golfingboy

Yeah, I am not really expecting an upgrade on the ATL-LAX segment, but it would really suck if they are selling upgrades when I arrive at the gate.

Correct, however, 75K and MVPG companion will upgrade with the elite when the elite upgrades.

Word is 10/1, but I am already too disappointed to really care anymore. And many DL agents have treated me ruthlessly in the past when politely asking whether an upgrade is possible or not. Most of my flying is out of LAX/JFK/ATL...

It sounds like AS elites will upgrade at the same time as FOs, not before or after the FOs. We will find out when the time comes.

Agreed, the airlines should protect their own key customers. CO golds got screwed [more than FOs in this arrangement IMO] with the new UA/CO arrangement where UA GS/1K will get upgraded ahead of them on CO, while on UA, 1Ps get upgraded ahead of CO Plats.

Right... However, with the new rollover program and AMEX MQMs it is probably easier/cheaper to attain DL PM/DM flying solely on DL than 75K flying solely on AS OR 90K flying on AS/Partners. By next year, there will be almost as many DMs as AS MVPG75K AND MVPG combined.

GBadger

Having the same window and upgrading at the same priority are very different things... Would that mean that DL elites will upgrade "with" AS MVPs? Does that mean that a DL FO on a higher fare than an AS MVP get the upgrade (the reciprocal of an AS MVP on a higher fare getting the upgrade ahead of an FO).

I'm assuming the upgrade order would look something like...

On Delta:
DM Y
PM Y
GM Y
FO Y
DM B->T, Award
PM B->T, Award
GM B->T, Award
FO B->T
(very hazy here)
DM companions
PM companions
GM companions
(end hazy)
AS MVPG75 B->T
AS MVPG B->T
AS MVP B->T

on AS:
MVPG75+companion
MVPG+companion
MVP
DM
PM
GM
FO


I'm not sure where DL companions fall into the mix on DL flights. I would hope before AS elites, since they're still able to upgrade their companions ahead of DL medallions.

golfingboy

For AS it is [if U available]:

on AS:
MVPG75K+companion on H+ fare INSTANT
MVPG+companion on H+ fare INSTANT
MVP on Y/YAS fare INSTANT
MVPG75K+companion 5 Days
MVPG+companion 3 Days
MVP 2 Days
DM 24 Hours
PM 24 Hours
GM 24 Hours

DL companions will get the upgrade after AS elites. AS elites will upgrade at T-24 with DL FOs [I am not sure if the system will process FOs first before processing AS elites, but it sounds like it is too complicated and DL is going to process AS elites with the FOs, but I am not clear on this, so we should wait until it has been announced]. For DL I believe it is going to be:

On Delta:
DM Y INSTANT
PM Y INSTANT
GM Y INSTANT
FO Y INSTANT
DM B->T 5 Days
DM Award 5 Days
PM B->T 5 Days
PM Award 5 Days
GM B->T 3 Days
GM Award 3 Days
FO B->T 24 Hours
AS MVPG75K B->T 24 Hours
AS MVPG B->T 24 Hours
AS MVP B->T 24 Hours
DM companions 24 Hours
PM companions 24 Hours
GM companions 24 Hours
SM companions 24 Hours

I am also unclear on whether AS elites on full fare will get immediate upgrade when flying on Delta and the same for DL elites when flying on AS. Remember, on west coast flights, upgrades for Delta Medallions on AS will be easier than AS elites on DL. The total number of AS elites is easily less than DL DM/PM combined and only Golds or higher can upgrade a companion, HOWEVER, if there is only one U seat left we will get skipped and that is not the case on DL. Also, AS does not allow upgrades on award tickets either.

Anyhow, while I was an MVP and MVPG on Alaska I have only missed at scoring an upgrade twice in the last two years. It is not that hard and you will never see ridiculously long upgrade lists on AS [20-30 is the longest I have ever seen or heard of compared to 80+ on DL].

