Originally Posted by
cochon
I was upgraded to Delta One twice on a HND-LAX flight last year, and both times I had stayed in the Main Cabin rather than take the Delta Comfort upgrade. I would be notified of the upgrade when going through the gate, and they would give me a slip of paper with my new seat printed on it. The Delta App showed that my seat had changed.
Every time I've taken the Comfort class upgrade on the same flight, I have not been upgraded to Delta One, even when it looked like it was available. Could it be that the chances of getting upgraded to Delta One is higher if you choose to stay in the main cabin? I am Platinum so I can select a Comfort seat at the time of booking, but if that ruins any chances of getting bumped up to Delta One, I have to weigh out the risk and benefits.
Any similar experiences to this? Is there a rule they go by for that? Automatic Delta One upgrades are not available for International flights as far as I know.
The fact that you got two op-ups is amazing and you should be thanking your lucky stars. Whatever way they do operational upgrades does not likely take into consideration whether you are in Y+ or Y-. If they order it by fare class, all W fares have an underlying Y fare that is used for ranking.
The reality is that op-ups are going to be so rare that you wouldn't be able to discern patterns from a few flights about what does and doesn't work.
Presumably op-ups are done by medallion status and fare class, but I imagine there is significant gate agent discretion there (even down to things like, e.g., a family trying to sit together).
Either way, you should never have op-ups be a selection criteria on where you book/sit because they are rare enough that you shouldn't rely on them (unless, perhaps, you happen to fly a route that chronically overbooks Y and has few J travelers).