Any "Latest & Greatest" about Delta?
11-24-2014 | 07:41 AM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 5,816
Likes: 5
From: retired 767(dl)
Call screw scheduling and beg for a trip. If you can find one in open time with a nice long layover near a place you'd like to be, put in a 'yellow slip' (trip request) for that one. My first month on the line, November 1985, based in MIA, the head of crew scheduling gave me a trip with a 24 hour layover in BOS on Thanksgiving, just so I could go to my parents house in NH for T-day! I didn't even ask him for this trip, he saw it come open, he knew I was from NH, and personally called me up to offer it to me! It was a wonderful thing having small bases with crew schedulers you interacted with every day.
The terms; yellow slip, white slip, green slip all came about 30+ years ago, when Delta did everything with a pencil and a piece of paper. If you wanted to pick up a trip, if you were a line holder you used the white piece of paper to request the trip, reserves used the yellow piece of paper, and if you wanted to work 'overtime' you used the green piece of paper. These papers were only 1/3 sheets of a normal page, thus the 'slip' term came to be.
You had to be present, to physically write it out and submit it into a drop box at the crew scheduling desk, or if you were tight with a crew scheduler, you might be able to call him and have him submit it for you...and you'd buy him a bottle of something expensive come Christmas, of course!
BUT...back then, there were very few commuters, because Delta had a lot of small bases, and every base had it's own crew scheduling desk, where you physically signed in, on a piece of paper, for your trip (pre DL Technology and it's computer days, i.e. pre-2008
) so you were always in a place where you could submit your slips, or you called your "Friend" in crew scheduling.
I was 727 engineer on a trip one time when the copilot was complaining about a trip he'd been assigned. The Captain looked at him and said, "Who's your buddy in Crew Scheds?"
The F/O says, "I don't have buddy in crew scheds..."
The Captain said, "There's your problem."
The terms; yellow slip, white slip, green slip all came about 30+ years ago, when Delta did everything with a pencil and a piece of paper. If you wanted to pick up a trip, if you were a line holder you used the white piece of paper to request the trip, reserves used the yellow piece of paper, and if you wanted to work 'overtime' you used the green piece of paper. These papers were only 1/3 sheets of a normal page, thus the 'slip' term came to be.
You had to be present, to physically write it out and submit it into a drop box at the crew scheduling desk, or if you were tight with a crew scheduler, you might be able to call him and have him submit it for you...and you'd buy him a bottle of something expensive come Christmas, of course!
BUT...back then, there were very few commuters, because Delta had a lot of small bases, and every base had it's own crew scheduling desk, where you physically signed in, on a piece of paper, for your trip (pre DL Technology and it's computer days, i.e. pre-2008
) so you were always in a place where you could submit your slips, or you called your "Friend" in crew scheduling.I was 727 engineer on a trip one time when the copilot was complaining about a trip he'd been assigned. The Captain looked at him and said, "Who's your buddy in Crew Scheds?"
The F/O says, "I don't have buddy in crew scheds..."
The Captain said, "There's your problem."
11-24-2014 | 07:47 AM
Doesn't Get Weekends Off
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,599
Likes: 2
To add on to what you said, I've found that the paperwork and planning associated with managing an ever changing HSA account is not worth the time or effort. And I've had a few years where unplanned medical expenses made me wish I'd had the DPMP. It seems with the other plans, I'm always paying more than I expected, for everything, including dental. Yes the premiums are a bite out of your paycheck, but I don't have to give my biometric information to anyone, and I don't have to keep records, receipts, account ledgers or submit expenses to anyone. I just go and they pay. Done. And I sleep better knowing that if anything happens, I can go see whomever I choose, and it's covered.
$528/mo for DPMP vs. $176/mo for the Silver HSA? That is $4200 per year in premiums. I figure that unless you are 100% sure you will have a medical issue that will run you to the $2600 deductible in the Silver HSA, you would be better off taking the risk and going with the HSA. Throw the $4200 a year into your HSA and after a couple years you will have enough to always pay the max out of pocket if something bad does happen.
I just don't see the DPMP being a good option for very many of us. It might be "easier", but I don't see how it can be cheaper unless you know you will spend lots on healthcare.
Someone told me it was a "no brainer" for me with a family to be in the DPMP. Last year we used up $650 from our HRA money which cost us 0$ because that is money Delta puts in. Had we been in the DPMP we would have had had about $400 out of pocket expenses (Deductible + 20% copay after deductible). We also would have paid thousands more in premiums. Every year during open enrollment I go back and look at what my costs would have been the previous 3 years for each plan being offered. I then go with the plan that would have been the cheapest overall. So far in 8 years the DPMP would have cost me tons more than any of the other plans.
11-24-2014 | 07:54 AM
11-24-2014 | 07:57 AM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 5,816
Likes: 5
From: retired 767(dl)
There is the old story about the guy who always bought the cheapest. Lawyers, insurance, and automobiles.. His son got 10 to life for drugs, his wife died of cancer, and not to worry, he got offed in a recalled car.
