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AMEX Delta Companion certificate Consolidated Thread

AMEX Delta Companion certificate Consolidated Thread

Old Dec 6, 2010, 6:10 am
  #31  
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AmEx Plat

Originally Posted by dontflydeltawithamex
I have a Platinum Delta Skymiles with AMEX card that "gives" a companion certificate annually as a benefit. This year I wanted to use that companion certificate to take my family out to Colorado to go skiing in February. I checked Delta on-line to purchase 4 tickets using FF skymiles and then tried to book 2 more tickets using the companion certificate. When I attempted to book the ticket I was told that the flight was not available in the Fare class requested. However, when I tried to book the ticket and "pay with miles" using the AMEX card and FF miles the flight was available. I checked the terms and conditions of the certificate and it states that all travel must be in the U or L class of service - which this ticket was doing. Well, an unwritten stipulation is that all legs of the trip must be in the U or L class of service even though the terms and conditions of the certificate do not state this. Moral of the story is this - don't buy the AMEX Delta skymiles card if you think you'll be able to use the companion certificate as a benefit. To make matters worse - I called Delta to file a complaint and they told me it was due to AMEX terms. So, I called and emailed AMEX - they in turn told me the certificate was the property of Delta. So much for companies being accountable for the products they sell. Once I use all my FF miles with Delta I will move my business to AmericanAirlines and never fly Delta again. I will also tear up my AMEX! Shame on you AMEX and Delta!!!
I have had an AmEx DL Plat card for a decade and think it is great, including the companion benefit. One must, of course, plan ahead. There are few last-minute seats available. My wife accompanies me to a meeting in the U.S. each July and we have had no problems at all. In fact, our summer trip to AZ was great; on the first legs were were upgraded to FC and my wife, the companion, received SkyMiles.
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Old Dec 6, 2010, 6:48 am
  #32  
 
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Originally Posted by nypdLieu
upgrades are not available for the companion.
That's what the T&C says - however wife who is GM and myself were both upgraded on a recent trip using the cert. The upgraded came at T-3 - the GM window.
There is a recent thread that verifies that it's not that uncommon.
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Old Dec 6, 2010, 8:22 am
  #33  
 
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Originally Posted by Tomphot
That's what the T&C says - however wife who is GM and myself were both upgraded on a recent trip using the cert. The upgraded came at T-3 - the GM window.
There is a recent thread that verifies that it's not that uncommon.
+1. We were both upgraded when we used my certificates a couple of months ago on several segements. It even showed 'upgrade requested' on the itinerary until we cleared at the gate.

It appears to be a flaw in the recent change to the companion upgrade being allowed on LUT fares, but I'm not complaining
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Old Dec 6, 2010, 8:33 am
  #34  
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If anyone missed it, I believe what the OP is refering to is that the booking system requires that segments be in the same fare class. So, all segments of your outgoing trip has to be in L for example... they can't be mixed T + L. It allows the outgoing and return portions to be different as long as the connecting segments for the respective travel day are the same.

Now, the issue I've had is this can cause some strange problem when trying to book with the reserve first class companion cert. That one allows you to book in A... however if one of the segments is on a RJ with no F cabin then it appears to only work if there is L available on that flight.
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Old Dec 6, 2010, 10:23 am
  #35  
 
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Originally Posted by 18sas
Yes, so why can't the ticket be booked in the lowest common fare code for both segments?

Is this a case where the agent didn't think things through?

I'm assuming that you still have to call to use the companion cert. I haven't used one for years.
i believe the only requirement is that there be some availability in either T, U, or L for all segments. my impression is the OP was looking at an itinerary that had one leg in TUL and another leg in K+, which clearly won't work.

and no phone agents need be involved. the process can be completed entirely on delta.com

Originally Posted by rylan
If anyone missed it, I believe what the OP is refering to is that the booking system requires that segments be in the same fare class. So, all segments of your outgoing trip has to be in L for example... they can't be mixed T + L. It allows the outgoing and return portions to be different as long as the connecting segments for the respective travel day are the same.
i definitely used my comp certificate last october on a trip that had T available on the first leg and only L and up on the second leg of the outbound. not a problem.
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Old Dec 6, 2010, 12:03 pm
  #36  
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Maybe they changed something since then. Last year the online system wasn't really working fully correctly either, and call agents would help with a lot of the bookings. This year when I came across the issue, I escelated it up and was told that the segments have to match... ie no 'broken' fares for an outbound or return. Supposedly the online booking system won't return results unless the segments are the same now.
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Old Dec 6, 2010, 5:21 pm
  #37  
 
