Evan!

Personally I am glad that my name appears on the list even when it is way way down in rank for only a few open seats. If the upgrade list were to cut-off at, lets say, 10 more than the available seat then I might not see my name and I might wonder if I had not been properly placed on the list at all.

My understanding is the list is ordered in the following manner. However I think some changes were made recently and I did not keep up with those threads so any corrections to my order below would be appreciated:

1) Medallion Status
2) Ticket fare class (used as tie breaker for #1)
3) Time of booking (used as tie breaker for #2 and used as tie breaker when #1 and #2 are identical)

I am PM so when I see 4 available seats and my name at number 17 on the list I can't help but wonder to myself..... "Hmmm, are those other 16 people really ALL Platinums? And if so, did they ALL buy tickets in a higher fare class than mine?" I suppose its true.

Again, please correct me if I am wrong. I always thought that as a PM on a T fare I would trump a GM on a Y fare... or at least trump a GM on a K fare.

True?

WBurcham

You are right.

There was one time that I was on an B fare and was #13 (or so) for 1 seat out of MLB. I had a hard time believing that there were 12 full fare medallion pax ahead of me but there were!

GBadger

Let's hear it for double EQM (excuse me, MQM) promos!!! (ducks)

majorwibi

Full fare Y (except YCA which is the Govt Fare) beats all based on the updated upgrade rankings posted here a couple of months ago. A standard PM on a non-Y fare sits as a UP3, a GM as a UP4 and a FO as a UP5. So a PM on a T should trump a GM on a K...

El Boocho

Nope. FO on a Y trumps a PM on a B.

Flying_Duck

I was flying on an MD90 (or 88) from SNA-SLC Monday, full flight. I got upgraded at the 5 day window and the FC cabin showed full on the day of travel. My wife, an FO, was on a separate ticket and did not get upgraded, but was on the upgrade list. We were flying with two of our sons (no status) on yet another separate ticket and as I had to work, she went to 27a/b/c (good exit row seats) with the kids. The flight took off with one empty FC seat. Had it not been for the fact that she would rather sit with the kids in coach than in FC alone/with me on this short flight, I would have made some noise, but did not. Based on this thread, I doubt she was the only medaillion sitting in coach, and thus this goes to show, that DL does not always try to fill the last FC seat with a medaillion, even if there are bonified Medaillions in the back who were on the upgrade list.

Evan!

OK, so if you take Y fares out of the mix then Medallion status is the #1 criterium. This explains a lot. I am not complaining mind you. For 2008 I have an 83.3% upgrade success*.

T=5, U=12, L=5, Q=7, K=11, H=3, and M=1. With so many being L, U, and T fares I have to thank Delta for making PM so lucrative for upgrades.


*[I don't count PMU certs or "A" fares in this percentage]

Evan!

Did you take a good look a the person sitting next to empty FC seat? Celebrities have been known to buy the seat next to them as well as their own seat. Granted the person might not have been a celebrity but anonymous rich people don't need to worry about gushing fans sitting next to them but I am sure some still want their (pseudo) solitude.

I am sure it happens (empty seats in FC with upgradeable pax in the back) but I bet it's rare.

Flying_Duck

Good point! - At the risk of being insensitive - I would say it was an average looking 50'ish slightly overweight woman - certainly no one I recognized - but then again if she was a lead Heavy Metal Band celebrity I wouldn't anyways

CJKatl

Yesterday, while trying to SB for DFW-ATL, I observed Flight 2210 with 78 of 128 Coach Passengers on the UG list. Was fascinated at the swarm of people when Zones 1 and 2 were each called. Was more fascinated by the mid-fifties woman who insisted on standing at the end of the boarding rope letting each person get in front of her while she waited for Zone 4 to board.

Other observations from watching four flights board while I tried to do SB:

The GA did make an announcement that people's bags would have to fit in the Size-Wise, but they didn't make anyone actually do this until Zone 3 started boarding.

The flights actually boarded very quickly. Hats of to the DFW gate crew, who handled this crush perfectly, never let anything get out of control or any customer get upset. MSP and DTW crews should be sent down to DFW to observe how the boarding process should happen. Especially noteworthy is how good the DFW team is at keeping everyone in the gate area aware of what's going on in terms of when UGs and SBs would clear, getting people to volunteer to gate-check bags and making sure that everyone was ready to board when they got in line to board.

AndyTLe

I think we have a winner. This has to be one of the longest upgrade lists I've heard of.

BobH

One of those flights where non elites without luggage should have been allowed to board first.

<lol>

Bob H

bubbashow

Let's give away more "Elite" status. Makes you feel really special, and a real reward for flying with DL. I think its time to make "Elite" or whatever it really is 50,000 mqms or above. That is ridiculous.

SoCal

My wife and I purchased tickets on a roundtrip international and domestic trip,for mid-June (going) and early July (return), that included the opportunity to upgrade to Biz/First (paid with cash and miles). We got upgraded on all segements right away except for an Atlanta-LAX flight June 15. I was hoping we could get upgraded on that as well, but seeing this makes me think our chances could be slim to none. Oh well.

With people bring on larger carry-on bags to get around the checked baggage fees, and the total exceeding what the overhead bins were designed to hold, more and more people try to get on board before their group is called. Airines still aren't cracking down on carry-on bag size. I've heard they don't want to get into arguments with the passengers with the big bags, figuring those who play by the "rules" (out of consideration for others) will just suffer in silence.

mike_plat

I would imagine SkyPriority is part of the problem on the DTW-ATL flight. How do you maintain order when there are at least 78 people in Zones 1 and 2, not to mention the speed bump/gate louse you mentioned?