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This was an April Fools prank. Glad it got a few people.

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The Delta SkyMiles program has sunk to unimaginable lows. I thought it was ridiculous in February that Delta removed its award charts, so we would no longer know how much an award should cost. Now Delta has gone one step farther: Delta will no longer display how many redeemable SkyMiles you have in your account!

When the award chart was removed, Delta pointed to its improved award calendar as the reason a chart was no longer needed. At the time it said:

With the launch of the all-new Award calendar, it’s now easy to search for and see prices for Awards online. Search for the price of an Award like you search for airfare today. The expanded search capabilities and calendar at delta.com provide more choices and an easier-to-read and more accurate view of Award prices.

Check out the all-new Award calendar.

Again, Delta points to its updated award calendar for the reason displaying your SkyMiles balance is no longer necessary.

Delta has continued enhancing its all-new Award calendar, adding new airlines all the time like partners Aeroflot, Gol, Aerolineas Argentinas, and Garuda Indonesia, and simplifying how you book awards with its newest feature, the SkyCheck.

Search for awards as usual on delta.com, and instead of prices displayed in SkyMiles, each itinerary will either feature a SkyCheck to indicate that your account has enough SkyMiles to book the award or a red X to indicate that your account has insufficient SkyMiles.

This is our easiest-to-use and most accurate view of Award prices ever because at SkyMiles, we strive to Keep Climbing.

Check out the all-new Award calendar.

Old System vs. New System

Until March 31, 2015 when you signed into delta.com, you immediately got a window that showed account information including redeemable miles balance at the top, upcoming trips, and progress toward elite status.

Screen Shot 2015-03-31 at 1.28.39 PM

Starting April 1, the screen no longer displays your account balance. It still displays elite qualifying information, which is unchanged for 2015 with today’s announcement.

Screen Shot 2015-03-31 at 2.13.35 PM

Award searches, like Los Angeles to Sydney one way, used to display the price every day for one or five weeks
Screen Shot 2015-03-31 at 1.31.00 PMNow the same search either either shows green SkyChecks if you have enough miles to fly that day or red Xs if you don’t.

Screen Shot 2015-03-31 at 2.13.12 PMSince I have about 79,000 miles, I got SkyChecks on April 13-15, which until yesterday showed a price of 50,000 miles and red Xs on April 16-20, which cost 95,000 miles yesterday.

Even selecting a day just brings up itineraries with either SkyChecks or Xs.

My Plan

If I didn’t ditch Delta for industry-trailing award space, being in the weakest of the three alliances, not allowing award changes or cancellations within 72 hours, removing its upgrade information from Expert Flyer, blocking account balances on Award Wallet, or eliminating its award chart, I’m not going to ditch it now.

I know my account balance was 79,052 miles yesterday. I will keep careful track of miles I earn from flights (which is a bit complicated because you have to multiply the base fare times 5-11 based on your status instead of earning miles based on miles flown), transfers of points in, and other sources like dining programs.

I will keep careful track of miles I spend on awards too. This will be a bit complicated too, but if I search award space on airfrance.us then book only space I find there by calling Delta, I can ensure I am booking Level 1 award space. Then I can cross-reference the screen shots of the old Delta award chart to see how many miles my award cost.

I would hope Award Wallet could create an extension to do all this, but unfortunately Delta blocked Award Wallet from tracking Delta miles last year.

Your Take

Is anyone surprised by Delta’s latest move? How will you respond? Leave your take in the comments.

Hat Tip Lantean

 

 

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