nas6034

I've searched through the threads and couldn't find anything solid on how to find the automatic Y-UP fares or in the alternative to see any "Y" fares available for upgrade from my T/K fares. I do not have access to expertflyer.

I go on dl and search for cabin flexible seats and I get "A" or "D" class seats but not the automatic Y-fare seats. I then search by fare class Y or higher and get the same "A" or "D". The flights I am flying on only have business cabin(no F). Am I doing something wrong in searching for these flights? I did this for different dates, same results.

AndyTLe

"A" is usually a Y-UP fare. When I say Y-UP, I mean a coach ticket upgraded to F. The fare basis may may not be Y, but another lower coach fare class (B, M, H, Q)

nas6034

But isn't Y-fares the ones that are automatically upgraded upon checkout whereas the B,M,H,Q fares you have to wait the normal clearing time?
Also if A fares are first, what is the equivalent for business class fares? It doesn't seem like D-fares are "Y-UP" fares. Does that mean there is no upgrade availability?

JFK-LAS feb18 830pm
LAS-JFK feb21 11pm

18sas

It's completely possible that the A/D fares are lower than the Y fares, so when you search "Y or higher" it's going to show you A/D.

3Cforme

LAS-JFK and return, if showing Business, are flight number extensions of international routes with Businss Elite cabins. The lowest fare eligible for immediate confirmation to THE front cabin (Delta has no 3-class aircraft) will be found by selecting First/Business in the cabin drop-down box, whether A, D, -UP, etc.

rylan

Yup, select First/Business in the pull down list then search for your flight.
x-UP will appear as A or D fares for domestic first/business. You can verify what the fare class it by selecting the flights and when you get the page that shows your trip summary before clicking on review and purchase, click on the 'View change & cancellation policies"

For example, on your flights there are M-UP fares available that book into A.

nas6034

Thanks!
So as a sample, I chose tomorrow, Sunday nights 1115pm flight from LAS to JFK and chose business class "D" and then on the next page chose fare rules and it said "Fare Code - YA00UPNQ"
Another fare rule says "Fare Code - MA07UPNP"

Does that mean its a "Y" and "M" fare automatically upgraded?

If it said "J" or something to that effect in the fare rules it means there is no upgrades available, right?

18sas

Not exactly. Here's my understanding of the situation:

The -UP fares aren't like normal upgrades. For all intents and purposes on Delta, they are discounted First Class fares and not upgraded Coach fares.* When you book an -UP fare, you book directly into A class and not into X or V, which are the upgrade classes.

Anyone who purchases an -UP fare will be booked straight into First Class, not just Medallions.

The "automatic" Y fare upgrade only applies to Medallions and is subject to availability in the X or V bucket. Immediately or as soon as seats are available in X or V, a Y fare will automatically upgrade to X/V. A -UP fare doesn't depend on X/V availability.

*Special note here because DL considered -UP fares to be First Class booking cabin and awarded miles accordingly. NW considered -UP fares to be coach fares and awarded miles accordingly. So, if you had purchased an HUP on DL, then you got 150% credit. If you purchased HUP on NW, you only received 100% credit. Now that we're using NWs WorldPerks system, we're only getting 100% credit for HUP, but I believe that you can request a manual credit to get the full 150%. There have been several threads about this.

jimrpa

ABSOLUTELY WRONG!!!!! An "A" fare is a discounted FIRST CLASS fare. It has nothing to do with a coach ticket.

I make this distinction because there have been occasions in the past, where people have purchased First Class or BusinessElite tickets, only to be told (incorrectly) during irregular operations, that the could only be reaccomodated in coach, since they were on "coach" tickets.

nas6034

Thanks. For all intents and purposes I just wanted to see if there was availability for me to be upgraded from my T and K fares to business.

frankc98376

Deleted

bwhite

Not so sure about this. My A fare to HNL actually states Y-UP on the receipt. There are many threads and even more opinions on A fares.

IME during IROPS an A fare is not a paid F fare, you get coach treatment and your standby status on your next flight will be behind all other elites for BF UGs - a sore point for me when buying my way into the F cabin using A fares.

MSPeconomist

How can you be behind all elites for an upgrade at the gate? It's a Y fare and with your elite status, you should be near the top of the list (i.e., beat all B and lower fares except possibly for EP to March 1 and beat all Y fares except possibly for PM/DR now and DM/DR after March 1) even if they don't consider it to be a true first class ticket.

Even if this would be considered a true FC fare, I would expect it to behind the higher FC fares, so do I understand right that the concern is basically whether Y-UP and Y are lumped together versus Y-UP having higher priority than Y?

Remember, if Y-UP (which is available to anyone, even those who aren't in the FF program) is treated as first, this would seem to disadvantage elites by potentially moving some non-elites and even non-SM-members ahead of us. If it's treated as a coach fare, then in IROPs, any such non-elite with an A booking would be back in coach.

18sas

I do realize that there dozens of threads about this. but this isn't my experience at all. I have flown plenty of YUP/KUP/HUP fares, and I've never been treated as an upgraded coach pax. I've SDCed straight into First on -UP fares before, no problem. That doesn't happen if you book into coach, even if you had a confirmed upgrade beforehand.

motytrah

"A" is a first class according to re-booking provisions of the DL CoC. The only indication a PAX would have at time of purchase is the title of the Fare rule. Which isn't really bound to any provision of the CoC. You might be able to figure it out after the purchase from the receipt. Depending on what channel you purchased the tickets from you may not see the actual receipt until after the 24hr refund period.

It seems like a pretty clear violation of Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices rules from the DOT. I'd like to see someone nail DL on it next time it comes up.