Everyone has made some good points. No two people are in the same position. We see value in being DM vs. PM, but that value is based on our own circumstances. We fly out of a smaller airport in Northern New England where Delta flies MD-88(s) to ATL. As DMs we are getting upgraded 5 days out on LUT fares, versus at the gate as PMs, which is what used to happen to us. In our case, we are guaranteed at least two legs in FC (it's a 3+ hour flight so there are pre-flight beverages and a meal)

We are also seeing an increase in our upgrades 5 days out on all of our travel generally. We are flying to LAX for the holiday weekend via ATL and we received all of our upgrades 5 days out. That is a great feeling considering there will likely be IROPS up and down the eastern seaboard this weekend.

That said, Avidflyer and others make a very good point that it is more likely than not that we would get the upgrade at the gate as a PM. For us there is value in having sealed the deal early. Yes PM get upgrades 5 days out, but we have never experienced that. We like avoiding having another DM/PM with a higher fare type who made a last minute purchase or who SDC take it from us at the last minute. So the % has not changed but the timing definitely has for us at least.

The DM desk can be flukey, but they have generally done more for us than the gate agents have. Also calling the DM desk often comes in handy if you want to get ahead of people in line at the gate trying to get rebooked b/c of IROPS.

The other consideration for us is that the product Delta offers out of our city is just better than what the other airlines bring to the table. The UA/CO service has really gone down hill from our airport and AA does not even fly out of our airport. So pushing our excess miles back to CO (we are former CO Gold) does not make sense for us.

I will say that DM does not do much for the international business traveler. That is a big gaping hole in the status. We have been upgraded to BE on oversold flights, but so were FO, GM and PMs. Delta offers a good coach product fortunately, but it would be nice if they did more for its elite international business travelers. The expedited service at JFK is a nice start, so long as Delta and we as DM(s) keep it low key so as not to get caught up in the DYKWIA mindset.