u/MillennialHaze

My therapist has recently been encouraging me to pursue activities that bring me personal joy and peace. I told her at my last appointment that that wasn’t necessary any more, because with my latest flight booking, I’m now on track to hit Diamond. And then, she had the gall to disagree with me that Diamond was a path to happiness.

I tried walking her through it step by step. Explaining that when I hit Diamond, I will be sent material affirming IN WRITING that I am one of Delta’s most valuable customers. Boom, self-worth. That I will have the best (published) shot of a free upgrade. Boom, sense of superiority. That my conspicuous consumption literally changed who I am…for the better! Luggage tags to prove it!
…talked through all of that. And instead of buying it, she just said that she really needs to see me more often.

I’m at a loss. How do I get my therapist to see that Diamond is what will fill this gaping void inside of me? Or do I just need to give up on her and switch therapists?

Nearly every Delta flight this year, one or more of the following things have happened:

- First Class has gone from plenty of available seats to only a handful by the time I check in
- I have checked in early to secure a decent spot on the upgrade list, only for other people to jump ahead of me on the list. These people won’t even share their full names, instead taunting me with their initials
- The number of available First seats further reduces while I am at the airport, sometimes even at the gate, until it inevitably reaches zero

TO WHICHEVER PERSON OR ORGANIZATION IS SABOTAGING MY UPGRADES:
This is not acceptable. I put a lot of money on my Delta Reserve card to get Diamond, including frivolous purchases, and you need to respect my request to upgrade. I DO NOT CONSENT TO YOUR JUMPING AHEAD OF ME ON THE LIST.

If this keeps up, I will have no choice but to email Ed Bastian about the situation.

I remember this being a nice surprise-and-delight feature of the First Class meal service before COVID, and a nice differentiator relative to the other airlines. Was disappointed to see that they don’t do it any more on the ~1000 mile route I used to frequent. What about longer midcons?

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Does anyone know where I can escalate my numerous ignored requests to join GS? While my YTD PQP total only sits at $900, my startup is developing a token that, conservatively modeled, should put my personal net worth north of $500M within 12 months. Will be only Polaris from here on out as long as they demonstrate they actually know how to value customers. Given the inevitable liquidity, institutional adoption, and global travel requirements that come with that level of wealth creation, Global Services honestly seems like table stakes.

It is…isn’t it? No more lying to ourselves.

Surely I’m not the only one here with IRL acquaintances who make Delta Air Lines their entire personality. Symptoms of this phenomenon include, but are not limited to:
- When talk of a hypothetical trip comes up, loudly proclaiming that they’ll need to check Delta’s flight schedule to the destination because they “only fly Delta”
- Posting more about their Delta flights to and from a destination than the destination itself
- Conspicuously pointing out how many MQDs they are earning on purchases that have nothing to do with air travel
- Posting about Medallion benefits in a humble braggy “feeling blessed” way
- Not having a job or other life situation that makes them fly Delta. Engagement with the airline is voluntary and enthusiastic

The condition seems related to, and often appears comorbid with, Bonvoy obsessives.

What is going on here?? I get Delta achieving a “premium branding” and getting people to pay more. But this is more than that. I feel like this is something historians will point to decades from now as an early sign of American collapse.

Traveling with my family (wife and toddler) this winter and it turns out that for our return, we can either take Polaris 1.0 with a 2 and a half hour layover before connecting to our final destination, or Elevated Polaris with a 5-hour layover in IAH. Would Polaris 2.0 - and specifically the ability to lower the center partition to bed level in the back rows - make the additional layover time worth it? There is only a dollar of fare difference.

Does every branch of this route go until Day 100? On day 66 of my first branch, and just not feelin it…

Note that I’m specifically talking about complimentary upgrades here, and First upgrades.

I could see it taking anywhere from 50K to 500K annual MQDs to end up at the top. Enlighten me.

EDIT: I’m aware that MQDs is seventh on the list for upgrade prioritization. That said, there have been so many times where my position has seemed strong on the first six categories, and yet I remain barely in the top 10 for the upgrade. I assume I’m getting bested based on being a low-MQD Diamond.