Originally Posted by
SuzyQueue
I tried searching on this and have read the Delta site, but the only answers I could find involved Miles+Cash OR domestic flights which is not what I'm looking for here.
Headed to Italy in May for vacation from ATL, but I also have to be there on business prior, so work will be paying for my ticket. Is there any way to pay for one ticket with cash and use SkyMiles for the other in the same transaction (General Skymiles member, no Medallion status) so that both tickets are eligible for upgrades (to at least Comfort, my employer is gov't, so no paid upgrades)?
The verbiage around upgrades with "linked" reservations makes me think it might only be domestic, but it could be read multiple ways.
Thanks for any advice/experience that you can share!
There's no way to combine a cash and award ticket on one reservation. There are also issues with linking separate cash and award tickets for upgrades. If you are both on the same award reservation, C+/domestic FC upgrades will work, but system does not seem to allow linking mixed cash and award tickets for upgrades. As long as flights are operated by Delta (and not partners), Delta may offer online cash/miles upgrades to Premium Select or Delta One, but it's not very predictable on pricing (it's not based on fare difference and cash could price could actually be more than simply paying the fare difference to upgrade). There's more predictable upgrade options (Mileage Upgrade Awards) if you buy a cash Premium Select fare (they are not available on award Premium Select fares). But these are not available on most coach and Comfort+ fares (only the higher fare class, more costly coach/C+ fares can have Mileage Upgrade Awards applied).