Originally Posted by
SoraAoi
I am sorry, I omitted one thing -- I was compensated. I should put "compensated" I quotes because all I was given is 9,500 miles. Other than that, the story is accurate to the letter, no exaggerations, nothing hidden/no information withheld, so you understand it correctly, I think. I agree thatit is outrageous. Of course, the official position is that it was a mistake, nothing else (I am not surprised by that; even if there's any kind of internal investigation, the outcome will not be shared with me. Standard for any large company). Formally speaking, no policies were probably violated though. Oversell is a special situation.
What a story! It really is inexcusable. I missed the original thread/discussion, just caught up now. I used to fly this route 4-5 times a year, still do, though not necessarily on Delta.
I am not very surprised by the story though, and agree with the OP's take that oversold flights are handled differently by GAs than normal ops, and all standard procedures/waitlists can be overridden. This is likely what happened to the OP. I do not know why the GA did what s/he did and what favors s/he received, but things do happen, from a cup of coffee and a dessert for overlooking an overweight bag or an extra piece of luggage to a small gift for an upgrade.
I flew myself in EC on this very route on an M fare in November, also an oversold flight, also many OPUPs, non-revs and others, but not a DM on M/SWU. Seems like this was not a singular occurrence.
The additional loopholes opened up with the recent changes in Delta's practice to hold the upgrades until the last minute at the gate, even when it is SWU and when there are plenty of seats in BE available (often 50% load, and the SWU waitlists still do not clear). Anything that is done at the gate is more prone to ... mistakes
. Had to take less convenient flights on partners from Europe the other month even though DL's BE was 80% or so open. The upgrade did not clear even 6-7 hours before the flight, with the J9C9D9I9S9 cabin. Wonder if it went empty or was filled with the "usual clientele."
Sorry OP, what happened is not fair, but c'est la vie at Delta. Why would you fly DL to Moscow anyway, it still puts old and dilapidated 763s with those lousy seats on this quite long fight? One of the reasons I left it and either fly SU or UA. At least you get fully flat seats on UA and can UG to First, which is quite nice. SU is much, much nicer than DL now too.