L Fares and Upgrades

 
Old May 15, 1998, 5:20 am
  #16  
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Re Delta's management needs to be listening to these comments, I doubt it. I talked to a Delta rep in the Atlanta Crown Room recently, and he told me that a friend of his is a senior level manager at Delta. This manager said (allegedly) that "although the frequent flyers will ..... and moan for awhile, we'll just put up with it, lend a sympathetic ear, and pretty soon they'll forget about it". With that kind of attitude towards its frequent flyers, Delta is not going to remain profitable for very long at all.

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Old May 15, 1998, 7:51 am
  #17  
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Amen to jarnold's post. I was worth well into five figures to Delta last year, with travel companions who followed my choices adding at least as much again. This was not a one-shot deal: I've been some level Medallion, usually Royal/Gold, every year since the 80s. I wrote to Delta to protest the change and got a form letter brush-off. I am now 100 percent on American. That's over $25,000 in revenue per year moved. In addition, I'm rewriting five examples in the next edition of my business school textbook from Delta to AA - that's 60,000 students who will study free PR for your competition. Delta, are you listening? Do your bean-counters have ANY idea what a long-term business relationship means, and how easy it is to kill it?
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Old May 15, 1998, 9:13 am
  #18  
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I LOVE THIS!
I have been saying this in my web page sence the change at Delta.
If this dont help nothing will.
I am sure Delta is reading this they check my page quite often and so do the other airlines. Rentel cars and hotels check too.
Thanks to all have wrote.
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Old May 15, 1998, 11:09 am
  #19  
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It's good to know that I'm not the only one that is absolutely beyond a shadow of a doubt positive that Delta has made a major mistake in this decision. Is there any way to ensure that the proper people at Delta see those posts and can be made understand how much money they are really losing through this money-saving decision?

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Old May 15, 1998, 5:19 pm
  #20  
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I have also gotten the standard reply from Mr. Coggins office regarding "L" class fare upgrades. I as PLT member have flown many flights in coach on "L" fares with empty seats in First. Now when I fly on higher fare
and upgrade, I often am sitting next to Delta
employees and family. The least Delta could do is offer space available upgrades at departure for elites(like continental). Employees now have this chance, I would appreciate the same chance. I am also a Gld elite at Continental and have shifted alot of revenue that way. I pay may own travel expenses and it just makes sense to fly Continental.
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Old May 15, 1998, 10:14 pm
  #21  
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I have flown Delta 490 times, a Million Miler, Flying Colonel and until this year Gold Medallion or above, but no more.

I travel every week and my company try and get the best (sometimes lowest) fares.

Now that Delta stopped upgrades from L fares, plus they stopped Flying Colonel from using the Crown Room and in my case (Houston) almost withdrew jets, I fly Delta no more.

I called American, flew the required miles in the three month time frame and they gave me Platinum.

Goodbye Delta, thanks American

Anyone suggest what I do with 40 800 mile upgrade segments (be nice)
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Old May 16, 1998, 11:39 am
  #22  
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Parkin, you can donate your miles/segments in increments of 5,000 through SkyWish to CARE, Make-a-Wish, or United Way of America using the Award Request Form on your SkyMiles statement.
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Old May 18, 1998, 4:31 pm
  #23  
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I wrote a letter to Robert Coggins providing feedback regarding L fares and received a reply from the Manager of Consumer Affairs . His reply was, basically, seats are sold to the highest bidder and we really don't appreciate you PM's! I copied his letter and attached it to a letter I wrote to Leo Mullin who sent it back to the Manager of Consumer Affairs! This time he apologized for not responding to my original statement -- I purchase L fares being fiscally responsible and my loyalty is not being rewarded that a Medallion paying an K fare is more important because of the incremental revenue. I really don't believe my statement was every fully understood!

I will still make PM status this year but when there is another choice of airline, I do consider it because Coach in American and United isn't that bad!

I do appreciate the Crown Room perk and Delta does still have a generous upgrade program but they did not handle the "take-away" well. They took away our ability to upgrade but we didn't receive anything in response.

