Incremental value of GM over FO?
 

On GoGo now, enjoying the extra space in F and my GM upgrade. Hanging out in a cabin with empty seats and non-revs abound. My flight before this was the same -- there were 3 Comair pilots, 2 NRSAs, and one gift upgrade in the 12 F seats on the CR9.

I travel on a variety of fares -- I've flown Y, M, K, L, U, and T so far this year, and I'm 7 for 16 as a GM this year. The 7 flights on which I've been upgraded have been slam dunks. Either EUAs or easy gate upgrades. The 9 misses haven't even been close -- 17 of 23 / 10 of 21 on K fares, etc.

While I recognize the SkyPriority benefits of GM when traveling in coach (Zone 1 boarding and priority baggage handling being noteworthy), I don't see any incremental value in being GM vs. FO in the upgrade queue.

DL forum inhabitants: are your experiences different? I'll requalify for GM in August and probably make PM by end of year, but I wanted to see if anyone is really seeing the value of GM in trying to upgrade?

I have seen a huge increase in upgrade percentage from FO to GM...when I was FO it was like 20%...now its over 80%.

Hi Mr. 1C!
 

Given the flight we were on, I considered myself mildly lucky to get an upgrade as a PM.

As a GM, your success should be higher if you are not flying aon a "heavy" route - major cities on both ends and on a Friday just after work.

My question is how high in upgrade priority should a non-rev pilot be?

The jump from FO to GM is huge. Your mileage bonus and sky priority are very tangible and consistent, even if your UG percentage isn't.

If you want to see underwhelming differentiation, just wait until later in the year when you hit PM and you see that PM is GM plus 10-15% on UG.

I am just about to roll over to PM and a 15% increase in upgrades would be great. I am sitting just over 50% for the year as a GM. I am Atlanta based, so upgrades can be tough. I did enjoy upgrades on out and back ATL - SEA this week which is typically a tough upgrade for me (this route i travel elite heavy days (Mondays and Fridays).

I've seem my UG % change dramatically. Also, there's a huge difference between getting the last upgrade and being left in the back!

I never noticed a difference between Silver and GM. But I'm doing a lot of hub-to-hub. The DM and PM folks have been upgraded long before I had a crack at the seats.

You will notice a difference in the case of IROPS. Silver lost the airside medallion line for CSRs. You're behind everyone in the phone queue. Check-in is goofed up too.

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Maybe you don't see the value for UG either bec of where you fly from/to or when you fly. IMO there is a HUGE diff bet GM and FO value, not just in UGs but YMMV of course.

I noticed a big jump from FO to GM. As GM, I've been the last one or two to get UG'd on several of my flights out of JFK during holiday weekends. Was also able to snag SFO-JFK as GM. Doubt that would have happened as an FO. Seen 3 op-ups this year as GM. One (TXL-JFK) probably would have happened as an FO, but not sure this would have been the case on JFK-MAD-JFK.

While the priority boarding and baggage is nice, the priority security line is a HUGE bonus for GMs.

Free SDC & SDS alone would be enough for me.....

Whether you see it or not there is an incremental value in being GM vs. FO. As a GM if you are flying on a T fare you trump every FO traveling on a B,M,H,Q,K,L,U, or T fare. But if there are only a few DMs that get the coveted gate UGs then your perception might be that GM isn't getting you anything more than FO (with regard to gate upgrades).

Hope your success rate gets better. A lot has to do with when you fly and, of course, the origin and destination.

Absolutely.

Agreed. There's a huge difference between FO and GM. I have been upgraded on all four of my flights since making GM. Prior to GM my upgrade percentage was about 40%. Another big benefit for me is the 100% mileage bonus. Now, if I could only get an op-up on my next ATL-DXB flight my joy would be complete!

That plus the 100% bonus miles are a huge difference maker to me. The SDC benefits saves me hundreds of dollars annually alone.