Originally Posted by
thepla
Plus DL seems to have raised the prices for "M" fares to Europe substantially. Another big documented issue is "Z" class which is needed for the upgrade. Hence you pay way more up front and in many cases hope DL opens up inventory.
Many here have used the letters PMU to mean Pretty Much Useless. With AA, which I'm familiar, you can gift them to someone else and you do not see many people talking about them going to waste. AA also allows them on all fare classed. Read how many people talk about throwing out PMU's from DL.
This is true. M fares used to be less than $1500 and are now more than $2800. You can save about $900 with the PU 503 over the current discounted business class fare or the fare needed to use miles for an upgrade, but this is way less than the "good 'ole days." They tell me more inventory in M has been made available for upgrade, however. Net loss in savings for customers, and maybe more revenue for the airline if folks are still flying and do not switch to another carrier.