mnfilmer

Greetings oh wise ones,
My wife and I purchased economy seats msp > ams. Vitsiting 2016-02-06 to 2016-02-13. We paid cash and mies (57,000 miles and $666).

Wife just attained her Silver status on 2015-08-17.

What upgrades would be available to us?

We have Delta Platinium card and we have earned Silver status in a combination of travel and spending only w/ Amex credit card.

Any help would be appreciated^

(Considering doing mileage runs next year, but we'll talk in another forum)

ATOBTTR

None. No complimentary Medallion upgrades on TATL/TPAC flights.

Only ways to upgrade on TATL/TPAC flights are:
1) Upgrade with miles (for now requires buying a YBM fare ticket - usually pretty pricey)
2) Use a Global Upgrade Cert - but you can only get these if you're a Diamond Medallion

Otherwise the only way to get into the J cabin is buy it outright or hope the Economy cabin is oversold and you get an "Op-up" to business class (which as a Silver, is very, very, very, very unlikely).

ATOBTTR

Also - was that 57,000 miles and $666 for both of you or 57,000 miles and $666 per person?

mnfilmer

For both

KevinSFO

Strangely, upgrading the return flight is usually straightforward. In July I just went to the KLM transfer desk during my connection and was able to upgrade my X fare return from AMS to MSP for 25,000 miles and 400 Euros. It was a Delta ticket and Delta metal. (Flight #165)

MSPeconomist

Are these pay with miles tickets or is one a pure award ticket?

mnfilmer

This was a Miles and Cash offer.

Recently when we decided that we wanted to somewhere/anywhere in February, my wife received an email from Delta offering transatlantic ecomomy seats for 42K miles each seat. Since we had only ~77K miles at the time and had only a week to book the tickets, I logged on and was given a Miles + Cash option (I never see this on some of the routes we book). (perhaps because it is transatlantic?). We could swing the miles and cash option. As I mentioned, it was 57K miles, and $666 in cash/fees.

Funny, a week after we booked, wife achieved Silver Medallion and we would have had enough miles for 2 award tickets with all the bonus miles. **cue sad trombone**

RaflW

To be clear, this is not an upgrade (FTers get grumpy if you suggest C+ is an upgrade), but as a Silver your wife has access to Comfort+ at the check-in window (24 hours before departure) for international flights, and this applies to both of you as you are ticketed together.

February is likely to be a low period (my flight MSP-AMS on 10 feb '15 had approx 90 pax in the entire 259 seat coach & C+ section) so the two of you might get lucky and get Comfort+ for free, though it might be middle seats, which I don't think I'd take.

And you probably can get the exit row, 27AB or HJ right now (perhaps you already have). There is some lav traffic and noise, but basically unlimited leg room. Seat cushion is slightly firmer, very limited window view, and the TV and tray table are in the armrest, so you can't raise the middle armrest and the TV has to be stowed for takeoff and landing.

Still, these are IMO the best coach seats for free ('premium' for Silver and up) and I would tend to only select row 10 for C+ if paying. I might pop to an aisle in 11-14 in C+ if free at check-in. My 2c worth...

jdrtravel

It is important to know that silver medallion is no longer very valuable on Delta, as it has been progressively devalued basically since the NWA/DELTA merger was complete and Delta introduced Diamond status. There are a few perks for sure, but nothing super exciting aside from the occasional domestic first class upgrade (domestic meaning only travel within continental North America excluding JFK-SFO/LAX). For what its worth, when booking domestic vacations together, try to fly on off peak days like Tuesdays and Saturdays to increase your chances of an upgrade.

ATOBTTR

Those who usually really knock FO status are higher-ups who perhaps have forgotten what it's like to travel with no status at all. Has FO been devalued? Yea, it has. Every level has lately though. Yet FO still carries some decent benefits. In addition to the occasional upgrades:
- Comfort Plus at T-24 (yea it's "leftovers", but I usually was able snag one)
- Preferred Seating. Have you noticed how limited the seat map is if you can only click the white seats? They go quick. Having access to a larger portion of the seat maps gives you a much better shot at a decent seat (and allows you to get the exit row too)
- Dedicated phone line
- Priority check-in lines at certain airports (some airports will allow FOs to use the SkyPriority check-in)
- IROPS priority/handling
- Priority Check-in
- 7 miles per $1 (40% over a non-status passenger).

All in all, while far from the perks I enjoyed as a GM and now a newly minted PM (haven't even flown yet as a PM), I still found Silver to be quite beneficial. Flying Hawaiian inter-island and flying in Europe on a couple hopper flights as a no-status passenger reminded me just how beneficial even the little FO perks were.

rylan

As others mentioned, you're not likely to get any sort of upgrade on the way out, however on the return you can inquire at check-in about the upgrade cost. If you use online check-in or the kiosk it also may give you an upgrade offer. If you wait to get to the gate its too late however.

CarmenOM

I was recently by the MSP gate where the AF MSP-CDG flights depart. As the last passengers had just boarded I asked the GA whether paid upgrades had been available for the flight and, if so, at what price. She replied that they had been offered and the range was $300-700. I then asked about the DL flight, which leaves about three hours earlier. The GA said that paid gate upgrades are not offered on the DL flights.