FlyerTalk Forums - First Class Monetization, or FCM: The Definitive Thread

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- - First Class Monetization, or FCM: The Definitive Thread (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta-air-lines-skymiles/1230437-first-class-monetization-fcm-definitive-thread.html)

Just checked an upcoming flight I have in 6 days (after seeing this post). I am being offered business for $800 for the entire trip. When I look at the seat map on the leg that matters currently 2/26 seats are occupied on outbound and 5/26 on return. Both seat maps show lots of preferred and EC seats open. This would lead me to believe there are lots of non-medallions on the flight so my chances are better than normal. Think I will stay put.

There are multiple threads on this issue. How many more do we need?

I want to upgrade just one leg of my trip to first not the whole thing. Wishw e could do that online.

I was offered a $150 upgrade on my LAX-SEA flight in September. In the interests of research, I took it. FC was empty on both flights (757) when I went to choose seats. Final charge was as advertised.

I may need to SDC on both legs and this will give me a lot more flexibility...

Quote:

Originally Posted by ND76 (Post 22996686)

I got a similar screen when I looked at my next trip itinerary on delta.com, except that they wanted $912.00 to upgrade to F (I'm going to Alaska this week). When I just looked at delta.com, they were offering upgrades to economy comfort (except that I am already seated in EC on the five segments where I haven't been upgraded).

FC monetization is a sad fact of life for those of us who buy advance purchase tickets. It has caused situations like this: I was on a DCA-MSP-STL routing a few weeks ago; when I left DCA, there were 7 open seats out of 12 on the MSP-STL sector; I was #3 on the UG list. At flight time, exactly one person got upgraded MSP-STL. There may have been other causes, such as passengers who misconnected and were moved up front. I'm guessing that there is a walk-up ticket market on this route, and that the difference between Y and F was negligible.

Hopefully by the end of this month I will have gotten the AMEX 25k "MQD waiver" out of the way and will be a PM for at least the next 19 months. We'll see how much better the upgrade situation is then.

Don't count on being PM as being better, the 5 day window isn't opening up either and I am seeing as a DM the same things you are and 0 seats at T2. It is a combination of FCM and the new F SDC that is making UGs nearly impossible.

Thanks, OP! Like, you, I've been using PWM or buying discounted First when there was a reasonable difference for the flight, but on my two most recent bookings the difference of several hundred dollars wasn't worth it to me.

Thanks to this post I just checked my next 2 trips. I was offered the opportunity to upgrade from BOS-PBI this Wednesday for $549....pass.
For the next trip (PBI-ATL-ORD), an offer to upgrade for $95.50 popped up and I took it. The first segment is an A320 and only 3 seats were still available in First with 9 days left till flight-time. When I bought this ticket a few days ago, seem to recall the advance purchase A fare was around $400 more than my ticket.

I've got the offer for a $274 upgrade on an X fare of $244 for a ~3 hour flight on a 319. That's $.10 /mi on my original which I consider to be high (I'm at $.07 ytd).

Since I don't drink the booze or eat the food in F (especially on 6AM flights), it's an awful lot to pay for a little extra room. I'll pass.

I'll probably get the UG's anyway since there are 10/12 and 5/12 open and my UG's on this route are 5/6 plus 6 WFBF's so far this year.

Man, all I'm getting is an offer for $400 to UG a trip that is 1.5 hrs each way, and an upsell to EC for flights on which I'm already confirmed in EC seats.

The rest of my flights this week are all either sold out in F or I've already got window UGs.

So, any guesses as to what may trigger the buy-up offer? DM/PM? Within 7 days of travel? I'm assuming y'all are seeing these for trips happening soon.

I just checked, and all of my upcoming domestic flights have buy-up offers (at varying prices that don't seem to correlate to anything easily observable).

