If this promo has the desired effect of incenting folks to buy up to YBM, then this PM is not at all offended. This summer, I've found plenty of Z inventory to go around.
right... and as the summer continues... and people book business travel two - three weeks out... the Z inventory will be gone b/c a much larger group of people will be able to get an upgrade...
e.g., i'm probably going to London and Sao Paulo at some point this summer... but now instead of having 50000 miles or a PMU being a "threshold" if you will to getting an upgraded... anyone can...
DL is now providing Plat upgrade International benefits to everyone making it harder to use the capacity controlled PMU's.
If they are doing this they should have also allowed Plat to use their PMU's on K and Q for a limited time period.
As you said, Plats get the short of it again.
This will most likely be my last full year of holding DL-NW Platinum status.
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Like TSA, DL SkyMiles management treats airline customers as if they are the enemy or sheep to be fleeced and it shows.
meh130, no it is NOT, both my wife and son have received it and are both FO.
I just confirmed this with DL on the phone. It is a promotion which applies to everyone, but I never got the email. So I assumed it was for higher level FFs.
I also confirmed if you are already on a Z upgrade, you can only switch to the 1 mile promo if another empty Z-fare seat is available. You cannot be waitlisted for another Z-fare, because you already hold a Z-fare.
Only Delta can find a way to make someone who finally scored a Z-seat feel screwed over.
Personally, as an FO, I think it this is a bad promo. If DL wanted to give away more J seats, there are so many things DL could do for their PMs on international flights. It is insane there are PMs sitting in full-fare Y seats with four PMUs in their briefcase and 3/4 of million miles in their account, but 28 of 36 J seats sit empty up front.
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Just called and swapped my 2 PMU's for ATL-SYD next month for the 2 mile deal. As a further data point, 2 of my flights were Z0 and they were able to take care of everything.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by meh130
I also confirmed if you are already on a Z upgrade, you can only switch to the 1 mile promo if another empty Z-fare seat is available. You cannot be waitlisted for another Z-fare, because you already hold a Z-fare.
Take a deep breath and call again. If you have not yet departed, a Z fare is a Z fare. Doesn't matter how what "currency" you intend to use. What's the difference to Delta (pre-departure) whether you tell them you're using miles, PMUs or the 1 mile promo? I've told them in the past that I would be using miles, but used a PMU at check-in with no problems.
What you're asking them to do does not require a ticket reissue...and reissues are when existing Z inventory becomes important.
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Take a deep breath and call again. If you have not yet departed, a Z fare is a Z fare. Doesn't matter how what "currency" you intend to use. What's the difference to Delta (pre-departure) whether you tell them you're using miles, PMUs or the 1 mile promo? I've told them in the past that I would be using miles, but used a PMU at check-in with no problems.
What you're asking them to do does not require a ticket reissue...and reissues are when existing Z inventory becomes important.
I called again, and after much waiting, they agreed to do the 1-mile. At first they said they would take the one mile on the LAX-SYD legs, but charge me 25,000 miles each way on the ATL-LAX legs. So it would have cost me more miles, 25,001 each way.
I said I would be willing to consider that, but only at a domestic mileage upgrade rate for those legs. After another long wait, they agreed to do everything for the one-mile promo.
But, they said they will have to reissue the ticket.
Whatever. Nothing like a Sunday night root canal by telephone.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by meh130
But, they said they will have to reissue the ticket.
Glad it worked out for you; but, I still don't understand why they had to reissue. Did they already take the miles from your account and reissue your original coach ticket? I guess it would make sense under those circumstances; but, I doubt you would have surrendered your miles this far in advance.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DLfan
Glad it worked out for you; but, I still don't understand why they had to reissue. Did they already take the miles from your account and reissue your original coach ticket? I guess it would make sense under those circumstances; but, I doubt you would have surrendered your miles this far in advance.
My ticket also had to be re-issued. Apparently, to be used during the promo, the ticket date must fall within the purchase and travel by period outlined in the T & C's.
I've got an interesting "kink" in a flight I was considering burning a PMU for.
Bought a RT ticket HKG-NRT-ATL-NRT-HKG. Only $818 all-in, but when I was looking at which dates had this low fare, noticed that on some days, the first HKG-NRT segment on DL coded 4358 (NW 008) flight were M class. All other segments are U. Other dates had the same all-in price, but all legs were U class. Since the date with M fit my schedule, purchased it thinking I'll never use all PMU's so might as well use it for this flight.
Then the 1 mile promotion came and I knew I had to try to get the upgrade. Called in to upgrade (EF shows U9 for NW 008). The very nice SMS lady (I hate all these new names) said she would have to call to see if it was eligible. In the end, she said she was told that while my e-ticket shows M class for this leg, the fare shows U and this segment is not eligible for an upgrade "even though it was delta.com mistake".
I'm going to call back again (and the SMS lady even agreed that was "a good idea"), but wonder if anyone has any comments or suggestions?
My ticket also had to be re-issued. Apparently, to be used during the promo, the ticket date must fall within the purchase and travel by period outlined in the T & C's.
I just called back on mine to ask about the expected reissue, and the SMS agent says my upgrade code is now "001". So apparently, no reissue was needed, they just changed the code on the existing reservation.
I guess I will find out what really happens when I get my August statement
I was able to take advantage of this special on a TPAC booking over Labor Day weekend. I booked MLB-ATL-SLC-NRT-HKG and HKG-NRT-ATL-MLB for $1760 as an M fare. Upgrades to First/Business are confirmed the entire way.
