I guess the positive here is that it looks like Bubbashow has actually made some new friends here!

:)

As someone who also has dropped from DM to PM, my track record this year is yet to be determined. I'm just not in the position where I can (or would) gouge my clients with full Y fare tickets.

I am not one of those folks who feel that, as long as I am taken care of, there is nothing to worry about... that others be damned.

If I was getting UG'd 100% of the time (for now) but saw a bad trend getting worse for others, I'd still have comments on the continued degradation of SM.

Right now it is "Devil take the hindmost" but I must expect that sooner or later we all are going to be negatively impacted, as DL management continue to push the envelop with respect to trimming back SM.

You folks who assert that reducing some FC UGs via FCM is good business, for consistency, must surely be willing to agree that forgoing all FC UGs in favor FCM is also good business... even the UGs that you would have otherwise received... even with the purchase of a full Y fare.

Correct?

Correct. I'm not going to pretend to like it if I've dished out thousands of $$ for a seat in Y, but it is good business for the airline that can sell all of their seats.

Yes they should. Sometimes it may take calling back to get an agent who will waive it, however generally they will waive for a change that involves 'buying up' to the next cabin.

Yes- I've done this a couple of times recently. As long as it results in a net increase in price it should be easy. If the result is a decrease in cost, they'll probably still do it, but it may take a couple of calls.

Interesting how flawlessly and seamlessly Delta has executed the new FCM revenue stream, yet fixing the award calendar and fare presentment is just too darn hard :rolleyes:

Are you a Delta hub captive, SHiB?

As we know, the calendar is not broken.

It (mal)functions precisely as intended.

Except I don't think their goal is to sell more cheap economy tickets. Planes today are generally full, so the goal is to extract more revenue per seat.

If they price coach lower and first higher they're going to get business travelers AND leisure travelers buying the cheapest coach fare. If they price as your example demonstrates the business traveler is still going to buy the expensive coach fare, and anyone with discretion will spend more to go First. The net result is more revenue.

Yeah it's kind of slimy but it makes money. That's ultimately what Delta's goal is though.

Indeed. By Delta's logic, AA has by far the worst award search functionality as featured here

No, I am not. I could become a USAir hub captive, but that thought sends shivers down my spine.

If anything, I am a captive of my own inertia.

At the same time, I generally appreciate the good service that DL front-line employees attempt to deliver, within the constraints imposed upon them by less customer-focused management. I have flown the airline for most of 40 years, and I have weathered through other mis-motivated, myopic management administrations... so I tend to hang around.

That, and I have nearly 1 MM miles that, every time I get an urge to use them, prove to be incredibly difficult to use on "equitable terms."

So, I naively continue to accumulate them under the theory that they would be even harder to use without the elite status that is retained through accumulating more miles.

I am not proud of the logic, but there it is. :D

Oh gosh - I think you just described the logic of the majority of the DL forum users here, myself included (although to a much smaller scale).:o

I completely agree. I came to the conclusion a while ago that loyalty just wasn't worth it anymore and the cheap a/p fares are worth the cost.

And wouldn't you know it, because of these low F fares(i'm assuming here), there were 4 children in first, along with their mother and father, who had a mileage plus tag on his bag.

It's a little hard not to be pissed that some potential upgrades disppeared(there was 1 f seat available at check in) and went to kids on cheap a fares, and of course they would have bought a fares, because they were cheaper than coach fares. I'm sorry, but this doesn't seem like a 2 way street when it comes to loyalty.

Oh, and i know it's was an eastward flight, but total flight time from denver to atl was ~2:05. That's fast!

How do you know what fare they paid?