Originally Posted by
mikehillwig
That SDC thing makes sense, but wouldn't those cases still bump me down on the priority list instead of seats just disappearing?
If seats hadn't been chosen, would that be factored into the number of seats available?
SDC of someone either confirmed in coach or given a free elite upgrade on their original flight would result in the person being inserted into the upgrade list according to DL's published priority rules for upgrades: all DMs would be ahead of you as well as all elites on Y fare classes and PMs using fare classes higher than yours or possibly PMs in the same fare class but having a DL Reserve card.
If someone had been confirmed in FC on their original flight due to purchase of a FC ticket, including a FC award ticket, or the use of instruments (miles or GUCs/RUCs/SWUs) to confirm a FC seat on the original flight, they SDC directly into FC if the new flight has a FC seat available at any fare/inventory class and thus never appear on the upgrade list.
AFAIK FC seats ticketed but without specific seat assignments do not show as "available" unless the person misses the check in deadline for the first flight on their itinerary (for that day/after the last stopover), often at T-30 for domestic flights.