Originally Posted by
defrosted
I think this is the point here. I mean conceptually, after they are done selling they upgrade into seats that haven't sold. To expect a company to not take money in order to possibly give it away for free later is ludicrous. I mean I get it we all want to be rewarded for loyalty and one would expect perks/discounts the more you spend with a company. But if it is sold out, it is sold out, we need to have realistic expectations. Upgrades are a perk, when available, they aren't always available, even if you add more seats.
Except the absurdity is that Delta is giving away these seats on cheap tickets to lower statused members. My average ticket fare is around $1000 for domestic flights. When you buy a ticket when C+ is actually available, the average fare is more like $500 (sometimes even less) since they have to be bought a month out. If you want to talk about revenue maximization, one would think that the upgrade should go to the Diamond buying $1000-1200 tickets and not to the PM buying a $500 ticket.
The end consequence is that I end up flying UA or AA any time I can and either getting the free upgrade (UA) or buying the seat for an nominal fee AA - and pretty much universally the combined cost of the upgrade and original ticket is less than the price Delta charges for Y.