dabears1020

If I just go look at the flight as if I wanted to buy a seat on it via delta.com the plane is half empty. There are plenty of seats to be had. There is no message or anything when I try to access it via my reservation, it just plain wont load.

golfingboy

I love CO's upgrade list and it is VERY transparent... DL's upgrade list is a total mess and it always gives me the wrong flights like my recent trip to MKE... I clicked on TO ATLANTA and it showed me ATL-MKE

I thought DL tends to block a good # of seats for airport assignment?? So it is possible that the flight is not oversold, but the seats that DL allows customers to book in advance are occupied...

dabears1020

The flight is not oversold. There are 79 open and selectable seats for it. I can go on alaskaair.com and move my seat around to one of about 50 different non-preferred seats.

golfingboy

Oh, did not read that part That is what happens when you are on a FT hiatus and fall wayyy behind in the forums

And you actually counted the # of open seats? LOL

dabears1020

There were lots of full rows of 3 open, so it made it quick.

seacarl

I agree that seeing where you are on the CO list is extremely beneficial, during the last 24 hours before the flight, although there is no way to see the list or see that you are in the queue for the EUA (elite upgrade automation) during the 5 days prior when upgrades are also processed - so it would be an even better feature if you could view were you are on the list as part of the reservation, not just during the last 24 hours.

I have noticed that most CO elites seem to religiously check in during the first few minutes after OLCI opens. Within the first hour of check-in, the upgrade list grows to about 80% of what it will be at the end, so clearly CO elites believe there is value to the check-in time.

However, I am less than convinced about the total transparency. Last month I was IRROP'ed over from a UA flight to a CO flight and booked into full Y. About 90 minutes before flight time, the flight was booked to 18/20 and 16 checked in. I was #2 on the list (as UA 1K with Y). 60 minutes before flight it was still booked 18/20 and 17 checked in and I was still #2 on the list. 45 minutes before flight it was 18/20 and 18 checked in and I was #2 on the list. 30 minutes before the flight it became 20/20 and I was #1 on the list (and did not get an upgrade), and when I looked at who got the upgrades, one of the names who had been below me on the list at around #5 got the upgrade (which I verified since he was listed in one of the previously unoccupied seats) - so he either knew someone, or gamed the system, or paid for it. I was never offered to pay for it. It didn't feel as transparent as expected by me.

I haven't invested enough time in the CO forum to understand if there are ways to game the system. I suspect it happened at GA discretion. If that happens, then the system is not transparent.

seacarl

Is there a definitive answer as to how DL prioritizes the upgrade list? Where does MVP Gold fit between Silver, Gold, Plat, Diamond Medallion, and how does fare type interact (E.g. do all Diamonds get UG first, ranked by fare, then Platinum, or do all Y get first, ranked by status?)

golfingboy

Definitely a Y/B/M-up... Also check-in time serves as the tiebreaker if fare class and elite status are equal.

You were on "Y" which is an instant upgradeable fare, so did you go to your reservation online and upgrade your reservation? My understanding is that Y books directly into any open F seat, so you should have been upgraded if you talked with a CO agent before F filled up

I agree that the EUA process itself is not transparent, but the upgrade list is transparent and 98% of the time if someone jumps the list that person suckered into paying for it or used miles to upgrade.

GBadger

As far as I know:

- SWU: (at the gate only, not sure of pecking order here)
- Full Y: DM, PM, GM, FO/MVPG/MVP/STE+
- DM: B,M,H,Q,K,L,U,T,Award (priority within fare class given to DL AMEX Reserve holders)
- PM: B,M,H,Q,K,L,U,T,Award (priority within fare class given to DL AMEX Reserve holders)
- GM: B,M,H,Q,K,L,U,T,Award (priority within fare class given to DL AMEX Reserve holders)
- FO/ASMVP/STE+: B,M,H,Q,K,L,U,T (priority within fare class given to DL AMEX Reserve holders)

GBadger

This is a good site for checking which seats are truly open.

hgdf

So an ASMVP would trump an FO on a lower fare class? I've heard various people at AS claim that this is the case, yet I'm still skeptical.

czpdx

IME this is the case - I flew a less than 7-day fare PDX-SLC last week and started at something like 2 of 3 on the list at 24 hours and ended up at 11 of 18 at the gate, so, unless there were a ton of AS people behind me (unlikely), it was my fare class that kept me higher on the list (albeit far from an upgrade). My return flight the next day, on a 7+ day fare had me way at the bottom of the list (12 of 12 or something).

dabears1020

I think that just shows the same data as delta.com.

3Cforme

I think one would struggle to find empirical evidence around that. On some routes and flight times, low fare class Silvers are so far out of the running that a few AS flyers won't make a difference.

(Gold Medallions on Delta can do 50% or better in upgrade success.)

jackal

Excellent concise summary. I wish I could bookmark single posts! This deserves to go in our FAQ, should we ever get around to creating one... ^