Originally Posted by
mtkeller
I would read jdrtravel's post as being about medallion upgrades on domestic routes clearing when someone is booked into an eligible fare class and wants to use miles to upgrade but cannot waitlist for the upgrade using miles. I think it's a tough call in that case, as I know that the new UA's decision of where to place upgrades with miles relative to complimentary elite upgrades was not universally popular.
Exactly. I fully understand how upgrades work.
As a GM, I don't have any SWU's. That being said, if there is no G inventory ever released on the flight (or Z for transcon) then my only option for upgrading is to hope for the medallion upgrade. I find that on the routes one wants it most, its hard to find G class. I tried to book a flight from LAX to NYC recently. I was willing to connect and avoid the nonstop if I could find G class (for example, LAX-MSP-LGA). At least on the dates I was trying to book, there was zero G class available, yet wide open F cabins. I can understand DL not wanting to sell the entire F cabin to mileage upgrades, and wanting to reserve some for PM/DM complimentary upgrades, but I wish we had a chance at the gate. I liked someone else's idea of letting us buy SWU's with miles. Furthermore, I could imagine it being very frustrating for a non-medallion member who wants to buy a mileage upgrade to watch F seats beat sold on standby when they wanted to use miles.