Originally Posted by
RobOnLI
As a SEA-based flyer I'll throw in my two cents as well:
SEA-ATL - not a chance
SEA-SLC - good chance
SEA-MSP - decent chance
SEA-MEM - decent chance
SEA-DTW - slim chance (you left this off the list)
SEA-JFK - not a chance (you left this off the list)
SEA-CVG - slim chance (you leftt this off the list)
As for connecting onto MCO, other FL-based flyers will chime in but I hear MCO is difficult for DM/PM from any hub. Your best bet for an upgrade to MCO would probably be: MEM then MSP.
One problem you'll find is that you're flying on a Thursday which is a difficult day to upgrade for most flights. Another problem you'll find is DL is "right sizing" a lot of equipment on certain routes and SEA is no exception. A320 appear on the MSP route and 738's appear to DTW now. This means those flights have gone from 24 FC seats to 16 - which is a huge decrease.
Edit: I did a search of the Delta route map and DL offers non-stop service to MCO from the above-mentioned stations as well as LAX, LAS, RDU, BDL and BOS. You could do something like SEA-SLC-RDU-MCO or SEA-SLC-LAS-MCO if you can find the legal routing. I can't speak for these non-hub routes to MCO in terms of upgrades.
Good luck.
-RM
Wow - thanks to EVERYONE for chiming in. Flyertalk never ceases to amaze me.
I was definitely surprised that we had such good luck with 3 out of 4 UG on the SEA-ATL flights 2-3 weeks ago, as it was my expectation that that would be a problem, as most of you have suggested (we were connecting on to STT, and we got 3 out of 4 on that half too). Obviously we were right on the cutoff twice, when I got UG and Mrs Huge did not (I took the first one and tried to trade with her but she was sleeping, stretched across *the entire empty exit row* on SEA-ATL redeye, and then she took the second one STT-ATL, and when she tried to trade with me the FA wouldn't let her). When we both got UG in advance was ATL-SEA December 22, Wednesday, not a redeye, pretty close to XMAS - don't know if that explains anything. And again, we're both lowly Silvers.
Anyway, in spite of our recent experience, I'll try to stay away from ATL
Clearly MEM,MSP,SLC are getting the most votes, with some different leanings within those but maybe SLC getting the most favor overall. I'll try to choose between those three based on schedule and layover.
RobOnLI - I never saw those other cities come up, but I haven't been exhaustive about it (and you're not really pushing them as likely anyway). And I'm never seeing those two stop routings you mentioned. Newb question: what's the best/easiest way to explore routings that don't show up using something like Kayak? I've just started using the ITA software, so I'm eager to learn more about that.
I guess the other thing I should have considered was whether I could construct a routing that would significantly increase mileage. I'd rather not add a layover just to increase my UG chances, but I might do it to get an extra 1000 MQMs.
[EDIT: just figured out how to find other routings, by just looking at one-way flights on Kayak, all those other cities show up, plus some 2-stop routings, but they're all more expensive. Best for miles looks like SEA-MSP-LGA-MCO, but it's $80 more, redeye, and 4.5 hours more travel time. But there are two viable SLC routings - 6AM and 1:05PM departures from SEA]
Thanks again for everyone's replies - much appreciated.