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May 6, 2013, 10:03 am
#1
Adelphos
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Join Date: May 2011
Location: NYC (LGA, JFK), CT
Programs: Delta Platinum, American Gold, JetBlue Mosaic 4, Marriott Platinum, Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Diamond,
Posts: 4,880
How many Medallion members are there in each tier?
The thread about Silver Medallions being nothing got me thinking...
Has Delta published how many Medallion mmebers there are in the program at each level?
A lot people talk about an abundance of silvers, but given how little most customers fly and the fact that many people fly without any frequent flier number, the numbers can't be that high, right?
Also, what level of flying should qualify someone for getting perks (from both a business standpoint and your opinion)? I fly roughly 30K miles domestically with occasional international travel. I though this was a lot of flying, but compared to a lot of the Flyertalk members here, it's peanuts. What percentile of flyer am I? Top 50%? Top 25%?
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May 6, 2013, 10:14 am
#2
indufan
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Location: IND
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Originally Posted by Adelphos
Has Delta published how many Medallion mmebers there are in the program at each level?
No, and they aren't going to.
May 6, 2013, 10:15 am
#3
misterbean
Join Date: Dec 2012
Posts: 1,117
DL will never tell us this info..
My guess is you're top 20-25%.
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May 6, 2013, 10:23 am
#4
MSPeconomist
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
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Originally Posted by misterbean
DL will never tell us this info..
My guess is you're top 20-25%.
I'd guess a higher percentile than than, certainly top 5%, maybe top 2% of those with DL FF accounts, which is very different than being in the top X% on average of those flying on some flight. There are lots and lots of inactive accounts in any FF program.
When DM first started, there were some threads giving numerical data that we had been told at that time, such as 30,000-40,000 Charter DMs when the program opened on March 1 (of 2011?) There may have also been some rough numbers mentioned at the DL
ATL DO.
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May 6, 2013, 10:41 am
#5
HongKonger
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There is info about this in a thread somewhere but IIRC the thread was not originally about this and the topic drifted.
There are about 40K diamonds representing roughly the top 0.05% of MQM earnings in the qualifying year among all SM accounts, of which there are roughly 80 million. There are a couple million medallions, representing about the top 2.5% of MQM earnings in the qualifying year among all SM accounts. The vast majority, roughly 80% of medallions (or about 2% of all accounts) are silvers. About 12% of medallions (or about 0.3% of all accounts) are golds. About 6% of medallions (or about 0.15% of all accounts) are platinums, and as noted about 2% of medallions (or about 0.05% of all accounts) are diamonds.
These are rough numbers, and DL will not reveal anything exact as it is valuable proprietary information.
Of course some people move up or down levels from year to year but the percentages stay roughly the same.
As to OP's question about what level should qualify you for perks from either DL's standpoint or the customer's, that is an age-old debate on FT and you will hear a wide range of opinions. But I can tell you that no loyalty program is about rewarding past purchases, it's about driving future purchases, so DL is going to adjust the type and extent of perks to do so as successfully as they can.
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May 6, 2013, 10:49 am
#6
Adelphos
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2011
Location: NYC (LGA, JFK), CT
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Posts: 4,880
Originally Posted by HongKonger
There is info about this in a thread somewhere but IIRC the thread was not originally about this and the topic drifted.
There are about 40K diamonds representing roughly the top 0.05% of MQM earnings in the qualifying year among all SM accounts, of which there are roughly 80 million. There are a couple million medallions, representing about the top 2.5% of MQM earnings in the qualifying year among all SM accounts. The vast majority, roughly 80% of medallions (or about 2% of all accounts) are silvers. About 12% of medallions (or about 0.3% of all accounts) are golds. About 6% of medallions (or about 0.15% of all accounts) are platinums, and as noted about 2% of medallions (or about 0.05% of all accounts) are diamonds.
These are rough numbers, and DL will not reveal anything exact as it is valuable proprietary information.
Of course some people move up or down levels from year to year but the percentages stay roughly the same.
As to OP's question about what level should qualify you for perks from either DL's standpoint or the customer's, that is an age-old debate on FT and you will hear a wide range of opinions. But I can tell you that no loyalty program is about rewarding past purchases, it's about driving future purchases, so DL is going to adjust the type and extent of perks to do so as successfully as they can.
Based on this data, I can see how expanding benefits like priority security and priority boarding (my two biggest wishes for FO) would be a significant expansion relative to the number of medallions currently receiving them. What I am less clear about is what the impact of such a move would be relative to all customers on Delta or in an airport in general. I've seen priority security lines empty while the normal security line is extremely long. In that case, giving silvers access wouldn't seem to be that big of a deal and could make lines shorter for everyone. Clearly in elite heavy boarding times, airports, terminals, etc, this may not work as well though...
Last edited by Adelphos; May 6, 2013 at 10:58 am
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May 6, 2013, 10:55 am
#7
HongKonger
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: HKG
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Posts: 7,982
Originally Posted by Adelphos
Based on this data, I can see how expanding benefits like priority security and priority boarding (my two biggest wish lishes for FO) would be a significant expansion relative to the number of medallions currently receiving them. What I am less clear about is what the impact of such a move would be relative to all customers on Delta or in an airport in general. I've seen priority security lines empty while the normal security line is extremely long. In that case, giving silvers access wouldn't seem to be that big of a deal and could make lines shorter for everyone. Clearly in elite heavy boarding times, airports, terminals, etc, this may not work as well though...
Yes, there have also been many observations on here about times when the priority check-in or security lines have been longer than the non-priority lines.
Just as with the question "do FOs really get upgraded?" the answer depends heavily on routes and times.
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May 6, 2013, 11:02 am
#8
GRALISTAIR
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: CHA, MAN;
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Originally Posted by HongKonger
Yes, there have also been many observations on here about times when the priority check-in or security lines have been longer than the non-priority lines.
Just as with the question "do FOs really get upgraded?" the answer depends heavily on routes and times.
Exactly - so for example IND monday morning IND-ATL or MSP/DTW expect half the plane to be medallions. ATL-SEA Monday morning and return Friday afternoon - minimum 30% of the plane will be medallions.
Saturday morning SLC- LWS or SLC - Missoula MT - you could be (as I have been) the only medallion on board!
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