brocklee9000

I really wanted to come back on the 75E, but I know there's no way I could score an upgrade on that (and the C fare was something staggering, like $1500...), but it was tempting to try to get a seat in row 35 (that's the one with the extra legroom and the footrests, I think). But my schedule doesn't allow it. I already had to cut my trip short by a few days, because of work and school on the 13th and 14th, so I have to take the redeye on Friday night. That means in order to maximize my time in NYC, I'll need to leave on Monday evening, because it'll be a bit of a trip to get over to JFK from Chelsea; also, I have to be back by Tuesday. If I can survive lots of TATLs on the old 763s, I think I can survive EC for a few hours. One thing I did like about the second option, though, is departing from LGA rather than JFK. Even though it means a connection, it was a little bit cheaper.

edit: I just double checked, and the nonstop is now pricing $50 lower than it did about 5 hours ago...hmm, now the nonstop and the connection are only $11 different.

mnredfox

Amazing, just got my 3rd EUA ever on a tcon route. Is this DLs way of phantom UG's before they remove this benefit? Craziest is that it was a Friday tcon. Must be low on DM's.

fevertx

Bought a ticket for a friend to fly with me to Europe in April. Used 50,000 miles + $700 to upgrade round trip to business class. Friend has to drop out of trip.

Apparently $275 change fee on the original ticket, $150 to have miles re-instated, and the upgrade fees are completely non-refundable.

Is that the way everyone reads it and is there any chance I can get any of the upgrade fees refunded?

I'm platinum for life on AA, but I'm sure that means squat.

Any help appreciated.

CarmenOM

You've posted this on the Delta forum; you should ask about it on the AA forum.

jrkmsp

I'm flying MSP-DEN for a buddy's bachelor party next Saturday on an MD-90. Flight is showing 9s in first (and 15 empty on the seatmap — I know, I know) and just 3K, 1L in coach. I'm a GM. Anyone have experience on this route and can suggest whether I should keep my hopes up?

I've been GM for six months and have had exactly one UG — and that was on an IRROPS. Would be nice to get one legitimately, and a Saturday morning flight to ski country seems like it would be a good likelihood.

mattp1987

I found your flight by looking for the one with 15 open F seats on the seat map next Saturday. That definitely looks like the best option of the day for an upgrade. I know people on here say seat maps aren't accurate, but I think for the F cabin on domestic flights they tend to be pretty close, so I'd be fairly confident the number is no less than 13.

There appear to be at least nine seats in the upgrade bucket right now.I came to this conclusion by logging in and searching for Y fare or higher for 9 passengers on MSP-DEN next Saturday and then hovering over the Upgrade Eligibility button. You'll notice that the 7:49 flight shows 12 empty F seats but only shows Upgrade Eligible. I tried to change the number of passengers to see when it would change to Upgrade Available on that flight to show a comparison, but the booking engine seems to have broken (big surprise).

To see how many DMs/PMs get upgraded, check the number of F seats right before 5pm EST on Sunday and then again later that evening. You can also see if Upgrade Available is still showing at that point and for how many seats. If there are still a good number remaining, you might get that wonderful upgrade email Tuesday night or at least have a good chance for an upgrade at the gate since there probably aren't too many last minute purchases for that route at that time.

jrkmsp

Thanks for doing that research. Hadn't thought about checking the availability that way. I'm seriously hoping for the Tuesday upgrade.

brocklee9000

Well, just got the "upgrade is now confirmed" email about an hour ago for SLC-JFK this coming Friday's redeye. Got it at the GM window, flying on a U fare. Way to kick off my first trip to NYC!

alee0729

So I see Z2 available, booked 2 B class tickets to LHR and ended up being waitlisted, after calling the DM line and applying SWUs. Is this correct or should I call them back?

rwoman

Z is no longer the indicator of UG availibility.

For SWUs/miles, I believe it's now RP or OP.

mattp1987

That's correct, unfortunately. Delta changed the upgrade class from Z to OP. They also recently removed the ability to check for OP space online. If you're still within 24 hours or if your B fare is fully flexible or you're willing to pay the change fee, you can call and have them search for alternate flights with OP space and change to those.

alee0729

Thx... that makes more sense. I'm about 2 weeks out from my trip... the LHR-JFK leg cleared when I called, but the JFK-LHR is waitlisted. Hopefully it clears in a few days.

RustyC

Just as a data point, I got ATL-MEX and v.v. right at the window in both directions as a PM. Special menu for meals on that one as well. OTOH, the batting average on transcons has been terrible, even ones to places like PDX or SMF.

rwoman

For my LAX-MSP-LHR trip next month, it's showing RP and OP.



Good luck with getting the UG!

shipitfish

[Crossposting this to a few relevant threads; regulars, please reply on the thread you think is most appropriate. ]

I have needed to take a lot of popular route red-eyes lately for my job. I've bought K fares specifically so I could use some of my precious (now deprecated) SWU's to make sure I get a BE seat to sleep.

Like most SWU usage on popular routes, they won't auto-upgrade this, but you have to wait and get the GA to do. You end up first on the list.

Yet, three times now, I've faced BE being full before I even got to the gate, and the GA couldn't do a thing for me.

One time on LAX->JFK, an entire wealthy family had bought out all of BE (it was weird and rather pointless to see baby car seats strapped into flat-bed seats . So, I thought that was an anomaly. But two other times on {SFO,LAX}->JFK, I've faced BE being full.

Right now, I'm scheduled for SFO->JFK on the 2014-05-01 10:55pm red-eye, and BE shows as full right now. I'm expecting to be stuck in the back again, despite the SWU.

Have others experienced this? Is it really the case that these BE seats sell for revenue often?

Indeed, I even looked at doing an SDC to the earlier red-eye that day if I can get out of my conference meetings early, and it's got BE full.