Originally Posted by
jvalscl
Black Signature here. Some statistics from my international flights in September:
- SCL-GRU: full flight (according to FAs the flight was overbooked), zero availability. No upgrade.
- SCL-LIM: on the day of the flight - 1 seat left in Premium Economy. Got an upgrade (Economy -> Premium economy) at T-10 hours.
- SCL-JFK: on the day of the flight - 3 seats are open in business, down to 1 seat at T-5 hours. Got an upgrade at T-3 hours.
- JFK-SCL: on the day of the flight there are 15 open seats in business. Got an upgrade at T-10 hours.
I haven't seen bidders in the upgrade list on any of all those flights.
There is another significant advantage of Black Signature status, and I am not sure if it has been mentioned here before (please correct me if I am wrong). At JFK Black Signature passengers have access to "fast track" at immigration. It's a huge deal for those who are not American citizens or those who don't have access to Global Entry. Upon your arrival at the passport control area, a Special Services agent quickly identifies you in the crowd and takes you to the passport control in no time. Given how busy the queue can get (and it certainly does), having such a perk helps enormously. Moreover, it works in similar fashion at TSA security check on the departure from JFK. After the check in, a Special Services agent will take you directly to the TSA check point, passing by the queue. Huge time saver.
I have not seen that perk at other airports. I would think BS extra perks are available at their hubs like Mia and Gru but nothing I noticed. At Gru there is a separate security line for Visa Infinite but no such for BS. And separate lounges for different bank customers. My route has had the same menu in business for the past two years. So it’s not worth making bids since you won’t get miles or points for the money spent. I don’t think they implemented the priority change yet or we would have noticed.
Maybe BS can get Delta One perks in the future. What’s the spend requirement?