Originally Posted by
355F1
entice them to release UG inventory
Well, I recently found out, that revenue management does have the POWER to release an upgrade(s) if they are given proper data-points.
Recently, there was an unfortunate (very long story) mishap with one of my reservations, in which Delta totally "dropped the ball." The eventual supervisor I was able to discuss the situation with was completely empathetic; and suggested that he could contact revenue management and see if they would release two BusinessElite (OP) seats for an upcoming transatlantic flight. He made no promises; but did call me back later that day, and said revenue management had released the seats and my reservation reflected the upgrades.
I'd say this is a rather rare occurrence; but I am happy that a Delta supervisor was able to understand the situation, and felt that some compensation was in order (they also gave me a decent amount of SkyMiles in addition to clearing the upgrades). It's also important to note that all of this was suggested and taken care of by the supervisor (the suggestion to request the OP inventory, as well as the SkyMiles). Service recovery situations like this, most definitely keep me loyal.