Originally Posted by
Jeff767
Delta never places non revenue travelers ahead of revenue passengers who can upgrade within the policies of the airline. I guess what you are saying is that they should always fill the front cabin on every flight with free upgrades. That would certainly cause a huge degradation in revenue.
Originally Posted by
apodo77
How so? Non revs are flying for free, right?
Yes, but that's not the sense he's talking about.
Effect
#1 : if there is a chance you can get upgraded for free, some people who might otherwise have WFBF will instead take their chances with the upgrade lottery. In this scenario DL loses out on revenue because such people bought cheaper Y fares instead of buying F outright.
Effect
#2 : the chance for a free upgrade might cause someone who would not otherwise fly DL, or fly DL as much, to buy a DL ticket vs. another airline or driving.
Which of the two effects is greater is basically the root of the debate.
Non-revs are irrelevant (to this discussion point, I mean, I love my NR friends that I have made through FT
) because (in theory, if there is no Shena, which I realize there is in practice) they are seated only after eligible elite upgrades have been processed. So they do not by themselves cause less revenue for the airline because they are not taking a seat away from a paying passenger (whether WFBF outright or upgraded from a Y ticket)