11-24-2014 | 08:03 AM
Doesn't Get Weekends Off
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,599
Likes: 2
I'll second that. It also seems that the planning tool is not an accurate representation of your medical expenses for the year. I know you can change it, but you would think you wouldn't need to. Everything almost always costs more than I'm expecting. There are a lot of loopholes in our plans.
90% of us won't have what if scenarios that run us to the max out of pocket expenses. For 2015 if you choose the cheapest plan (Bronze HRA) and have a family, the worst case scenario is you will spend $12,900 plus your premiums. If your ENTIRE family was in a massive car accident, that is the most you would pay. If just one of you got very sick (Cancer) or had a major surgery, you would spend $6,400 plus premiums.
11-24-2014 | 08:11 AM
Doesn't Get Weekends Off
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,599
Likes: 2
All of our plans offer us the same "level" of care. We just pay for the care in different ways. You want to pay upfront in premiums and maybe not use it, fine. You want to pay for what you actually use, go with a higher deductible. Last I checked the doctors were the same doctors for every plan.
11-24-2014 | 08:19 AM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 5,816
Likes: 5
From: retired 767(dl)
And It's just a story. If my son gets busted for selling drugs, he should go to prison. Me having and expensive lawyer shouldn't matter. If my wife gets cancer, me having an expensive plan won't cure her cancer.
All of our plans offer us the same "level" of care. We just pay for the care in different ways. You want to pay upfront in premiums and maybe not use it, fine. You want to pay for what you actually use, go with a higher deductible. Last I checked the doctors were the same doctors for every plan.
All of our plans offer us the same "level" of care. We just pay for the care in different ways. You want to pay upfront in premiums and maybe not use it, fine. You want to pay for what you actually use, go with a higher deductible. Last I checked the doctors were the same doctors for every plan.
11-24-2014 | 08:39 AM
Doesn't Get Weekends Off
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 2,599
Likes: 2
The older we get the higher our medical costs get. That would warrant a lower deductible plan. However, the new HSA's may be better for us youngsters. If I max out the HSA for the next 30 years I'll have an awful lot in that account to fund my old age problems.
11-24-2014 | 08:43 AM
Line Holder
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 1,688
Likes: 66
Oh great whisperer of dogs, HOW BOUT THEM COWBOYS🍻👏🙌
11-24-2014 | 08:46 AM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 1,898
Likes: 0
From: Stay THIRSTY, my friends!
$528/mo for DPMP vs. $176/mo for the Silver HSA? That is $4200 per year in premiums. I figure that unless you are 100% sure you will have a medical issue that will run you to the $2600 deductible in the Silver HSA, you would be better off taking the risk and going with the HSA. Throw the $4200 a year into your HSA and after a couple years you will have enough to always pay the max out of pocket if something bad does happen.
I just don't see the DPMP being a good option for very many of us. It might be "easier", but I don't see how it can be cheaper unless you know you will spend lots on healthcare.
Someone told me it was a "no brainer" for me with a family to be in the DPMP. Last year we used up $650 from our HRA money which cost us 0$ because that is money Delta puts in. Had we been in the DPMP we would have had had about $400 out of pocket expenses (Deductible + 20% copay after deductible). We also would have paid thousands more in premiums. Every year during open enrollment I go back and look at what my costs would have been the previous 3 years for each plan being offered. I then go with the plan that would have been the cheapest overall. So far in 8 years the DPMP would have cost me tons more than any of the other plans.
I just don't see the DPMP being a good option for very many of us. It might be "easier", but I don't see how it can be cheaper unless you know you will spend lots on healthcare.
Someone told me it was a "no brainer" for me with a family to be in the DPMP. Last year we used up $650 from our HRA money which cost us 0$ because that is money Delta puts in. Had we been in the DPMP we would have had had about $400 out of pocket expenses (Deductible + 20% copay after deductible). We also would have paid thousands more in premiums. Every year during open enrollment I go back and look at what my costs would have been the previous 3 years for each plan being offered. I then go with the plan that would have been the cheapest overall. So far in 8 years the DPMP would have cost me tons more than any of the other plans.
And hopefully you are the exception to the rule, but if you do ever need serious medical care, you'll find from experience that quality varies widely. With DPMP, I can go to Sloan-Kettering, The Mayo Clinic, or anyplace and see anyone I like without going 'out of network', and paying through the nose to have my life saved. And DL can't change the plan, because it's contractual. The others are not, and can be changed anytime for whatever reason.
One other thing. If you have a wife on the plan, you'll be amazed at the cost of women's health care. Guys are like Chevy's, for the most part. Just put gas and oil in it, wash it now and then. Women, well, think 1978 Ferrari. Sure, it looked great when it was new, and boy was it fast. But keeping it running and looking like a well-cared-for classic is a freaking financial black hole. It just keeps getting more expensive, and parts, well... don't get me started!!
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