To the OP: I just have to shoot this in on your thread. Not only can you not trust the e-mail and instant message alerts from DL about flights and upgrades... you should also not trust that a well meaning friend may try to "punk" you with a spoof e-mail or instant message! This was the case last Christmas with my flight home SEA-MSP on Christmas Eve. Bad weather had moved into MSP and I was lamenting too my client/boss/good friend about not wanting to spend Christmas in SEA vs. my family. The night before my flight I was taking a shower after my workout and I heard the familiar triple tone from my iPhone that an instant message had arrived. It was a VERY convincing version of the standard instant message that DL would have issued... notifying me that my flight had been cancelled and that I should contact a NW/DL agent to rebook. I TOTALLY took the bait hook, line and sinker and placed an anxious call into the PE line... only to find out that my flight had not been delayed but that I could certainly try to change my flight to an earlier time... PUNKED! I called my client/boss/friend and when he answered... the first words out of my mouth was... "YOU B____RD!!!"... followed by howls of laughter from both of us...

Thankfully, my flight was on time and uneventful and I was home in time to have a warm Christmas nutmeg with my wife and kids.

-A