Delta Air Lines has opened a store, and I can’t decide if this creative, lame, desperate, or all three.
Continue reading: Delta Window Seat Shop JFK, New Way To Earn Status
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I don't actually hate this idea; it's just unfortunate (terrible???) timing after ALL the devaluation and just-kidding that's gone on thus far. Messaging is a mess. Clearly marketing and revenue management haven't been communicating very well. Oh, and it's sort of BS that they're not doing the same thing at ATL and DFW at a minimum. Just one more message that we're captives and will be treated as such.
Can we admit AA is somehow best now? At least their status and mileage program are.
Of course, if you are special person who uses JFK. If you never fly there, no luck for you!
Pathetic.
beyond which, my inital compaints were real. Delta makes it HARD to even upspend on trips. I mean, you hand out all the Premium Economy seats to GUCs, so you can't book there. And my biggest laugh was to see an economy seat costing 5k on delta - more than business - and everyone else was still at like.... 1250? Two days before it had been really the best buy out there - maybe by 50 bucks - and the code share went up like....754? - and blam. 1250 to 5k.
Just. Stupid.
I am already starting changes in spending patterns and choices in prep for what is to come.
On my previous post, major typo.
Codeshare went up 75$, leading to a jump from 1200$ to over 5k.
My email did say that DL Amex holders who drop by the JFK store will get a personalized luggage tag. Depending on what it looks like, I might check it out when I’m at JFK later this month.
I'm doing a plane spotter day trip to JFK in early December. I'll check it and report back.
lol it's just endlessly hilarious what DL has done to itself, completely unprompted, over the past couple of months. Keep it up, Premium Eddie!
Don't be a smack addict. Forget about tier status and just pay for the upgraded seat.
"I can’t decide if this creative, lame, desperate, or all three"
Ben is just trolling me again!
- Tim Dunn
Absurd. DL needs to spend more time focusing on aviation and less time on irrelevant garbage. Perhaps IATA will get involved??
I don't hate it either. Rather, I don't care. I won't shop there because, well, buying stuff in the airport is a terrible financial decision unless there's a specific need for a specific item at that specific time. But DL aren't doing anything that every duty free conglomerate isn't already doing. It's likely to be the same souvenir-like garbage, you're just giving your money to someone else. If I ever had to buy something souvenir-like in an airport (gods help me that I never do), I'm probably NOT going to a DL store anyway just out of spite. But hey, it's DL's money to burn.
This doesn’t seem like that big of contradiction. Delta yes definitely (at least stated) that they want to make Elite status more elite but also we know DL’s goals is also to expand and have customers buy and be a part of the full DL ecosystem of products (flights, branded CC’s, DL vacations, etc) so incentivizing customers with MQDs to buy into their new retail store product makes sense from their side and aligns with their corporate strategy and communications to date.
Why is everybody up in arms over this? It's an alternative to Duty-Free, I'll stay out of both, so it's not an issue.
Well - the silver lining is that instead of standing in the PREMIUM mile long sky club line, you can spend your time shopping for PREMIUM products.
You can order online, you don't have to go to the brick-and-mortar location at JFK
Why?
Maybe it's because when someone who flies 300k miles on cheaper tickets get's recognized behind someone who flies 0 miles but spends $28k on chocolates.
You got the service you paid for when you bought your ticket. The $28k CC spending brings in DL consistent revenues for this highly cyclical industry. How many people on DL are actually getting free upgrades these days anyway?
A lot of hate on DL for opening a convenience store at JFK. How many purchases do you think are going to be over $100? I give DL credit for trying to get a few extra bucks in revenue with airline margins in the single digits for the industry.
I don't think anyone here hates DL for opening a convenience store at JFK.
They hate how far DL bend over and treat their best customer, Amex.
Uh, Delta would much rather reward $28k on chocolate spend. The margins are going to be astronomically higher than on coach tickets.
And do what, issue a blanket prohibition against airlines being involved in retail?
What a horrible name. It makes me think Delta will be selling upgrades to window seats there or something.
Continued…
Or that they’ll be an onboard shop with windows kind of like the duty free shop Korean Air has on their A380s.
"buying stuff in the airport is a terrible financial decision unless there's a specific need for a specific item at that specific time." I would appreciate more details on your comment here. Does that include duty free shopping? I can give you several examples where sometimes buying at duty free makes total financial sense but....
Mochila bag? Mochila bag?
FFS, mochila is Spanish for bag. So they are selling “bag bags”.
Do these morons not have a single Spanish speaker in their Marketing team?
Yes. In an industry like aviation there is no time for retail and money-making schemes and IATA should act accordingly!
Delta's strategy regarding tier status seems to be in disarray. Now, after seeing the items for sale, I'm left scratching my head. As Delta already has an online shopping portal from which it receives revenue, its efforts would seem best spent promoting it . . . and giving MQD credit (via some formula) to purchases on it . . . as American Airlines does. AA's Loyalty Point scheme promotes all of AA's revenue channels and seems fair and balanced to the consumer.
I've never understood the concept of buying souvenir gifts when traveling for family and friends: "You didn't go to France, but here's an Eiffel Tower keyring as a daily reminder that I did"
IATA should be involved with investigating this ! No relevance to the business of AVIATION !
Still is amazing to me how it isn't talked about more that Comfort+ is considered an upgrade on DL. It's a standard for elites on AA and UA... Just boggles my mind why anyone would actively choose to keep their loyalty with Delta if you value any kind of perks associated with loyalty.
Well, you might be a Debbie downer, but I love that mochilla bag!
I'm going to put down my Chai Tea and naan bread at twelve noon and use my PIN number at the ATM machine, and buy this!
I was going to comment something like this, but DC beat me to it!
And I am sipping on my Chai Tea while writing this.
Well that's supremely underwhelming
Not just one, but three different $500+ soapstone sculptures - which you'd better really love because everything is final sale.
I checked the site out this morning and all I can say is that it is worse than I could have imagined. Apparently, it's a random collection of crap that they got on clearance so they can mark it up and sell MQDs without selling them outright.
...so.
Remind us what regulation requires sales to be "relevant to aviation," and what power do you think the IATA has to enforce any such notion? lol
This is a great idea. Now they should open gas stations and maybe some Delta 7-24 stores near airports. People can get evem more MQDs. Next ip is Duber. Delta’s own version of Uber! Grear idea Delta! Live Schlong and Prosper!
Strangly after avoiding them for so long I've ended up flying AA a lot more this year. Their mileage prom is decent, redemtions are more reasonable, at least for me, but the moment CLT or DFW get a little weather I know they will devolve into a hot mess.
Believe it or not I bought my noise canceling headphones from a Best Buy kiosk at SFO 7 years ago right before a transcon. They were the same price if I had bought online.
Ben, Delta silver can be worthwhile if you fly them occasionally and are banned from getting an Amex card. Just avoiding the shenagins around getting a preferred seat and early boarding are worth it.
On behalf of Tim Dunn, jokes on all of you.
Delta is doing a great job selling all those overpriced garbage crap.
Most stuff are sold out in a few hours, including the $700 Brazilian pot.
Now I understand why Williams-Sonoma are doing so good but Bed Bath & Beyond is bankrupt.