MikeyZBT

Ok, yes, I am in SAN, both my wife and I are Golds...

We are a combined 0-12 this year on upgrades this year...9 of which are into/out of SAN.

And now we are flying this coming Thursday, 5/6... and the first class cabin is down to 4 open seats and the "V" window is now closed so it'll be an "at the airport" thing.

It was never this terrible before the merger. I mean, we were SILVERS then and got upgrades about 1 out of 3 (33% of the time) flights.... now, as Golds, and with the merger, we are 0-for-year... JUST ONE!!! Is it that hard?

Vent over... UGH!

redtailshark

And people claim that CO is tough for UG. My UG rate on CO this year, as Plat, is slightly better than my ug rate for DL, also as Plat.

Well, the reason your particlar ug rate has dropped could be one or a combo of the following:

1. It's MQM inflation...we're all Medallions now. Even me. Ha! And many are Plat or Diamond. I avoid DL as you know but with rollover and promos, I'm going to be Plat still! I could never sustain this "Elite" level on a real airline with my lack of actual activity. But as many have said, Plat is a joke on DL.
2. Business has picked up and more people are paying F, or A, or auto-ug high coach fares. If SM are doing so, they're pushing you to the back.
3. Shena N. Igans is onboard with disturbing frequency.

MikeyZBT

This is just crazy, though... I mean, even before they started clearing advance upgrades there were 11 seats open in F. Only 11 out of 26!! So 15 seats were purchased or purchased in Y....

And then once Diam and Plat's cleared it went from 11 to 4.

I can't believe I am going to miss a Thursday, 7:45am chance... I figured my previous Friday ones were my problem, but this is nuts.

Oh, and I've also missed SAN-SLC and SLC-SAN too, not just SAN-ATL and ATL-SAN.... So aggrivating....

channa

Really? That's surprising to hear. My gf has a much higher upgrade rate as DL Gold than she ever did as CO Plat.

I'm DL Plat, and my upgrade rate is nearly double what it was on CO as CO Plat.

As for the OP's question, what equipment are they using? Has that changed since the merger?

Also, what route are you flying? General consensus is ATL is toughest for West Coast upgrades.

RobertS975

Mikey, my observations are different than yours... my SAN travel is often relatively last minute (3-4 days in advance) and as a PM, I usually have no problem finding V seats at the time of ticketing! Even when I SDC to another flight out of SAN, I am usually #1 on the UG list.

MikeyZBT

My flight this year that I have missed on have been:

- PBI-ATL on 757 (as Silver)
- ATL-SAN on 757 (as Silver)
- SAN-SLC on MD90 (as Gold)
- SLC-SAN on MD90 (as Gold)
- LAX-MCO on 737 (as Gold)
- MCO-ATL on 757 (as Gold)
- ATL-SAN on 757 (as Gold)

My wife, also a Gold, has missed on all of the above as well as:

- SAN-ATL on 767 (as Gold)
- ATL-SAN on 767 (as Gold)

Thoughts??

MikeyZBT

It must be the "Platinum" thing then... I figured as a Gold, I'd get AT LEAST as many as I did as a Silver, but it's been nothing... 0% this year.

redtailshark

82% vs 85%. Most of my CO flying is through IAH on the way to somewhere else. Also, to be fair, the actual proportion of RJ flying is higher on CO than DL for the routes I fly. So those data don't make into the comparison.

But, so far this year it's factually indisputable, I have a better ug percentage on upgradable sectors on CO than on DL at, ostensibly, the same elite level on both.

My last CO flight (DCA-IAH) was upgraded, but my last DL flight, LAX-JFK, wasn't. No Z for PMU use, either. I ended up as #4 on the UG list at the gate, with of course, 3 available J seats on the BE 752.

I've also experienced opup on UA - with whom I have no status - and none, at all, on DL, this year or any other year. SM is :-: best in class :-:

muntz73

First class bookings have certainly increased this year over last which is a definite factor.

As a Diamond with 108,000 MQM's this years i'm at 100% upgrade out of ATL of all places, which I'm very pleased with. Even as a Diamond I wouldn't be upset if I didn't get the upgrade. If I really want it I buy a F ticket. If DL can sell more F seats they do better long term and are a healthier company which benefits us all. I'd rather see Delta profitable and healthy then see every person who made Medallion status last year due to double MQM's be upgraded on a $200 ticket.

MikeyZBT

But NO upgrades? I mean, throw me a bone every now and then... plus, I am Gold... I have at least some decent status...

dd992emo

Has the government made any changes to their contract carriers for various destinations? If DL is the contract carrier for, say, NRT or ICN or HNL (as it is out of LAX), that adds a ton of Golds and Plats to the mix. Could also be the case for some eastbound flights.

Geogirl1234

I know a few of the gate agents in SAN and they have told me that they have many flights going out with plats and oftentimes diamonds in coach (the FA's I know told me they regularly greet diamonds and plats in coach). They actually commented that golds are always surprised that they're not getting an upgrade and they have to tell them that there are plats ahead of them that aren't getting upgrades. They will tell you that upgrades are not easy out of SAN this year. I think one of the main reasons is the 757's on the ATL-SAN route and there used to be a few more flights than there are now (I think at least two less per day?).
As an FO on the ATL-SAN-ATL commute I've had one upgrade this year.

318i

Keep flying, it'll get better. This GM just went 4-for-4 on a recent east coast swing (including a JFK-LAX trip in BE) after a really lousy 1-for-9 start to the year.

MikeyZBT

We'll see, but I think I am about to get another two more "no-upgrade" transcons because there are only 4 left on Thursday's flight and my return is the 6pm ATL-SAN (i.e. ZERO SHOT)

Granted, I am flying ATL-CLT and then CLT-ATL as well... might get that nice 45 minute upgrade.... meh.

nwdogahunt

Gold to me is the new Silver so pretty much Delta screwed you. Even as a Platinum I think we got screwed as well and I see probably 50% less upgrades than I did last year. That is why I have switched mainly to Continental and United. Have a better percentage on Continental than Delta, actually was last seat upgraded out of SAN last time I was there.

Even as a *A Gold on UA I was upgraded, which is not suppose to go into affect until mid summer.