had the same experiences with no upgrades on JFK-BRU leg. flew 8 times as a DM last year. Switched to united for this year, and got atleast 2 out of 7 so far.
status matched to 1K.

ACC-JFK
 

Curious for advice as I'm relatively new to intl upgrades on DL. Tonight, my wife (a PM) was flying on an M fare from ACC-JFK. She requested an upgrade with miles over a month ago and things were looking great. However she never cleared and the flight went out with 9+ seats empty.

This seems absolutely absurd for an old-guard AA flyer. DeltaAssist is telling some BS story that "sometimes upgrades don't clear" but this just seems like incompetent agents at outstations.

Frankly, I'd like them to allow her to upgrade on any fare for her next trip to Ghana though know this is probably dreaming. More importantly would be good to understand what's going on. Why even pay extra and take a gamble when you might not clear on an empty flight????

This sounds like no upgrade inventory being released early even though there were premium cabin seats available. Those seats were available for upgrades on the day of travel, but because the upgrade was requested with miles rather than a SWU, it could not/was not processed at the gate. This is in accordance with the DL FF program rules, although some DL GAs can and do pull miles for upgrades at the gate.

Yeah, technically miles upgrades need to clear 24hrs in advance... however as mentioned it is possible for a GA to pull miles at the gate if they know how and you explain the situation.

Other question, was your wife listed on the waitlist in her itinerary for the Z upgrade? Seems odd that with 9 seats open there wouldn't be any Z upgrade inventory available a day or two before the flight.

Couldn't @delta_assist do this also?

If there isn't Z available then Delta_Assist probably can't help, since by that time the flight is under airport control and you'd have to be transferred to the standby upgrade list at the gate.

Thanks for the context. Yes - wait list showed in the reservation and during two calls reps said no other action was needed. Sounds like GAs at ACC normally push the nothing can be done within 24hrs and the wait list only matters in an oversold situation.

Be careful about terminology. DL says waitlist for what happens up to T-24 and then calls the list for airport gate upgrades the standby upgrade list. Was your wife on the airport standby upgrade list or not for upgrades on the day of departure and at the gate?

Good point. Not on the airport list - ACC agents won't do anything after 24hours - say it's not possible. She was also confused because sky miles agents had said she didn't need to do anything more.