MSPeconomist

Surely they can't mean in any situation. If DL cancels the flight, surely DL would have to return the FC upgrade fee, just like they would be required to refund seat reservation fees, etc.

Grogs

Most of my tickets are non-refundable, but that seems to be something different than what most people here are stating, which is basically that once you've paid the FCM fee, the money has vanished into the ether and can't be applied to another flight no matter the reason for the change. I recently took an FCM offer (that I haven't flown yet) and at the bottom of the receipt it says

That sounds to me that you could change flights and apply the original Y price plus FCM fee, less any change fee to a different ticket. If that's not the case, and the FCM upsell goes poof, I'm probably going to be a lot less likely to ever take an offer again.

StayingHomeIsBetter

We are tripped up here by semantics... different grades of "nonrefundable."

Yes, most DL tickets are nonrefundable; in that, if you cancel the reservation, you are charged a change fee and the balance of what you paid goes into your account as an e-credit.

The situation for UGs purchased after the ticket is issued is more severe. The fee you paid for the UG is really, really, really nonrefundable... as in lost for evermore. The increment that you paid for the UG goes away... you receive no credit for it. It is gone. It has been dumped down the Memory Hole.

To paraphrase Monty Python, the fee you paid has passed on. It is no more. It has ceased to be.

Just to be sure, I called the DM line again for confirmation. The agent had to put me on hold in order to research the answer. Ultimately, she confirmed that UGs purchased after ticketing are treated as miscellaneous charges that are not credited back to the purchaser after cancellation. This is consistent with the DL web content that I posted previously:

"All post purchase paid upgrades are nonrefundable and must be used as ticketed. No changes are permitted. Failure to use the seat upgrades as ticketed will result in forfeiting the upgrade purchased."

FORFEIT is the operative word here.

Your $400 FC add-on to a $400 coach ticket will be treated just like a $30 buy-up to C+.

So, again, unless you buy the FC fare initially, you'd be best advised to call an agent (withing the 24 hour "risk-free" period) and purchase the UG... making sure that the transaction shows that the additionall charge is part of the actual ticket price and not an incremental fee.

Consider this scenario... you have purchased the UG (after ticketing). Compelling personal reasons dictate that you must switch to another flight, which does not have a FC seat available. According to the above, you would not be refunded the FC UG charge for the flight that you had to move away from.

The "it's not a problem unless it's my problem" and the "anything that increases airline revenue is all right by me" crowds may be OK with this. But, considering the escalating costs of the FC buy-ups, I am not OK with this.

RaflW

During a weather waiver, I think it is fair and reasonable to expect the FCM to transfer to the new reservation, or at least be offered as part of re-booking. If on rebooking there isn't inventory in the F cabin, then the difference should be refunded on returning to main cabin, since the originally booked flight was not going to operate (even if it was cancelled for reasons 'beyond Delta's control', once a waiver has been announced the rules change).

I assume the underlying coach ticket was non-refundable. If the waiver period made the underlying ticket situationally refundable, why would the FCM portion be kept by Delta. That makes no sense and would anger customers (and, more importantly for future sales, discourage some people from buying them).

Grogs

What I've read here will certainly discourage me from ever buying an FCM offer again. Just not worth the risk of paying money and getting absolutely nothing for it. It would have to be some kind of fantastic offer like $50 for LAX-ATL. I could imagine people discovering this the hard way getting upset and taking their business to another airline. Not that AA/UA are necessarily any better about these, but it seems like the kind of CS fiasco that could make people avoid DL in the future out of spite. On a somewhat positive note, I guess if enough people are turned off from FCM offers, complimentary upgrades would be easier to come by.

Unfortunately for me, my company buys only Y fares, and rebooking for the difference in the first 24 hours is a bit of a grey area. Would probably be fine if flown as booked, but not sure what would happen if I had to have the (now F) ticket rebooked. They might take the change fee out of my UG cost and then have the balance refunded to the company after they rebooked me on another Y flight.