I've found it's always better to call, particularly after you verify that there are front cabin seats open on the flights you want

Flying LGA->CHS in July. Current offer is $149.50 to upgrade. I'm strongly considering it especially as I may need to check three bags so i'd be saving money on that 3rd bag anyhow and $50 each way seems decent even for a short flight.

That said, theyre also giving me the offer to upgrade for 14,950 miles. I know that's not considered a good use of points but I have more points than I need these days and with a toddler at home I don't see any long haul J travel in the near future. If I were to use these miles to upgrade would I still get the 50% bonus MQM? I know its not much on a ~600 mile flight but it may be the factor on if i use miles vs cash.

Thanks.

no, UG with miles doesn't earn any extra ... the only way to finesse miles into more miles is to use Pay-With-Miles if you have the DL AmEx

At the miserable rate of a penny a point, I would not use the term "finesse" when talking about Pay-With-Miles. I would consider that to be "brutalizing" one's way to more miles. :rolleyes:

Completely agree there's better uses for miles than this. That said, i have ~270k miles in my account. With a toddler at home, being in the process of buying a house and hopefully another child on the way in the next 12-18 months I don't see us being able to redeem miles for a big trip in J anytime soon.

Last 2 redemptions were Delta One tickets to Sao Paolo and Seoul/Tokyo where I easily earned 3-4 cents per mile. Sadly i'm going to be wasting miles this fall to visit the in-laws near PBI at something not much better than a penny a mile.

That said, if i'm not getting the bonus MQM i'll just pay the $99 ($149 minus $50 savings in bag fees).

:D:D Sorry I know it I is OT but that was big grin worthy. ;)

The rules are changing not to allow that.

Says who/when?

Says no one with any sort of publicized facts or information to back up their claims.

I wouldn't be surprised if DL tweaked the SDC rules to disallow changes onto D1 routes in most cases, but until they actually update the rules, I assume that it is business as usual.

I just bought my first FCM offer, and reading the last 10 pages of this thread, learned more about SDC than I ever suspected was possible before. So I'll just say thanks to those who provide help here, and ask if there should be a wiki, but maybe not, to not help the airline clip our wings of possible benefits.

This really is my first exploration of FCM, and I'll just say 'sorry' to all those who have worked hard for status, but it looks like I should target staying FO, not only to save my overloaded MQMs, but to buy FCMs when available, and to use SDC, for a better scheduled time and the same U/G equivalent value.

Delta is really devaluing loyalty -- the subject of this thread -- and I am somewhat caught in the middle, as a semi-retired personal budget traveler at a half million miles.

Reason I haven't had FCM before , is because flying my usual international doesn't seem to offer FCMs, and I've been regularly upgraded as FO, or bought cheap FC, but my domestic positioning does seem to offer FCM, especially on OWs, and so I want to thank those who offer tips along the way (reading from page 200) and now I have a new variable in my travel planning. THANKS!

XXX-JFK-LAX June, Y+FCM or J outright?
 

I got a chance to either just pay $200 for the XXX-JFK-LAX in mid June or $570-$600 for the J fare straight out. That price range is very, very enticing, but I am not sure if I should go to get the economy fare first, and look at the FCM offer. I am not entirely sure if the FCM offer to get up to D1 will be cheaper than getting the J fare right away.

Anyone had the experience of getting the FCM fare of less than $400 with DL JFK-LAX/SFO before?

Buy coach and worst case is you call in to upfare for the difference between coach and biz.

I have occasionally seen WAS-JFK-LAX as low as ~$520, but I'd almost certainly pay $570-$600

that said (and putting on my gamer's hat), I've also seen G/A/P fares as low as $325 (LAX-RDU-BWI redeye) ... the important thing is that I'll only book a flight I'm actually willing to take if the SDC options don't pan out


except that difference is apt to be a lot greater the closer you get to day of travel

Yeah, I was alluding to FCMing (?) either right after purchase or close to it. I should have spelled that out.

DL just offered me FCM for my whole flight MSP-DAY CRJ and DAY-DTW CRJ and then DTW-MSP A319. Whole flight for $90. Give me a break