The booking process however wasn't easy. I called and spoke to an agent who quickly informed me nothing was available on my dates from MLB. My backup option was MCO so I called back and got a much better agent. She was able to put together MCO-JFK-NRT-HKG and HKG-NRT-ATL-MCO with confirmed upgrades on all segments except the last ATL-MCO (big deal, it's only a 1.5 hour flight). This fare was $2087. This got me to thinking that maybe I could get the same routing by just changing MCO to MLB (plus adding ATL since no direct to JFK from MLB). The fare priced as $1760 on Delta.com. I called back and got another excellent agent. He was able to rework the ticket and confirm the entire itinerary. Since this was within the 24 hours, no change fees applied. Total savings = $327!
Overall I'm pleased as I got business class to Asia for under $1800 but this did require a bit of work. I was utilizing KVS Tool and ExpertFlyer. However, as I was on the phone with the first agent, I'd look up one city pair on ExpertFlyer and it would show Z availability. Of course on her system there wasn't any Z availability for the same city pair.
By the way, the second agent said Delta was waiving the telephone booking fee when booking under this promotion.
I was able to take advantage of this special on a TPAC booking over Labor Day weekend. I booked MLB-ATL-SLC-NRT-HKG and HKG-NRT-ATL-MLB for $1760 as an M fare. Upgrades to First/Business are confirmed the entire way.
The booking process however wasn't easy. I called and spoke to an agent who quickly informed me nothing was available on my dates from MLB. My backup option was MCO so I called back and got a much better agent. She was able to put together MCO-JFK-NRT-HKG and HKG-NRT-ATL-MCO with confirmed upgrades on all segments except the last ATL-MCO (big deal, it's only a 1.5 hour flight). This fare was $2087. This got me to thinking that maybe I could get the same routing by just changing MCO to MLB (plus adding ATL since no direct to JFK from MLB). The fare priced as $1760 on Delta.com. I called back and got another excellent agent. He was able to rework the ticket and confirm the entire itinerary. Since this was within the 24 hours, no change fees applied. Total savings = $327!
Overall I'm pleased as I got business class to Asia for under $1800 but this did require a bit of work. I was utilizing KVS Tool and ExpertFlyer. However, as I was on the phone with the first agent, I'd look up one city pair on ExpertFlyer and it would show Z availability. Of course on her system there wasn't any Z availability for the same city pair.
By the way, the second agent said Delta was waiving the telephone booking fee when booking under this promotion.
GREAT! (also great to see another MLB-er here).
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I hear chirping but see nothing.....
I was able to take advantage of this special on a TPAC booking over Labor Day weekend. I booked MLB-ATL-SLC-NRT-HKG and HKG-NRT-ATL-MLB for $1760 as an M fare. Upgrades to First/Business are confirmed the entire way.
The booking process however wasn't easy. I called and spoke to an agent who quickly informed me nothing was available on my dates from MLB. My backup option was MCO so I called back and got a much better agent. She was able to put together MCO-JFK-NRT-HKG and HKG-NRT-ATL-MCO with confirmed upgrades on all segments except the last ATL-MCO (big deal, it's only a 1.5 hour flight). This fare was $2087. This got me to thinking that maybe I could get the same routing by just changing MCO to MLB (plus adding ATL since no direct to JFK from MLB). The fare priced as $1760 on Delta.com. I called back and got another excellent agent. He was able to rework the ticket and confirm the entire itinerary. Since this was within the 24 hours, no change fees applied. Total savings = $327!
Overall I'm pleased as I got business class to Asia for under $1800 but this did require a bit of work. I was utilizing KVS Tool and ExpertFlyer. However, as I was on the phone with the first agent, I'd look up one city pair on ExpertFlyer and it would show Z availability. Of course on her system there wasn't any Z availability for the same city pair.
By the way, the second agent said Delta was waiving the telephone booking fee when booking under this promotion.
Sounds like you found a good deal.
I'd like to add, coming from the NW side, all of this is ridiculous.
With NWA.Com, pre-merger, I had access to all of that, could research all of my options very thoroughly, and never would need an agent. Ticketing fee? What are those? I either booked them online, or, if I thought an agent could help me, I'd call the agent already having researched it on NWA.com... and never had a booking fee on the Elite line. Half the time I'd call an agent to see if they found or had access to more things than I could see, and, most of the time, most of the time, I booked on NWA.com and never needed an agent. It's sad to have to revert back to that, or to be charged a fee to book on the phone because Delta's website is in the stone ages, or to have to use third party tools when you should be empowered to to do these things yourself using Delta.com
Now only if this promotion lasted through September
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RobertS975
Remember that the I fare often has restrictions that a YBM fare might not have... advance purchase, minimum stay etc. If your trip does not meet the restrictions of the I fare, such as a relatively last minute 4-5 day trip, then the best chance you have for an economical BE seat is a Z upgrade. This promo gives you that upgrade for free instead of a PMU or 25,000 miles OW.
Exactly. I just upgraded to M fare (o.w.) from ARN//LAX. (had cheapest fare). The difference was about $700.00. I was O.K. with that, but very pleased that it did not cost me 25K miles to upgrade in addition to the $700.00. I fare would not have worked as this was a last minute trip. I fare would have been too restrictive. Plus, I don't mind the outbound TA trip. It's the return flight which is so much longer and that is when I appreciate the BE seating. (close to 17 hrs.)ARN/ATL/LAX. (767-777).
