Originally Posted by
SoCalLen
Delta has the belief that if they deny ALL complimentary international upgrades to its most frequent flyers, it will then encourage them to actually spend the several thousand dollars on buying the business class seat. After all, why spend an extra $2,000 when you're pretty much guaranteed to be upgraded for free?
The problem with this: Delta's management is delusional. Absolutely delusional. People are not spending the money on J seats, regardless of the fact that they know they will not be upgraded for free.
Delta: It doesn't work. Why not just let us use those SWU's for REAL upgrades? If someone is going to spend $3000 on an M or Y fare, they may as well spend $4000 on a J fare and avoid the hassle of finding a flight with the correct "upgrade inventory" anyway. It's a flawed system -- simple as that. The fact that Delta hasn't figured this out is appalling.
My bet is that DL has done the math - OFTEN - and figures that while less folks are buying J, more are buying M and using miles/certs to upgrade. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if most BE travel was now based on YMB fares. That move and approving last minute day of departure upgrades, makes YMB fares even more flexible (no Saturday overnight, change a date and still have a shot at sitting up front, etc.). Yes, you can book business class through other means for the same price as M, but then you aren't likely the most loyal DL flyer.
That said, Jeff what would be the harm if the first 4 certs for PM and DM were usable on HKQ
