CommanderB

Hello Delta folks!

I normally reside in the BA and VS forums, but looking for some Delta specific knowledge today.

In the BA forum, we have an Airport Upgrade Tracking thread... do you have one?

Looking for an idea on how much an upgrade from Y to J on ATL>MCO would be.

I am flying in on VS and transferring to the MCO flight and would like to upgrade those internal segments to benefit from the high tier points, but I'd like to do it at the airport on the day due to a travel agent being involved.

Just to be clear, looking for a $ value, I know US FF get lots of free upgrades, I actually want to pay for it (shocking I know!)

Thanks!

TTT

Delta's DOD F upgrades are space available and after all Medallions clear (i.e. they don't happen very often).
http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/traveling-with-us/ticket-changes-refunds/sameday-travel-changes.html

That said, search for First Class Monitization and you will find a lot of info on how Delta prices upgrades. When these are available (and there isn't a rhyme or reason) they are done before or at check-in, usually online or via the kiosk.

DLATL777

The other issue worth mentioning is that often these airport upgrades, despite being booked into First, still earn the same normal qualifiers as the original economy ticket. SO, if going after higher TPs, it may not be the best move.

CommanderB

Thats a case of them booking into the correct fare bucket though, F and A should earn just fine. And even if they do not qualify, Virgin have not made that publicly clear, and I'll fight them for it!

MSPeconomist

I'm not sure they're offered to folks on VS tickets. Also, presumably the OP will be checking in with VS at LHR for the LHR-ATL flight that connects to ATL-MCO on DL.

BenA

Delta has a two tier fare bucket system. Upgraded seats are booked in an inventory class like "RU"/"RP" (First) or "OU"/"OP" (Business). But that's a conceptual second layer over the original: they retain your original underlying fare and that's the one used for all mileage crediting. It's a battle you'd be highly unlikely to win with Virgin, especially since they are such close partners with Delta and have JV visibility into the true underlying fare information.

BenA

In addition, Virgin's terms and conditions at https://www.virginatlantic.com/us/en/flying-club/flying-co/miles/earn-with-delta.html make this clear:

jdrtravel

This is true for complimentary upgrades or mileage upgrades, but not for purchased upgrades. Purchased upgrades (with money) on Delta are basically a ticket re-issue and you get fully booked into the new fare and earn miles at the level. Your old fare disappears.

OP if you ask at the airport it is likely to be expensive unless one of those rare gate upgrades are sold after all medallions are upgraded for free. This is because it will be treated as a same day walk up fare, again, unless they decided to sell at the gate (very rate). The best deals are online, at the Delta website in your reservation. Sometimes you open your reservation (during check in or sometimes much earlier than that ) and there will be an offer. As MSP pointed out, I don't know if you will find this offer on a VS ticket, but try going to the DL website with your DL confirmation number. You could also call DL in advance and ask if there is an A fare to upgrade to on your segment, it seems like they would need to split it.

CommanderB

Thanks for the input folks.

So it seems DL would rather upgrade medallions for free BEFORE offering Airport Upgrades for cash...? That seems a bit backwards to me...

Its all a bit of guess work because of the VS/DL intricacies, but I will persevere and see what happens.

TTT

That's a good point. I get the upgrade offers so infrequently anyway I certainly wouldn't count on them.

TTT

You are more than welcome to pay the fare difference. Which, if you were to look at the FCM thread, may not be all that much.

The issue is going to be your VS ticket and the fact that you are wanting to upgrade just the domestic portion on an international itin.

jdrtravel

no, not really. It's just that Delta sells it's cash upgrades before the airport. Seats that are left at the airport go to medallions first.

There is a long history to this, which is summed up like this:

It used to be stupid expensive to upgrade to F on Delta and so it was basically 95% free medallion upgrades in first class. Then, Delta wanted to start profiting on this (FCM= first class monetization), so they started selling discount F tickets in advance at prices people were actually willing to pay. This upset a lot of their most loyal customers who spend lots of money every year (much more than the cheap upgrades being sold) and so what we've been left with is DL saying that, at the airport, they will upgrade medallions before selling cheap upgrades, because medallions often spend more anyways. They are still selling a lot of cheap advanced upgrades, but this system allows them to maintain at least the appearance of offering medallions upgrades before others when a bunch of us are standing there at the gate. Furthermore, the advanced cheap upgrades seem to be offered in targeted ways, using some kind of proprietary algorithm

davetravels

How many extra points would you get for a 404 mile flight, anyway? Also, just curious, how much are you willing to pay for said points - then "fight for them" if they don't credit you?

MSPeconomist

My understanding is as follows:

Cash upgrades in advance via offers on the app (FCM) or even by calling DL are generally only available on DL issued tickets, not including corporate travel agencies, etc. I would assume that the same holds for a VS issued ticket. In fact, I'm not sure whether you can pay the fee (as some people do when they call to pay to upgrade a ticket that was provided by an employer) to have DL take over a VS issued ticket, especially to do it before checking in for the first VS operated TATL segment. Moreover, when you call DL, you're generally offered to buy the upgrade by paying the fare difference (with no change fee), which usually is not a good deal at all unless the ticket was purchased very recently.

If you pay to upgrade on the day of departure, the ticket isn't reissued into a G A P (discounted FC) fare class and you do not get the class of service bonus miles. In contrast, when I've purchased the upgrade in advance on the app (or done it on delta.dumb at the time of ticketing), I have received 150% MQMs.

jdrtravel

Unless there happens to be an A fare available.