I also agree with the other comments -- Delta should let us upgrade if there is a seat available. I am also a member of the Escape Plan and the powerful gate agents in the past upgraded me to F even though they weren't supposed to on a T fare. Now I am told the gate agents "get in trouble" if they upgrade customers on T or L fares.

So much for empowerment .....
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Old May 20, 1998, 11:36 am
  #24  
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I am a 2x Platinum. Has anyone looked into a class action suit against Delta for the L fare situation? Delta announced their policy mid-year after many of us had already flown 70+ segments. Had they announced at the start of the year, many of us would have used another airline.

Also..I am getting tired of being treated like I paid with food stamps when I'm on an L fare.

Now that Coggin has resigned, maybe Leo Mulin will do something. Does anyone have his direct e-mail address?
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Old May 22, 1998, 2:18 pm
  #25  
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Class action law suit... Why not? In a country where we reward people stupid enough to spill hot coffee on themselves, this might be a possibility. The fact that DL acknowledges that they have received numerous complaints about the "no upgrade for L-fares" policy and has decided not to act on it tells us a lot. I hope the service gets better soon!
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Old May 25, 1998, 1:12 am
  #26  
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L fares being advance purchase is another lie.

Many times i can get an L Fare walk up...one-way...on day of flight. Usually this is available out of hi competition markets. What is so frustrating is that L Fares have no integrity. They can be any competitive matching fare.
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Old May 25, 1998, 3:08 pm
  #27  
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alhcfp is right. I used to fly the SLC-ORF route. The last flight of the day isn't usually booked. I usually purchase an L-type fare the same day or the day before.
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Old May 28, 1998, 1:24 pm
  #28  
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I like most of you fail to understand
Deltas policy of not allowing Platinum,
Gold, and Silver Medllion members the
opportunity to upgrade at the gate when
empty seats are available in First Class.
I wrote Delta earlier this year and asked
why NRSA (Non Revenue Space Available)
passengers(Delta employees and family
members) were allowed to stand-by for
First Class, yet loyal passengers
traveling on a discounted fare (L Class)
were not given the same opportunity.
Delta responded by saying that NRSA passengers
required little or no service. (sounds as
though they are perfect candidates for
coach)
I just fail to understand the logic
behind allowing a passenger who is
traveling for FREE the opportunity to
stand-by for First Class while denying a
loyal revenue passenger the same
opportunity. Has'nt Delta been telling us that this is about economics?
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Old May 28, 1998, 2:53 pm
  #29  
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Even though I hated to see the L-fare upgrades taken away, I agree that the higher paying passengers should be allowed more benefits; however, I disagree on not allowing L class ticketed passengers to use their available upgrades after all revenue passengers are checked in.

Also, I too believe that Delta did not give FF members ample time to use up their earned upgrades. Back when Delta issued paper upgrade certificates, each one was valid for one year. Therefor, I believe that Delta, after announcing that L class fares could no longer be upgraded, should have allowed FF members a full year to use any unused segment upgrade from L class fares. If you remember a few years ago when all of the major airlines changed their FF programs, a lawsuit was filed against the major airlines. The lawsuit was successful in forcing the airlines to allow FF members the option of using earned mileage points, before the FF changes, at the old redemption level. I believe this situation is similar in that we earned upgrades based on the assumption we could use them on L class fares for 1-year from the date of the certificate.


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Old May 29, 1998, 10:01 am
  #30  
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I don't think this L-class upgrade issue is that new. The old 800 mile upgrade certificates and One-Way Systemwide upgrades stated that they were valid on only certain fares. Whenever I tried to use them they were only good on K class or higher fares. Usually I fly internationally and buy M class or B class fares and then upgrade with certificates domestically or us Systemwide upgrades. I agree though that sometimes the difference between L class and the next available fare can be double. In Feb I flew to Zurich and the L class was $500 and the next available fare was B class at $900. I took the L class and made sure I was on Swiss Air internationally. Also if you fly Eastcost to Hawaii, sometimes it is cheaper to fly Eastcost to Seoul round trip with a stopover in Hawaii then buying a domestic ticket.
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