How to book "-UP" fares with Delta?
 

I know there have been numerous questions asked on this topic, but even after reviewing them, I am stumped.

On a previous trip to LGA, I unknowingly booked a "-UP" fare through my corporate travel tool. I booked it as an economy ticket (Q), and after booking, the itinerary said something about being eligible for a free upgrade to first (which I called Delta and obtained).

My question is this: how do I see if these are available for a certain route/time? Being only a Silver, this gives me a huge advantage since I rarely get upgraded on DTW-LGA.

Thanks in advance!

Whenever I have booked "up" fares, I have used the "select fare class" feature from the advanced booking page. I pick the day and route I want and then select a Q fare. After running the search, I look for any first class options (even through I specified coach, you see) because these would be Q-ups. If I don't see any (be sure to scroll all the way down), I will rerun the search but use an H-fare and so on.

I usually just search for something like A class or higher, although IME asking for W or S works equally well. What does not work is searching for an A or P fare when some segments are on RJs without FC.

Search by "P" fare but as MSPeconomist mentioned, it doesn't always work when no FC is offered. In cases like that, I call DL and get them to book.

It's better to search by A since that can be cheaper. Some markets have A fares and some seem to only offer P fares.

How soon before departure did you book this flight. Was it within your upgrade window as FO?

I booked it nearly a month in advance. The statement appeared immediately at booking.

I successfully book these fares DCA>FLL on occasion. I believe these are offered in markets where DL needs to compete with low budget carriers (Jet Blue, Spirit, Airtran) that also offer a "premium" product. I have NEVER booked one via delta.dumb (com). I find the easiest way is to figure out if the fares are in the system (KVS or expert flyer) and then call the elite line and find someone that knows how to book them--this can be a challenge. Many agents don't even know what a Q-up is. I flew on one of these fares last weekend and actual inventory was A and I, so discounted first/business. I don't think searching for P or J inventory will help--I think you need both Q and A or I to be available at the time of booking, and of course the fare must be valid for the time and place you want to travel.

Is there a price difference between Q/H and their respective "-up" fares? I often find myself booked in Q or H fares, but have never been upgraded in advance.

If you SDC from a Q fare to another flight, can that put you in a Q-up fare or are they totally separate fare classes?

Yes, there is normally a price difference between the xUP version and the corresponding Economy Fare:

[KVS Availability Tool 6.9.5/Diamond - Sabre: Fares/DotRes/US]
An SDC will have no effect on the underlying Fare.

Q is usually cheaper than H, but as you see below, there is some intermingling. I copied the fares for DCA>FLL for 3/13/12. Also, forgot to mention that I find a lot of OW Q-ups. This means you will likely need to book return trips separately as a booking engine will not choose a OW fare as part of a RT itin., although I guess it could... I found a plain T fare for the outbound for $69, and paid $237 for the return, but it was a Q-up, so was booked directly into first (two phone agents before someone knew how to do it).

