Originally Posted by
AntonS
Recent TATL experience with a successful op-up got me thinking about priority order of op-ups vs stand by list and about things how to do to increase chances of an op-up.
72 hours before flight:- Available seats in D1 = 18 (according to upgrade/standby list in the App)
- Total available seats = 50 (according to upgrade/standby list in the App)
- I thought there were no chances of op-up and requested special meal for Y.
25 hours before flight:- Available seats in D1 = 16 (according to upgrade/standby list in the App)
- Total available seats = 16 (according to upgrade/standby list in the App)
- Stand-by list = 2 (according to the App, I assume employees or others on tavel pass?)
- Flight is not selling economy, only business
- I removed my special meal request just before 24 mark, thinking that flight looked really good for op-up.
2 hours before flight:- Available seats in D1 = 15 (according to upgrade/standby list in the App)
- Total available seats = 16 (according to upgrade/standby list in the App)
- Stand-by passengers = 25 (I assume most are employees, but I also heard that stand by list in the App includes confirmed pax without seat assignments)
10 minutes before flight:- Was told by GA to board as there would be no more op-ups (few seats still available in D1), but I stayed at the gate.
- Got up-up a few minutes later.
- Total 10 stand-by passengers got D1 seat assignments (according to Delta App). At least a few of them had Delta tags, so I assume they were employees on free passes.
- I assume that 15 - 10 = 5 paying passengers (including myself) were upgraded.
- My old seat was given to one of stand by passengers.
Questions:
Were upgrades given were due to overbook or because up-ups are given before processing employee stand by requests? If doubt there were only 5 elites on the flight, so probably Y overbooked by 5, I got lucky to be last of 5 people to be upgraded and the rest of D1 went to employees?
Did I make right choices:
- Removed special meal request when I saw possibility of op-up
- Did not board after being told by GA to board
Special meal requests can make you less likely to receive an op up. So that was a good choice. The rest of this is over analysis, and I believe karma will come back to bite you because you are overthinking how to get something for free. Not boarding when the GA tells you to? What if they closed the door on you?
I am trying to understand what exactly you did between when the GA told you to board, and when you were op-upped, to receive the upgrade - if they had already processed op ups and were going to put the remaining NRSAs into D1, its confounding why they decided to move you.