Originally Posted by
dz28202
Spot on, it was Terminal A in ATL. I agree that plenty of people were probably entitled to the upgrade ahead of me. Here's what's not making a lot of sense: The plane seats 160 people. Elite+ is effectively 46 (39 & 7) on the priority list, not including the upgrades that have already cleared. I certainly don't get Delta lounge access on Domestic flights. I ended up buying the pass and if I recall, I did not get an Elite discount.
Here's my point: rewarding loyalty is about generating future revenue. If Delta isn't showing loyalty to their partner airlines, there is very little benefit for people like me to fly to fly them domestic. In fact, it is rather inconvenient if I'm at home as longing4piedmont rightfully pointed out.
There are many ATL to hub or business destination flights where the Premium and SKY boarding is more than half the # of seats on the plane.
A Thursday ATL-LAX saw 85 people in the PREMIUM line. This is just First Class (40 seats) and Diamond Medallions. The plane only had 220 seats and a third were in the highest priority zone! No big deal.
AirFrance agents are super rude and don't even give you the time of day when you buy lounge access. There is certainly no elite discount. Delta's agents when you enter an ATL lounge are 10x nicer than their French partner's counterparts.
Delta is showing you tons of loyalty - on the UG list, SkyPriority, free bags, standby. Have you tried using the Elite+ standby benefit on AF and KL? It is nonexistent. DL actually does it!
I think this thread is whiny and unnecessary and just shows that the OP lacks the perspective of a GLOBAL frequent flyer.