TA07B3SN DL T One-Way 69.00(USD) E 02/21/12
03/21/12
07

TA07Q3SN DL T One-Way 69.00(USD) E 02/21/12
03/21/12
07

TA07R2SN DL T One-Way 69.00(USD) E 02/03/12
09/30/12
07

TA07R2SN DL T One-Way 69.00(USD) E 02/21/12
03/21/12
07

UA10R2SG DL U One-Way 74.00(USD) E 02/08/12
06/06/12
10

UA21A0NP DL U One-Way 75.00(USD) E 21

UA07A0QH DL U One-Way 79.00(USD) E 07

UA07A0SN DL U One-Way 79.00(USD) E 03/07/12
03/22/12
07

UA21A0QH DL U One-Way 79.00(USD) E 21

UA07A0SN DL U One-Way 81.00(USD) E 02/21/12
03/21/12
07

UA07A0SN DL U One-Way 81.00(USD) E 02/03/12
09/30/12
07

UA07Q3SN DL U One-Way 81.00(USD) E 02/03/12
09/30/12
07

UA14A0NP DL U One-Way 85.00(USD) E 14

LA07A0NP DL L One-Way 95.00(USD) E 07

LA07A0UP DL One-Way 110.00(USD) B 07

KA07A0VP DL K One-Way 130.00(USD) E 07

KA00A0QH DL K One-Way 134.00(USD) E

KA03A0NP DL K One-Way 151.00(USD) E 03

QA0NHI DL Q One-Way 167.00(USD) E

QA00A0SN DL Q One-Way 169.00(USD) E 02/03/12
09/30/12


QA10A0SA DL Q One-Way 171.00(USD) E 02/17/12
06/06/12
10

QA00A0NP DL Q One-Way 177.00(USD) E

QA00A0UP DL One-Way 207.00(USD) B

HA00A0VP DL H One-Way 237.00(USD) E

QA00A0SN DL Q One-Way 248.00(USD) E 02/03/12
09/30/12


QA10A0SA DL Q One-Way 250.00(USD) E 02/17/12
06/06/12
10

QA00A0NP DL Q One-Way 256.00(USD) E

HA00A0OP DL H One-Way 277.00(USD) E

QA00A0UP DL One-Way 286.00(USD) B

HA00A0VP DL H One-Way 306.00(USD) E

MA00A0UP DL One-Way 327.00(USD) B

HA00A0OP DL H One-Way 346.00(USD) E

MA07UPNQ DL One-Way 371.00(USD) B 07

MA00A0UP DL One-Way 386.00(USD) B

BA00A0VP DL B One-Way 390.00(USD) E

BA00A0VP DL B One-Way 449.00(USD) E

BA00A0UP DL One-Way 518.00(USD) B

BA00A0UP DL One-Way 577.00(USD) B

Y0 DL Y One-Way 792.00(USD) E

YUP DL One-Way 832.00(USD) B

F0 DL F One-Way 912.00(USD) F

Y DL Y One-Way 1194.00(USD) E

C DL C One-Way 1397.00(USD) B

F DL F One-Way 1703.00(USD) F

Sorry, KVS beat me to it, but same answer--and their post is prettier!

Since you asked, I did SDC my return and was totally shocked when the SC agent was able to do it. I was booked FLL>ATL>DCA. Friend was flying PBI>DTW>DCA and I was going to arrive at DCA an hour before he was. So I asked if it was possible to SDC to connect in DTW and fly the last segment together. FLL>DTW was showing F1Y0 at the time, so I expected it was "not possible" (to quote the Dutch). She fiddled for a minute and said, is 3C ok to DTW? So, yes it can be done. I was previously under the impression (there are many q- and y- up threads) that during irrops and SDC, Q-ups were extremely vulnerable to loosing the "up" and getting kicked to the back. As for changing from one Q fare to another Q fare, this could only occur if you paid a change fee and bought up. When you SDC, the IT is now good enough to make sure your final PNR reflects class of service PAID, and FLOWN. EQMs are based on paid fare class. The days of getting credit for Y (150%) every time there are irrops seem to be gone...

Why not just search for one-way F fares? When I do this for itineraries that include a segment with an RJ without FC, I sometimes see the H-UP/Q-UP options in the search results (with the segment having a FC segment booking into D/I).

Is there some advantage to instead searching by fare class with H/Q selected and then looking for any results that book into the FC buckets? Is this cheaper than A/P fares?

I'm not a self-proclaimed expert on snagging Q-ups, but I can rarely (never?) find them on dl.com. I have found that if you search by cabin class, you typically get "real" FC fares booking into F/P/A, and these are higher than Q fares. It is difficult to figure out because on the booking page it will show A, but you have to actually go to the "rules" link to see the true fare basis, which might then show as Q or H (how many people actually click on that little blue rules link on the page just before purchase?). If you don't do that, you could easily go all the way thru the purchase and never know you actually had a Q-up, not a F/P/A--except the price would obviously be a lot lower. The first time I booked one, I didn't even know I had a Q-up, and I was surprised when I didn't get the 50% bonus for paid FC. I wrote DL and they politely explained that I didn't pay for a FC fare... Who knew?

I have succeded in finding them when searching by cabin on the O, but not dl.com. The last two times I actually ticketed, I had to call, give the phone agent the full fare basis and ticket designator (discovered on ITA), and even then it was not easy. Perhaps someone else here can elaborate.

not trying to hijack- But I am going JFK>SFo and back next week- and i really want to get into BE.

BC of corporate rules I have to book a coach ticket....and I need to keep it under 1k which means no Y fare,

There are currently only 2 seats taken in first- How can I try to book an 'up' fare? I am a GM if that matters. On this route- unless i can book up unto first- i never get it at the gate.

I Definetly wont have status next year as my travel will halt- and I really want to get at BE transcon at least once....(without buying the F ticket)