I hope someone does realize that if First Class was only for upgrades, it would probably not be worth it to have a First Class anyways in the cabin. And it could also be a chicken and egg problem, possibly if all US Airlines in general cut down on F upgrades to what their Asian Counterparts do, then maybe employees who travel 100k miles a year or 100 segments will be able to argue it out for J class tickets. Yes some won`t, but most companies in US know, that their employees are being paid for Y and flying in F

First Class Monetization, or FCM: The Definitive Thread
 

There have been many discussions about the difficulty using AMEX FC companion Certs. The problem now is that typing in a cert number will result in the fare doubling or even tripling. Spoke with the Diamond Desk, Promotions desk and Sup over at On-Line support. The bottom line is that AMEX (Supervisor said this is an AMEX rule) will not allow the cert to be used with coach up fares (FCM fares). When you look up an A fare for a route it is a coach up A fare such as H-up or K-up. When you enter cert number, the computer will only search "True A fares". So in a nutshell, a person who has never flown Delta can buy two(or three) A fare FC tickets cheaper that a DM with a cert can buy one ticket that qualifies for the cert. I didnt believe this but after checking with multiple people, this is the answer I got. The supervisor, who was very nice and patient with me by the way, suggested that these certs may be of more value buying coach tickets.

I have yet been able to use the 2for1 FC certs and consider them a non-benefit and just a marketing gimick.

I didn't know there was a "true" A fare as opposed to a -up fare which booked into the A bucket. I thought all A fares were -up fares.

Either way, that is terrible.

This was new to me too. If you choose "A fare or above" on Delta.com it still gives an -up fare. The A fares returned when using the certs were described as "Discount true FC tickets instead of deeply discounted coach up fares." pricing them out they are about 5% cheaper than full F but are non-refundable. So for this "True A" fare, not only do you pay more for the two tickets, only one of you gets mileage credit. Also, if you have to reschedule the flight, you may lose the cert.

So weird. Another reason for me not to upgrade my AMEX to Plat.

Reserve... Plat gets a free coach ticket only....

I was able to use the cert for A fares exactly once. Many years of trying, the rules kept changing. Some years blackout dates, some no black out dates, etc. I just looked it up and it was a TUP fare, booked last Aug.

Have had zero luck using it this year.

Have used mine in the past for -up fares also. I was told that they (AMEX) have never allowed this????? Looks like this is here to stay. BTW, not all city pairs double or triple the price. All were more expensive with the cert, but some less so than others, so check your pair (Yes I said it!!!!)

I used the AMEX Certs earlier this year to buy an A fare from GRR to LAS (for the 4th of July weekend) and it allowed me to do so. Knowing that others had issues, I also tried to book a flight (paying for it) to see what the fare shoud be and it gave me the exact same price as using the AMEX CERT. I just looked at the ticket and it seems to be and H-UP fare as the fare basis shows as HA00UPNN/NN1X. So it seemed to work for me on April 10th of this year.

I tend to agree a lot of Benefits are listed but the reality is they are not that usable.

GRR - LAS 8/19 - 8/21 without cert $882, with cert $962
SDF - LAS 8/19/- 8/21 without cert $946, with cert $2225

Some routes are better than others. Delta says that some routes have been "discounted" more heavily in first class and these new discounted fares do not qualify for the cert.

Total incorrect info from the agent. I currently have the first class companion cert booked for a trip in A/D, and when I look at the basis it is H-UP and M-UP for the segments.

The issue regarding the price going 2x or more then trying to use the cert is due to a combination of technical issue with the booking engine (big surprise) and the proper fare basis not being loaded in the system... in particular this shows up with P fares since the system is supposed to book them as A at the same price but often doesn't.

I had the same problem before I booked my ticket... ended up sending an email to a contact who escalated it and some short time later the fares magically appeared correctly so the amex ticket was about the same price as the single FC ticket.

Unfortunately with the prevalence of the P fares this is causing lots of problems and it appears to be all Delta system related and is not an Amex restriction.

I used two of the certs two or so years ago, and at the time there was a technical problem using the booking engine that prevented the correct fares from being shown/booked -- it would be 2x+ the normal A-fare. Back then, they allowed me to call them (if I remember correctly, I had to talk to someone in the promotions department), and they booked the tickets at the normal A fare. I do not know if they have changed the rules, or if the same technical problem is occurring. But if the rules have in fact changed, this is yet another useless "benefit"

Same problem with the fare doubling. I don't think I am renewing my DL Reserve AmEx.