there aren’t many partner options and you obviously need to be traveling from an airport served by JetBlue. That said, if flying JetBlue is convenient for you, these new offers are amazing. Well over a thousand dollars worth of miles for very reasonable spend and a year to meet the spending requirement make these offers the epitome of low-hanging fruit. It’s definitely worth considering one of these offers.

That’s it for this week at Frequent Miler. Next up: this week’s last chance deals.

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