MAMOHT

Hello

Yesterday, I decided to catch an earlier flight home and called DL and was put on the standby list. Later on I was cleared for that flight and that happened about 55 min prior to the scheduled departure time. The UG list was not processed at the time and there were seats available in F. As I assumed at that point, I was confirmed on the flight and I asked the GA why my name did not appear on the UG list. The agent told me the all know rule that standby list is not UG eligible. I called DL again and the phone agent agreed with my logic and placed my on the UG list. The GA though flat out refused to activate me on the list. That was a red coat too. So, the question now, is there a written policy on this somewhere? Preferably on DL web site.

rylan

Good question, and unfortunately I doubt you'll find a written policy anyplace. Anyway, I think the GA and redcoat were flat out wrong. Standby itself isn't UG eligible since you aren't confirmed on the flight... however once you have a confirmed seat you should be able to request an upgrade... the catch is that normally the standby list isn't cleared until after medallion upgrades are processed which effectively would take standbys out of the running.

Now, there may be some other policy about is a cutoff time before departure to request being put on the upgrade list. Not sure on that one either, since I've done SDC 45 min before departure, got on the upgrade list, and the upgrade cleared.

MR_MAMA

When you are put on the standby list you are not upgrade elgible until after you have been confirmed with a seat in Y. As you can not be upgraded until you are actually confirmed on the flight.

In many cases, standby list is run after the UG list (doesn't seem so in this case) which is why those that are on Standby don't clear in to F as it is full by then.

As a DM, why didn't you SDC instead of go standby, this would have probably cleared you faster

dcline414

This is probably not often an option on nearly full flights thanks to FCM.

As an ATL-based GM I never get upgrades, but often cannot SDC thanks to FCM leaving F9+ Y0 until minutes before departure on every flight I've been on lately. All you can do then is standby and wait for upgrades to clear.

MSPeconomist

Huh? Why does FCM cause F9 Y0? It should be the opposite with FCM leading to F1 before the DM window opens.

dcline414

No, one of the effects of FCM is that if coach is nearly sold out, upgrade inventory will be zeroed out so that no upgrades clear before the gate. I presume this is so that anyone who REALLY wants to be on this flight is forced to pay for an FC ticket. So on business-heavy routes, where many of the pax cannot buy paid F/A/P fares when cheaper options are available, coach will often be oversold until upgrades are processed at the gate.

In this case SDC is useless, as they will not allow you to confirm on a flight that is oversold in coach (unless the DM line makes an exception, but as a lowly GM I wouldn't know about that!)

kss5555

The simple answer is, you should have been properly placed on the upgrade list in whatever position your status and fare level put you at. This should happen even if you clear after the upgrade list has been cleared to put you in a coach seat, you should then appear on the UG list. The fact that you cleared 50+ minutes before the flight means you should have been on the list. I would email Delta, explain the situation, give them the PNR and/or ticket number along with the date of flight and the to/from, my guess they will give you some SkyPesos.

dcline414

Maybe miles will be awarded, but the red coats in ATL have been processing upgrades one at a time lately, and only after paid FC has boarded (between PREM and SKY).

You can literally watch on the Fly Delta App as they clear seats one at a time and immediately assign a standby to the vacated Y seat.

Not sure this is what happened in the OP's situation, but definitely sure that elite standbys get screwed out of an upgrade in this situation, as I've seen it happen first hand.

MSPeconomist

If they clear standby passengers one at a time, then the first standby goes onto the upgrade list as soon as cleared onto the flight and that person should be eligible for any FC upgrades that have not yet been processed yet. However, if they first process all the upgrades so that no FC seats are left before they clear the first standby, then the standby does not get an upgrade unless there is a very late upgrade caused by a no show FC passenger. In that case, if the former standby has already boarded, then he/she has officially forfeited the chance of an upgrade.

I've seen GAs take the attitude that getting onto the flight as a standby is already a favor, so that you don't get the further favor of an upgrade.

MAMOHT

Well, those were all the arguments that I gave to the GA's. "My logic is undeniable ..." © Not for those GA's though. I just wanted to see some kind of policy somewhere so, next time this happens I would be able to show that to the GA.

mnredfox

Hmmm, not sure what official DL policy is but doesn't seem like that much extra work to clear directly into F. For the very least don't know why there is resistance to adding you to the WL. I've had several agents do this happily for me in the past.

OHDL1

The Red Coat and GA were correct. I hesitate to get involved in this...but, none the less.
The following is "public" information....not on Delta.com.

"Standby is allowed on upgrades provided the passenger has already been confirmed using SDC in coach. If DM / PM / GM member cannot be confirmed in coach, they can be listed as standby for coach only (upgrade not allowed)."

That means....SDC = Upgrade Eligible.....SDSB = Not Upgrade Eligible
Confirmed, in this case, means CONFIRMED VIA SDC....not cleared from the standby list. And...as always (as in this case...) YMMV

MAMOHT

Well, yesterday's situation was weird from the start. When I called DL the agent said she could not SDC me since she was not able to "uncheck" me from my original flight as I was already checked in. I never had that problem before. Then the GA kept telling me that there was like whatever number of other medallions on the list. I replied that it is cold in Antarctica too but how was it relevant to the situation. I'm not even going to complain. It actually looked like I would not be UG'd on my original flight either but that is a whole different story. I still got home an hour earlier at the end.

sethb

Please do complain. At least that way we can (maybe) learn what Delta's policy is supposed to be.

iflyalexair

I never worked in Deltamatic, but I'm sure that this issue is based on an IT limitation. I worked for US, and in SABRE, a person could only be on the priority list under one priority code. (Either as a revenue standby, upgrade, non-rev, etc). We had only one list for all priority codes. So, if you were listed as a standby, you also couldn't be listed as an upgrade.

Although it would seem logical that the agent could just clear the seat to a revenue standby in first, they not allow this on long standby lists when there are only a few seats because of all of the complexities of upgrade priority. But of course, this argument goes down the drain if the OP is diamond and everyone on the upgrade list was platinum or lower.

Any experts on Deltamatic here?