Why start yet another thread to discuss this? Why not just add to the one you started before? Which, of course, was only a further discussion of a thread someone else had already started...

Oh good grief - not ANOHER "I'm DM and Delta sucks because they don't provide me with a private G-V stocked with with Beluga caviar and Grey Goose Vodka on ever T-fare I book! Doesn't Delta know how important I am to their continued success?!"
:rolleyes:

I'm sure the OP is delightful to travel next to.

Yeah, why in the world did this warrant a new thread.

Fly out of an airport that has bigger aircraft. If I fly out of MLB with two MD88's a day, I rarely get the upgrade. If I fly out of MCO (45 miles away) that has twelve 757's a day, I always get the upgrade.

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

Please note that the two threads have been merged.
Obscure2k
Delta Moderator

Yeah. As a Diamond, I'm still pretty sure you'll be fine. If you don't want to risk being on a plane "full" of top-tier, then just buy an F ticket.

To all the people saying that anyone pointing out the downsides to Delta's decision to reconfigure the 319's as being just sour grapes or that it's not a big deal, I think you're missing the point. No, upgrades are NOT guaranteed. However, they are one of the few perks to keep frequent fliers with Delta, as opposed to going with a different carrier. If I know I'm going to end up in coach every flight from now on when I fly Delta for my TPA-LGA route, I would rather fly JetBlue, since their coach seats are infinitely better than the coach seats for Delta on the new A319.

So, I think what many are trying to point out is that the value of Delta's SkyMiles program is really declining. And I think it's fair to question the math behind some of these types of decisions. In reality, if they assume that they have 4 FC seats on all of their A319 flights that are unsold and just "given away" to their Medallion members (ie the only way this change can possibly increase revenue), then in a best case scenario, they are able to sell an additional 2 coach tickets. Between the cost of re-configurations and the potential loss in revenue from some Medallion members who now receive zero value from their allegiance on A319 planes leaving Delta for other options, not to mention that a last-second purchase of just one of those 4 FC seats is worth more than the 2 extra coach seats, it seems highly suspect that they would end up making more revenue that way. Of course, they've been around the block a few times, so they most likely put some thought into their decision. Plus, it's their airline, so they can do whatever they want. However, they also shouldn't be surprised by adverse reactions from those that are directly negatively impacted by those decisions (ie all Medallion members in this case).

Then go fly Jet Blue. It os Delta's plane, they can reconfigure it if they choose too and you can choose to fly Jet Blue. I biy cheap fares so when I get upgraded I am happy that I am and when I don't, oh well maybe next time.

You want better chance at upgrades, then be a PM or DM. Its all a lottery and some times you get lucky and sometimes you don't.

Mr Mama, I am PM now, although if you actually read the posts, being DM wouldn't help either. I went from a 95% upgrade on my LGA-TPA flights and about 30-40% on the TPA-LGA flights during the first 7-8 months of the year to 0% since. Granted, in my situation, it's a combination of reconfigured planes (loss of 25% of fc seats) plus cutting other flights, so it's concentrated everybody onto the one available flight (The TPA-LGA consistently has more than 10-15 DM still on the upgrade list every week at the gate).

Of course it's Delta's planes and of course they can do whatever they want. But, if there is a 0% chance to get an upgrade, it's nice to know that's what to expect from now on. BTW, it obviously depends on where you're traveling from/to, but for my experiences, DL has never been the type of airline that I associate with "cheap fares". However, for the majority of Medallion members, they're travelling regularly for business and thus don't pay for it out of their own pockets, so it doesn't always matter.

I am also a PM(soon to be Diamond ) and fly 90% on business and my fares are mostly T fares and since becoming PM I have been upgraded on all but one segment (which was an LAX-ATL redeye) and as a Gold my upgrade ratio was probably 80%. I don't get upgraded all the time, but I know thats the way it goes and some other deserving flier is in that seat.

My point is that we all have a choice on which airline gets our business. so if you are unhappy with Delta you have 4 choices:

1. Go to someone else
2 .Buy a first class ticket if it is that important to you
3. Put up with it
4. Move to another airport instead of LGA :)

Last night’s MSP-CLT flight was on a reconfigured A319 with 3 FC rows and created quite a scene when a Pax with confirmed FC on 4B showed up to find out it was a coach middle seat.

Somehow, the system let her change her seat from 1A to 4B to accommodate her dog. She went back to the gate and the agent came back into the plane sending all 3 gate UG’s to row 4 and giving the lady on 4B a seat on 3B.

The UG’d Lady in 3B went back to row 4 quietly but the two UG’d gents made plenty of noise stating they were Platinums with 80,000 miles and how much this was BS and stuff. The GA said tough, and go back to row 4 and grab a seat.

15 minutes later she came back and told the two PLATS they could go back to their UG seats. The lady, which must have been #3 in the UG list stayed in row 4. She said her system was not up to date, yada-yada… the usual drill of it’s the computer’s fault.

Just got an UG to 1B at the three day window on an A319. Looked at the seat map on DL.com and it still shows four rows, but only has numbers for 1-3. I won't mess with my seat assignment, I don't think.