Just booked SFO-BUF-BUF for next week. Paid $710 for a Q/H fare while F was offered on a A/P fare for $1,110. Immediately after booking I see the UG to F offer for $341. Close to what it would have cost to book F originally, but slighly less. Also looks like no MQM/RDM bonus, and you'd earn based on the originally purchased fare.

T&C after I click to UG. Note that when I try to click on the Fare Rules link, it opens the window but says "fare rules unavailable".

Quote:

The advertised price is not an offer and is subject to change. When you click Complete Purchase, you agree to accept all Fare Rules for each flight, and all terms in Delta's applicable Contract of Carriage. No contract exists until you receive confirmation that payment was received and processed, and you have received a ticket number for each confirmed passenger. Upgrades may only be purchased for Delta- or Delta Connections- operated flights, must be more than 24 hours prior to departure of the initial segment of the itinerary, and are not available for Award Tickets and certain discounted and exception fares. Additional eligibility restrictions may apply in Delta's sole discretion. All passengers and segments must be upgraded to First/Business class within the confirmation number, except in instances where the aircraft has only an Economy cabin. Since the original ticket is being reissued , the prior ticket number is no longer valid and will be superseded by your new ticket number. Rules of your initial reservation will apply regardless of whether rules that would otherwise apply to the fare class of your upgraded ticket are less restrictive, i.e. changeability/refundability. Upgraded tickets are eligible for additional mileage, MQM, and MQD accruals due to the selection of First/Business class cabin and associated fare class and the increase in base fare or carrier imposed surcharges paid in connection with your upgrade. All SkyMiles program rules apply to SkyMiles program membership, miles, offers, mile accrual, mile redemption and travel benefits, respectively. To review the rules, please visit Membership Guide & Program Rules. If you purchased trip insurance when purchasing your Economy Class ticket, your benefits under the trip insurance policy are limited to those applicable under your Economy Class ticket. Prices, offers, rules, and benefits are subject to change. We reserve the right to assign or reassign your upgraded seat at any time, even after boarding of the aircraft, for operational, safety or security reasons. The final decision resides with the ground staff and the operating crew on the day of the flight. Refunds will be issued to any reassigned customer if the customer is not moved to a comparable or better seat. No refund will be provided for any previously purchased ancillary product such as Priority Boarding or Economy Comfort seating.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sethb (Post 23004560)

I just checked, and all of my upcoming domestic flights have buy-up offers (at varying prices that don't seem to correlate to anything easily observable).

How far away are those trips (in time)? I have a JFK-LAS-ATL trip scheduled for Dec 25-Jan 3 and there is no buy up offer posted.

In fact, I am wait-listed for an upgrade on miles on the JFK-LAS segment. It is Christmas Day, I expect the plane to be almost empty (currently only 5 seats, including mine, are reserved and none of these are in FC) but Revenue Management is not allowing mileage upgrades.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dovster (Post 23004673)

Could it be fare restriction? I've got a SJC-SEA flight in July booked in T class that it doesn't show up for. However that's also with my wife and son, so there might not be enough U/G inventory.

Quote:

Originally Posted by roknroll (Post 23004665)

Well that's a bummer. And for me, it would make it pretty pointless. F isn't a huge step up from Y. When I buy an FCM fare, it's because it's a reasonable and slight difference in cost, and the bonus miles make it more justifiable. I'm not going to shell out more money to get the same amount of miles. I'm fine with not getting extra miles on a medallion upgrade, but buying up to an FCM fare and not getting the COS bonus? No thanks.

sethb, so by "upcoming" do you mean in the next few weeks? Are you traveling alone? Are they all domestic?

Quote:

Originally Posted by roknroll (Post 23004701)

Could it be fare restriction? I've got a SJC-SEA flight in July booked in T class that it doesn't show up for. However that's also with my wife and son, so there might not be enough U/G inventory.

No, I have a K fare for the JFK-LAS segment. I do have a T fare for LAS-ATL, so even if there was U/G inventory available I would not be eligible for it.