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Originally Posted by rylan
Maybe they changed something since then. Last year the online system wasn't really working fully correctly either, and call agents would help with a lot of the bookings. This year when I came across the issue, I escelated it up and was told that the segments have to match... ie no 'broken' fares for an outbound or return. Supposedly the online booking system won't return results unless the segments are the same now.
Agree with this. Used companion certificate last week. Wouldn't let me book T/L on outbound. Seems the system is working correctly in this regard.
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Old Dec 6, 2010, 6:26 pm
  #38  
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Originally Posted by gatorbluedevil
Agree with this. Used companion certificate last week. Wouldn't let me book T/L on outbound. Seems the system is working correctly in this regard.
I would suggest the system is working "as designed" ... which, in terms of customer satisfaction, may or may not be the same as "correctly"

I think the term is "married segments" for AAA-BBB-CCC travel: the O/D trip (AAA-CCC) has to be available in a single inventory (L/U/T)
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Old Dec 6, 2010, 7:11 pm
  #39  
 
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Originally Posted by jrl22
I would suggest the system is working "as designed" ... which, in terms of customer satisfaction, may or may not be the same as "correctly"

I think the term is "married segments" for AAA-BBB-CCC travel: the O/D trip (AAA-CCC) has to be available in a single inventory (L/U/T)
This has been my experience (With the Gold cert)

JFK-PHX - booked in U; PHX-ATL-JFK - in L. The checkin agent was able to do a co-terminal change and fly me into LGA, which made for a much more pleasant arrival time and a shorter commute home
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Old Dec 6, 2010, 7:14 pm
  #40  
 
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Originally Posted by GaryO3
+1. We were both upgraded when we used my certificates a couple of months ago on several segements. It even showed 'upgrade requested' on the itinerary until we cleared at the gate.
The flaw might have been fixed with the recent web page improvements.
I was showing as "upgrade requested" before the switchover, but this disappeared with the new page design.
On OLCI and kiosk check-in, I was presented the option to request an upgrade, but I was never placed on the GIDS upgrade list. Scanning the BP at the 'missed your flight' machines showed a F standby though, for both me and the companion (GM)

Looks like the tap on the companion upgrades has been closed for good this time or at least until it is introduced as an enhancement.
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Old Dec 6, 2010, 7:49 pm
  #41  
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I think its absolutely reasonable to expect that an amex companion who is also a medallion member should be eligible for an upgrade. I hope that functionality still works, since it should be covered under the award ticket upgrade benefit that started a few months ago.
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Old Dec 6, 2010, 8:01 pm
  #42  
 
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I agree, but it looks like it's off-limits- either just in my case or for the time being

I will whine to DL - I should at least have _a shot_ at an upgrade

p.s. ticket and gate agents were trying - to no avail though...

Last edited by goodandclassy; Dec 6, 2010 at 8:08 pm
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Old Dec 6, 2010, 11:30 pm
  #43  
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Originally Posted by jrl22
MANY threads related to AmEx companion certificates ... wrt L/U/T my experience is that the same inventory has to be available on both legs of connecting trips (e.g., xxx-MSP in L connecting to MSP-yyy in T doesn't work)
Originally Posted by gatorbluedevil
I believe this is the problem that the OP was trying to explain (though not clearly). Let's say you are trying to book xxx-ATL-yyy on the outbound. xxx-ATL must be in the same fare class as ATL-yyy. If one is T and the other is L class, the certificate does not work. Same applies for return.
The same thing causes problems on revenue tickets. Some fare classses cannot be combined and attempting to force it by doing a multicity booking can result in a much higher fare.

Originally Posted by rylan
Maybe they changed something since then. Last year the online system wasn't really working fully correctly either, and call agents would help with a lot of the bookings. This year when I came across the issue, I escelated it up and was told that the segments have to match... ie no 'broken' fares for an outbound or return. Supposedly the online booking system won't return results unless the segments are the same now.
Originally Posted by jrl22
I would suggest the system is working "as designed" ... which, in terms of customer satisfaction, may or may not be the same as "correctly"

I think the term is "married segments" for AAA-BBB-CCC travel: the O/D trip (AAA-CCC) has to be available in a single inventory (L/U/T)
This is my understanding.

I've also seem the married segment rules come up in using SWUs or miles to upgrade; both segments can be available in upgrade inventory, but you can't have any upgrades when using both segments (unless you book it by breaking the fare, which then becomes much more expensive).

It's very frustrating.
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Old Dec 12, 2010, 11:59 am
  #44  
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Just used one Friday (saving $288 btw ) and noted two things:

1) The outbound I wanted was L and return was L but the system would not show the return flight I wanted after picking the outbound because it kept wanting to give me cheaper flights in U class (all 6 or 7 am flights). Somehow I got it to work by having it give me the outbound and returns together, selecting the return I wanted, and the outbound. And it gave it all in L.

2) My flights do not show upgrade requested or upgrade anything. No wording about upgrades at all. So I'm guessing no upgrades (as stated).

Last edited by MilesTalk; Dec 13, 2010 at 10:02 pm
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Old Dec 12, 2010, 12:31 pm
  #45  
 
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my dad has had no problem using this... no reading comprehension for the loss, lol
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