Originally Posted by sbm12

The vast majority of my upgrades were between EWR and Florida in April/May/June, which is before most folks in 2007 had qualified for platinum, but after the 2005 qualifiers left the pool when their status expired, so that helps. Otherwise, I do think that a bit of it is blind luck that the flights I picked happened to not sell out in F, so I got a seat.

In 2006 I had only a 65% upgrade but my travel pattern was a bit more diverse (LAS, AUS, DCA, PHX). I started flying the DL Shuttle to deal with the DCA issue, and I actually was upgraded 2/4 flights on the LAS trips.

I do think that the destination pattern ultimately drives the success rate; I just don't work to plan around it and take it when it comes to me, resulting in a much less stressful travel experience.