"W" Class Premium Coach and Upgradeability
 

Ok, I feel like a noob here.

However, I'm starting to see "W" / "Premium Coach" class tickets when booking overseas travel (DFW to CDG via JFK). These seem to be associated with Air France flights.

Questions:

What advantage is "W" over "Y"?
Does this qualify for the SWU? The terms say

"For international travel, certificate may be used to upgrade only on published coach fares booked in Y, B or M class.....[snip]....Travel can be on Delta Air Lines or Delta Connection flights as well as KLM flights. .....For travel on KLM, certificate may be used to upgrade only on published fares in M, B, S or X class."

So, based on that literally, even though the W class is listed above the Y class, it does not qualify for an SWUs since it's AF metal and not KL... is that correct?

If so, that's odd as the ticket with the AF W is actually 300 less than the DL M.

"W" class on AF is their Premium Economy (aka Premium Voyageur) class which offers more legroom and a better-designed seat than normal coach. However, it is not a business class seat by any means.

See here: http://www.airfrance.us/US/en/common..._airfrance.htm

No, AF flights are NOT eligible for use with the SWU's. Something that still utterly boggles my mind considering the close relation DL & AF had before the merger, and the closer relationship they have now after the DL/NW merger.

"W" class on AF will earn you 150% EQM & RDM in the DL program.

-RM

W is the code for AF's Premium Economy tickets. It is a sub-cabin similar to how SQ, NZ, QF, VS and some others offer a true Premium Economy product.

My understanding is that they are not eligible for SkyTeam upgrades because the alliance doesn't really recognize the Premium Economy cabin across all carriers. But since it earns 1.5x MQMs on DL like Y fares and it is a more spacious seating space I'd definitely take it over a DL M fare.

Premium econ. seats (the true version of AF and several Asian carriers, not the UA Y+) are for me a superb value choice on long flights. I would gladly book a W and not worry about the upgrade. BE is nice, but if I am on my own dime all I need is some room.

Yoo DL-

I have had about 2 dozen TPAC trips that I booked on non-DL metal for this reason, and I live in ATL. HINT!

SWU
 

I thought I would revive this thread because SWUs can now be used to upgrade on AF to Premium eco and from Premium eco to Business.

Systemwide Upgrade Certificates redemption on Partners:
Redemptions on Air France
Valid on most transatlantic flights operated by Air France1
One way upgrade from Economy to Premium Voyageur when booked in Y,B or K class
or
One way upgrade from Premium Voyageur to Business when booked in S,A or W class

http://www.delta.com/skymiles/about_...erts/index.jsp

I don't know when that change was implemented but i just discovered it. I thought the premium eco A/W to Business upgrade option with SWU is really nice and is worth getting the message out there

note from the DL website:
"1Not valid on AF operated flight from Miami to Paris; only valid on flights with the Premium Economy Cabin."

Can miles be used to upgrade to/ from "W".
And what fare bucket do upgrades come from on AF

As far as i know (from delta.com), only SWU. Comes from O bucket (regular award business on AF) according to SMS agent I talked to today.

Some notes on that
 

I saw that today (Thank you, FT!) and called the DM. Here's the deal. Yes, it is new. It is occasionally working, but it is still in the "running stage", i.e. sometimes they see an UG and it does not go through, sometimes you would see an ug option, and it won't go through for them.

Technically, the classes to look for on EF are:
If you booked the AF ticket on K,B,Y (Coach)-- look for E, and if it is available you can get PV (In theory).
If you booked S,W,A (Premium Voyager), look for O, and if it is available you should be able to book it.

Look for the inventory under the AF flight and not under the DL flight. On the side note, though- Both O and E are also competing with people who book award seats (miles alone). Both do not have stand-by (per DM desk, not even for AF elite pax themselves, though that one I think is incorrect). Both can not be cleared on the same day, and even if it becomes available the day before but you've already checked in (TATL check in on AF is 30 hours prior), you're done...

This is actually big news.
 

We all lament about the uselessness of the SWU - an obvious huge issue. That said, I never thought that it would be AF to come to the PMU rescue (at least with respect to my travel patterns).

Let's face it, when an I fare is less than the M fare (TATL), then why even bother going M. And for personal travel, M or I pricing is not an option for me. And with M fares now Sky Club high, I will close the year without having used a PMU - first time ever.

Still, when flying ex-NY TATL, a little extra space is something I truly cherish - maybe simply because like all of you, I fly too often. Sure I can burn miles to fly up front but then I don't earn much needed MQMs.

Last year, I was pleased to see KL offer Comfort Zone - economy seats with extra seat pitch and recline - enough to make a difference for me. Best of all, PMs and DMs pay only 40 Euro, 1/2 the price of the standard 80 Euro one-way fee. When in the right seats, worth every penny.

This move is even better because Premium Economy on AF is actually a much better and more spacious seat than KLM and best of all, the fares for either K or W are reasonable.

For example, looking on DL.com, an L fare JFK-CDG is just under $750 all in. The K fare is $300 more at $1050 - not bad when combined with an SWU and on the dates in late Jan/early Feb I am looking at, there is plenty of E availability.

And then the kicker, W is only $1400!!! And yes, O inventory is available here too.

At long last, this one move really makes the SWU usable.

And you get the 150% bonus for only $1400. By the way, M is only $2540 and I was only $2580.

So you managed to find O availability? How is AF generally for O avail? Checked my upcoming A-class AF flights. Nada :(

Do you need to book W class on AF or DL? I tried looking at W class bookings on the DL web site and it offers only 100% MQM.

Complete scam and further dilution of the SWU product. I can't believe we've finally reached the day where moving from one portion of economy class to another portion of economy class is considered an "upgrade" :mad:

What's next? using SWUs to "upgrade" to exit row or bulkhead seats? :rolleyes:

Strongly disagree. The opportunity to upgrade from a $1250 PV fare to Biz is probably the best use of SWU currently out there. Of course, we;ve yet to see what kind of availability exists.