In last month’s Opening Remarks, Randy said the recent change by Delta SkyMiles to no longer offer full mileage earning on “unpublished fares” seems to be “… just another sign of creep in these programs.” And View from the Wing blogger Gary Leff reported recently, “And so it begins with Delta: Some online travel agency bookings not earning full mileage.”

Delta has made it clear that any fare available at Delta.com is a “published” fare and the mileage counts as before for at least 100 percent of the miles flown. But SkyMiles members are starting to report that Travelocity bookings are not a 100 percent of the miles flown. And to add to the frustration for SkyMiles members, it’s difficult for them to tell if a fare is “published” or “unpublished”.

Leff said, “But it seems pretty clear that at least some online travel agency tickets are being treated as consolidator fares by Delta, which per the new September rules are no longer going to earn full mileage.”

Bottom line: As Leff points out, Delta has not decided to go the route that Frontier recently did, of not allowing third-party bookings to earn 100 percent of miles, but the latest move by Delta of not allowing unpublished fares to earn full mileage is certainly a sign of the “creep” that Randy sees. And the non-transparency is making some SkyMiles members very nervous about the future of the program.