I can tell you for sure, there is going to be far less competition for upgrade space on AS for DL elites. The reason transcons on AS is a hard to score an upgrade is because AS does a REALLY good job of selling F seats and once in a blue moon an MVPG or two will get upgraded on those routes at 72 hours out. Most of us use our gold certs to snag an upgrade the minute some U space opens up.

Nothing has been announced yet and all of this is based on off the record communications and discussions.

GBadger

While this may be true, I'm still not convinced that it's going to be easy. Of the AS flights that I've been on recently (in the last year or two), every one had disappointed MVPs that didn't get upgraded.
These flights include:
SFO-LAX
OAK-SEA
SEA-OAK
SEA-SFO
SFO-SEA
ORD-SEA
LAX-SEA

If this is true, then I hope that DL has some system in place where DMs/PMs/GMs and FOs who have companions in their itineraries don't lose a shot at upgrades to AS elites...

cfischer

With the current promo of 2x miles for DL/AS tickets this could be really good. Hopefully we'll soon get some official confirmation.

http://www.delta.com/pet/alaskaoffer0810/pet/main

RobOnLI

While it will be great to have AS upgrade reciprocity back again, I'm really hoping it's more fair than the old NW/AS system. Back then, NW automatically processed upgrades for AS elites at the Silver window. NW elites got manually processed by AS at the gate and we were put on the upgrade list below all others including those willing to pay for the upgrade. I confirmed this on every AS flight I took.

The old AS certs that we used to get at NW prior to 2008 were better but even then they were only good at the 24 hour mark and finding "U" space was a pain.

-RM

bocastephen

Just a point of order - CO Plats will always be upgraded ahead of a UA 1K/GS on CO metal until the airlines and FFPs are fully merged. Only CO Presidential Platinums (CO equivalent of 1K) will upgrade ahead of CO Plats.

CO Plats got screwed when flying on UA metal, but who in the world would want to fly United anyway.

If AS Elites can get upgraded at the same time as DL Silvers (how would they sort out a DL Silver vs AS Elite booked in the same class, ticketed on the same day?), why would someone maintain DL status when they can move to AS and get better upgrade priority on AS, Silver upgrade priority on Delta, AND earn miles when flying AA.

golfingboy

What I meant by CO Golds getting screwed was the fact that UA GS/1K members will get upgraded ahead of Golds when flying on CO. CO did not protect their "turf" like what UA did for 1Ps...

rylan

Will be interesting with my upcoming itinerary in a couple weeks... flying on a multistop intl itinerary and using SWUs to upgrade to biz, but have a connecting flight on AS that is in Y. Wonder where they'll put me on the list, if at all.

dollerman73

I would be happy if I could just get my AS mileage to post to my SM account. It's the small things, I know.

beckoa

Agreed... this was a pain in the rear for AS elites on NW ... calling @ T-24 looking for "R" space... passing codes over the phone etc...

bocastephen

Duh, sorry I misread - I thought you said Plats, not Golds. I agree the 1P thing is a pain and unfair - Golds and especially Silvers have been getting the shaft this past year on multiple carriers, although no one has shoveled s*** in the face of Silver members like Delta recently.

Meteorologist

You're a lucky man. I was #6/40 of just the MVPGs on my 7 AM GEG-SEA flight a couple months ago. Since AS started tweaking a year or two ago and made almost all the flights QX, the elites flood onto the few AS flights left. That said, the upgrades I miss the most regularly are SEA-ORD, and I've never once gotten SEA-DCA. By far the easiest upgrades from what I've seen to this point are SEA-LAX.

rylan

Well its Sept 1, and the alaska segments in my itineraries still show "Not Eligible" for upgrade. So much for this month.

pokeable

How does AS treat folks of different eliteness on the same itin?

I'm going to be GM for our next AS flight over X-mas, my wife will be SM. If we want to shoot for an upgrade (doubtful, DCA-LAX) do we have to split up the reservation a la DL?

thnxs