Originally Posted by Xeno

After travel to 50 countries, I have not been outside the USA due to health issues. I was finally ready to go and had a sponsor to pay the base part of the fare. My office normally only pays couch (rather than an M fare), but certainly would not pay BE not even at the I rates.
Unfortunately, the sponsor did not notify our group of the meeting date until this weekend. And so I need to fly OKC-ATL-ZRH on Oct 2 then return on Oct 10. Well there are no upgradable seats Oct 1-3 going or Oct 9-11 on the return.
Delta talks to me about waitlisting but can not tell me how many people are in front of me or anything about the odds that Delta would open up more seats. There still are enough seats left that it looks to me like Delta might do this, but do I want to pay a $2,300 gamble and still end up in couch?
One reason I don't want to take that bet is that one surviving medical issues are blood clots (DVTs) in my left leg and the propensity to develop more. My specialist has put in writing that on trips over 6 hours that I must not travel in couch.
I asked Delta about other gateways that ATL and they said no. No availability was found going through Paris. I could get upgraded on the outbound to Prague -- which adds 8 hours to the trip + however long it will take me to get from Zurich to Barr for the conference -- but nothing on the return (other than waitlist).
I have not yet checked on Milan and Munich. At the very least, for example, if seats were there I could use Milan and then a train if no airplane connection but given the state of my health that would require spending the night in Milan both ways.
Am I missing something obvious? Was this too late to hope that I can finally get back in the saddle? Has Delta tighetened their inventory for these upgrades? That would confuse me because the M fares are now much more expense than three years ago. If I miss this trip, then an important part of my life will come to an end.
Post is too long. Sorry. But any help much appreciated.