seanmh

Newly FO this year and I was quite surprised at the trip I took last week where all 6 legs were upgraded anywhere from 36-48 hours before departure. Including my girlfriend without status!

I wanted to see if someone could share some insight as to why so many consecutive times? All of my flights were full (mostly?). Do you need flight numbers in order to gain more info?

Mon 02JUL
LV 6:10am ALBUQUERQUE
AR 7:47am SALT LAKE CITY DELTA 4441*
LV 8:30am SALT LAKE CITY
AR 8:55am LAS VEGAS DELTA 1483

Wed 04JUL
LV 12:15pm LAS VEGAS
AR 1:23pm LOS ANGELES DELTA 4817*
LV 2:00pm LOS ANGELES
AR 3:14pm SAN FRANCISCO DELTA 4678*

Fri 06JUL
LV 4:44pm SAN FRANCISCO
AR 7:25pm SALT LAKE CITY DELTA 4588*
LV 8:18pm SALT LAKE CITY
AR 9:55pm ALBUQUERQUE DELTA 4615*

readywhenyouare

Very nice! Don't let the people here get you down. There are plenty of opportunities for upgrades out there, it just takes a little effort. To hear some of the people on this website talk they make it sound like upgrades for anyone other than DM or PM is impossible. That is just not the case in my experience.

PRWeezer

Holiday week likely contributed to your success, not as many road warriors were on the road. But hope the upgrades continue for you!

rsoxtim

Very nice! I was Silver for about a year until I recently made Gold for the first time. Reading the forums here, you'd think Silvers NEVER get upgraded but I got it about 5x as a silver. Great to hear your success!

nystateofmind

Holiday week plays a role, but FO upgrades are not impossible. My father (who is FO) is batting 100% this year JFK-DCA R/T when traveling with my non-status mother. Only time he has missed an upgrade on that route when flying an aircraft equipped with F was when he was traveling with 2 non-status companions and even if upgraded would have declined it because one of the companions was his elderly mother

milehighflyer

IMO the big factor here is 4th of July week. Since many companies are closed (or the workforce is just on vacation) one or more days during a holiday week, it usually doesn't make sense for business traveler to make a visit to a client site. Meaning business travel, and the high level elites that go along with it, is much lower those weeks.

For example, I took last week off for the exact reason I just mentioned, and went to NY for vacation. I just flew LGA-ATL-DEN on Friday afternoon (LGA-ATL being arguably an elite heavy route) and DL was trying to sell UGs at the gate (which means to me they had already cleared every Medallion upgrade and had seats left over). I also ended up flying standby on an earlier ATL-DEN flight and had no problem getting the UG (again I noticed DL was trying to sell the UGs at the gate).

NYCflip

I agree, very nice! I became an FO for the first time this year also and was 8/12 at upgrades. The people here at FT are great at giving you tips on how to score better chances at upgrades (non-elite heavy routes, travel on certain days, holidays, and at certain times of the day). The more flexible you are, the better the chances.

Seems like the flights you took were either on a holiday (when business travel is low/lots of families flying), or short frequent flights. I don't fly those routes if ever, as I'm based on the east coast, so I'm sure someone else here can give you better insight.

dcline414

+1

The Monday morning and Friday evening upgrades would NOT have cleared for a GM, much less an FO and companion, if not for the mid-week holiday.

Congrats though... you've now had more upgrades than this GM has had in a lifetime (okay, 3 years) of flying non-LUT fares on Delta!

dl767captain

Nice! I'm usually on SAN-ATL or ATL-CHS which are so elite heavy that even as a GM I'm number 38. I've had good luck on milage runs SAN-LAX-PHX however. Only time I've been upgraded for a long flight was LAX-ATL on Christmas day, thankfully it was the 77LR

pitbulllover

I agree. On three of my four flights last week, I sat next to DL employees in first. And one of those was ATL-SNA, which has been documented here as a very difficult upgrade even for a Diamond. I should have had the foresight to not buy the infamous P fare for last week.

It all depends on routes/times/days and circumstances and hoping your upgrades keep for you!

seanmh

The holiday week makes senese now. I was thinking just because it was full or near full I wouldn't get an upgrade but I should think about how many elites.

Thanks guys!

Deemus7

I always enjoy traveling with my wife around the holidays (she's GM, but we rarely both make an upgrade on non-holiday flights). We both cleared at the window flying PBI-LGA on Friday June 29th...in fact, the MD88 went out with 5 of the 16 F seats open! Hoping for similar luck on MCO-ATL-CLE and back over Thanksgiving.

rrz518

I always had good luck (as a Silver) from ABQ to ATL. That was a while ago, though.

MSPeconomist

Just to be sure you understand: if you are on the same PNR with two non elite passengers, you will not get an upgrade.

rwoman

Glad to see you have good upgrade luck, seanmh!