Same Status, Same Fare Codes, Different Time of Booking
 

I am curious if anyone has ran into this situation:

My friend and I are both DL Gold and soon to be DL Platinum in mid-November. We booked tickets with the same fare code from the land of many insurance companies to the land of birds. My friend was upgraded 48 hours out. I was not upgraded. The only difference was the time of booking (i.e., a 3-hour difference). Finally, we both carry DL Platinum cards, not the Reserve.

We looked at Expert Flyer and called DL at 48 hours out from flight departure. Five seats were still available for upgrades. At 24 hours out, we called again, and the number had been reduced to two seats. I still was not upgraded. My question is has anyone experienced this issue with upgrades? If so, why do you think this has happened other than the time of booking issue?

Thanks in advance!

Time of booking matters in upgrade priority.(Assuming fare class and status are the same, as they are here.)

Are you saying that there are for seats were five seats left for upgrades based on the seat map/first class availability or were you checking the V/X availability?

If it was indeed V/X and you didn't clear, when the ticket was booked it may not have had the upgrade requested. There's a DL issue as well that sometime will list it as upgrade eligible as opposed to requested.

Thank you for quick response! We checked both the V/X and the seat map.

Had a similar situation yesterday. Husband & I are both DL Plat. We booked our tickets literally seconds from each other. Didn't get the upgrade before check-in. Got to the airport, and I was upgraded, he was not. He was actually #5 on the list... I protested that there must be something wrong, and the GA just said "yes, we must have upgraded you in error, I can have a look at your boarding pass and put you back in coach if you'd like". I politely refused, noted the GA's name and boarded...

If fare class and status are the same, the tie-breakers are:
#1 If you are a Delta Reserve Amex card holder.
#2 Time of request usually at ticketing. Ex 2130-FEB-28 (TTTT-MM-DD)

It may be too late now, but check your reservations to see if DL thinks you didn't request an upgrade. There have been a number of cases where the upgrade request has mysteriously been switched off.:mad: See this thread for examples.