Originally Posted by
tigress123
Last year they were, not this year. When was the last time you used a GUC on a partner flight.
A month ago for a flight in December.
Originally Posted by
tigress123
I was very open and flexible with my travel and three different DL employees informed me that the global upgrades are impossible to use this year. They blamed it on KLM not giving DL any seats.
GUCs on KLM clear into Z class. It has nothing to do with KL giving DL seats but whether KL is selling Z fares on your dates.
Many DL agents are sadly under-informed on how GUCs work and especially on partner airlines. Knowing how to steer the conversation can help. You might want to peruse these threads:
Using Delta Global Upgrade (GUC) with KLM Consolidated
Using GUC on AF - Consolidated Threads 2020 Onward
(And yes, it's a sad situation and they should make it easier and more transparent to use them, but it's far from impossible)