Delta Awards To Become Non-Changeable, Non-Refundable Within 72 Hours of Travel

[aussiebochur]

As reported by Seth, Delta has made another change to their award rules. As of Aug 15, award tickets are non-changeable, non-refundable within 72 hours of travel.

This will apply to all tickets after Aug 15, regardless when they were booked.

Could Skymiles get any less valuable? With last minute availability basically the way to secure Delta awards, this really is a big blow...

[Dan]

Wow, Delta miles truly stink!

[aussiebochur]

Truth is, if you ever decide to go to TLV on a whim, it could work.

But that's a far cry from being a solid program, let alone trying to compete with other programs.

[Flying Fish]

There are 2 sides to every argument. In Delta's view, this will increase award availability by preventing Diamonds and Platinums from  making several bookings for each trip and cancelling the ones that they don't end up using with no penalty. As many posters on FT are openly admitting, this practice is widespread.

[aussiebochur]

There are 2 sides to every argument. In Delta's view, this will increase award availability by preventing Diamonds and Platinums from  making several bookings for each trip and cancelling the ones that they don't end up using with no penalty. As many posters on FT are openly admitting, this practice is widespread.

They blame every change on enhancing the program...

If that was the issue, make a penalty for cancelling, don't take it away.