I notice that the MSP-AMS flight tomorrow has a significant number of both economy and BE seats available. I'm already in BE but my co-worker is not and I was wondering if Delta ever offers the seats for an upgrade at the gate?

Also, I'm assuming that if there are still seats available tomorrow Delta will probably upgrade PM and DM members with Y/B/M fares? Unfortunately my co-worker is not an elite member yet.

BTW, it's flight 264.

well you sort of answer your own question in your first paragraph. In it you said that there are a significant number of coach seats available. So, unless they oversell coach overnight then its a moot point. Non revs will get to enjoy the BE seats as well as those on buddy passes. Your co-worker, unless he ups to a y b m and upgrades using your miles or SWUs will be sitting in coach. Other then that the empty BE seats will remain empty

I have never known Delta to offer Buy-ups to BE, the Seats will go out empty or filled with Non revs, there are no free upgrades to BE for anyone unless coach is overbooked then they are supposed to upgrade based on status.

Non-revs.

You will be surprised @ how many non-revs there are... Expect for your flight to be at least 80% full in J.

DL refuses to upgrade DM/PM/etc, because they want to preserve the "value" or "integrity" of their BusinessElite product... But, I am not sure how placing non-revs into J preserves the value of the J cabin.

BINGO. I won't get started on this, but there is a LOT that can be said for the exclusive and "high valued" premium cabins of internationally based airlines when you can look at the seat-map 1 hour before the flight and know there will be empty seats, that the only passengers you will be sharing your space with will be those that either a)upgraded from an expensive coach fare b)bought the ticket with miles/money c) have status with the airline and were upgraded (though this is very rare internationally IME).

Ill say it again though, this isnt a Delta problem, its a US-based airline problem.

I have not, nor will I ever, have a problem with employees traveling for free. Its placing them in premium cabins that I do not agree with.

Non-revs. Just as an FYI though; non-revs aren't upgraded, we don't have coach seats and are hoping to get BE. We clear directly into BE if there are open seats.

FWIW, BA has the same policy. BA will not upgrade unless Y/Y+ is over booked or you are on an upgradeable ticket and you must do that via BA reservations, it cannot be done at the airport.

Dave

bad word choice on my part

It's seems to be a common misuse from what I read on here.

I can't believe Delta allows employees to fly for free in BE. I understand they want to maintain perceived value by forcing PM and DM members to purchase expensive coach fares and burn SWU certs vs taking care of your loyal customers by periodically bumping them up regardless of ybm fare.


Employees should fly In economy unless they pay for the fare or all elite members have cleared.

Allowing people to purchase upgrades would be great as well since it allows Delta to attempt to sell the tickets up to the last. More $ for shareholders.

Based on chatting with some of my OUS employees, non-US airlines have much better customer service, cabins and are usually priced more competively for Business class seats. Maybe it's time to check out others next time I fly to Asia or Europe.

I respect but strongly disagree with your position. BE travel on a space available basis is an employee benefit. Let's not forget Nonrevs can get left behind. It's a gamble they play. Either way, this subject has been discussed on FT on numerous occasions. Let's not go there

For the life of me I can't figure out any rational reason that non-revs should not be seated in C. It's not like this opens up a space for us. That's the choice airlines made and loyal customers don't in any way deserve to be upgraded. If they decided to do that, great, but obviously they prefer not to give away such pricey freebies except under overbooked conditions.

It's a contract bennie for non-revs, apparently, and it's kind of weird to begrudge them that. Inappropriate elitism.

how many hours per week and how many weeks per year must one work to get the free travel?

I'd work like 2 hrs per week 5 months out of the year to get unlimited travel, but that's only because i have a strong work ethic.