Picked this up from an email I received from travelskills.com

RE: New Delta Upgrade Purchase Plan

So you were just getting good at sweet-talking your way into first class. Now
you can add another tool to your upgrade arsenal: cold hard cash.

As we predicted in last week’s June issue of THE TICKET, Delta has confirmed
that it will introduce a new standby upgrade purchase plan at 14 airports,
including Atlanta, effective tomorrow (June 18).

Here's how it works: On the flights where gate agents expect empty first class
seats to be available at departure time, they will offer customers the
opportunity to buy standby upgrades to the first class cabin for $40, $60 or $80 per
flight, based on the length of the flight. ($40 for flights up to 799 miles, $60
for flights between 800 and 1599 miles and $80 for flights over 1600 miles.)

Similar to its 800-mile segment upgrade program, the least expensive fares (U or
L), as well as SkyMiles award tickets, are not eligible for the upgrades.

The problem is that on flights to/from large Delta hubs like Atlanta or Salt
Lake City, almost all first class seats get snatched up by high ranking SkyMiles
Medallion members anyway, leaving few if any for those hoping to utilize the new
paid upgrade program. (Fly at off-peak times and you might luck out.)

As of today, the program is available at airports in Atlanta, Boston,
Cincinnati, Dallas, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York's LaGuardia
and JFK, Orlando, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, DC
(National). The program should be in effect system wide by the end of the year.

Delta stresses that the new standby upgrade purchase program will have no effect
on the number of first class seats available to Medallion members using
confirmed upgrades. These requests will receive higher priority than the standby
purchase requests.

Delta is actually following the lead of AirTran when it comes to a standby
upgrade purchase plan. At AirTran, upgrades to its business class cabin are
available in advance for $25 over the full one-way coach fare for nonstop
flights and for $50 over the full one-way fare for connecting flights.

Typically they are not available for use with discounted fares. But currently,
as a special promotion, passengers can upgrade from ANY fare class for $25 on a
standby basis at the gate.


------------------
Tom