FlyingP3nguin

What's up with booking Virgin Australia flights with Delta miles? I thought if you found open seats on Virgin Australia that Delta phone reps should be able to book. That was not the case today.

bj27

No. Open seats does not = open fare availability for booking with miles, especially for booking through a partner.

You will need to find award fare availability in order to book with miles.

FlyingP3nguin

Sorry, I should have clarified. I found award seats on Virgin's website but no other partners like Delta, Etihad, etc. can see the seats.

The only Virgin award seats that open up are for flights within a week or two.

bj27

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think back in late-2015 Virgin Australia stopped releasing business class award availability in advance to partners, and only did it ~a week in advance.

mrredskin

I'd like to know this as well. Intra-Aussie and Inter-South Pacific awards do show on DL.com but is it legit?

bj27

I don't have much experience booking inter-south pacific, but for Intra-Aussie I remember when I was booking 3 months out (In September booking for December), there was availability on VA through Delta on the routes I wanted to go. Granted, it wasn't a good value since intra-Aussie seemed to price out at 22,500 miles one way in Y.

I do know the trans-pacific routes (think LAX-SYD), VA does not open up award availability (at least for J) more than 1-2 weeks in advance.... which is a shame

strickerj

Hi all!

I'm deliberating between the AmEx Skymiles Platinum and Reserve cards, specifically regarding the companion certificates:

Once the tickets are issued, can you buy up to C+ or F? (The terms indicate that complimentary medallion upgrades aren't available, but I can't find anything about paid upgrades.) For the Reserve card, can the companion certificate be used for C+, or only coach or domestic first?

How far in advance do you typically have to book the companion cert. for there to be availability? This would dictate what time of year I apply for the upgrade - I assume I can't book the ticket until I have the certificate, and once I have it, I probably wouldn't be able to book a ticket for right away. This effectively creates a blackout period in the weeks following your membership renewal, correct? (My leisure trips are typically anywhere from April through September.)

Thanks in advance!

jdrtravel

A recent policy change now allows upgrades to C+ or F, following the same rules for time & priority as the rest of the program (priority is at the level of higher tiered medallion and booking class).

Availability is highly route dependent. You just need highly discounted fares to be available (I think V, X, T and maybe U and L). I've personally been able to make use of mine. I was about to dump the plat card because of the no upgrade policy, but now I will probably keep it. When my spouse is no longer plat and we can't upgrade to C+ at time of booking, I will switch to the reserve.

The two major benefits of the reserve are: Lounge access and companion tix book directly into first class (when you buy a first class GAP ticket).

You also get slightly higher upgrade priority, but I don't think most feel this makes a major difference.

If you already have lounge access, I would go with the DL amex plat. If not, go with the reserve.

xliioper

Companion cert tickets became upgrade eligible on April 6th.

http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...tificates.html

"Beginning April 6, 2017, Medallion Members traveling with one companion will be eligible for Complimentary Upgrades to both First Class and Delta Comfort+® based on the Status of the higher-tiered Member, as long as the companion is a General SkyMiles Member, Medallion Member or partner airline elite member, traveling in the same reservation. Tickets are not eligible for mileage upgrades, Global or Regional Upgrades. Companion Certificate is void if reproduced, altered, counterfeited, obtained or used improperly, or where prohibited by law."

For coach seats:

"Seats are only available in L, U, T, X, V classes of service and may not be available on all flights or markets. Most fares require an advance purchase of up to 14 days, a 3 night minimum stay and a 30-day maximum stay. "

If you want to use the Reserve Cert for F tickets, they require A or I class availability.

Zorak

Reserve companion cert must be booked in one of AILUTXV.

Also with the change to DM Choice Benefits in 2018, having the Reserve card sort of replaces Sky Club access, effectively giving DM Reserve card holders a third choice.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...lion-line.html

strickerj

Oh cool, I missed that change. My wife and I are both general SkyMiles members, so no free upgrades, but I'm willing to pay for it if I can. It says you can't upgrade with miles or certificates, but it isn't really clear if you can pay to upgrade. (I'm not sure what the rules are now that W is a separate class.) All of my recent flights that I can recall were booked in L, U, T, X, or V (usually X) - does that guarantee the companion cert would have been usable in those cases, or are there additional restrictions that aren't apparent until you book?

For lounge access, I'm a bit torn on that - I was thinking of getting a Chase Sapphire Reserve also for the Priority Pass membership (I know that doesn't include Delta SkyClubs, but it looks like it includes enough lounges to suit me, and it includes guest access), since the CSR is really only $150 if you make use of the $300 travel credit. I'm not sure if the Delta Reserve is worth the extra AF for the lounge access, though it might be worth it for the first class companion certificate, if I end up using it every year.

hurnik

Just remember that you don't get the Reserve Cert until AFTER the first year. So I think it's a $450 AF? So you'll have paid $900 by the time you get one cert, so I guess it would depend on what flight you take if it's worth the BOGO in A/I (or whatever it is) for FC. Although the Platinum Amex gets you Skyclub for $27 each I think?

gooselee

Amex certs can be used on an opaque subset of LUTXV fares. Just because 2 T fares are available on a flight doesn't necessarily mean you can use the cert - though I personally haven't ever had a problem using my certs (at most I have to be flexible by a couple hours here and there).

Technically you can pay to upgrade the fares on a companion cert, but....it's not worth it because you'll be quoted the fare difference for the paid ticket, and then the ENTIRE fare for the free ticket. Basically the companion ticket is issued in the booked class but with a base fare = $0. So when you buy-up to the new fare, the original ticket has no value to be credited toward the new one.

There are occasional reports of people receiving buy-up offers at OLCI, but those aren't true buy ups and of course aren't guaranteed.

If you want to fly in a premium cabin and pay for it, there's actually very good value in the Reserve cert and that might be the route you want to go. Also no guessing or gambling with the opportunity for a buy-up - you just get the seat you want from the beginning.

miraclebear2003

I didn't think you could pay to upgrade, but as you point out you would never want to. Also, I guess you still can't get C+ with the certificate, but now you can upgrade for free (possibly).

I think you and I have both written about itineraries where you didn't get A or I for all legs. In the past I just waited until something became available (have always been able to use my certificate and my wife's). Since we can now get upgraded I might be more inclined to choose one of those. It's usually been the MCO-ATL leg and with C+ it's not a big deal.

Mr. Tickets

Unless you are Platinum or Diamond, you won't get a comp upgrade to C+ at booking. Silver and gold would get it at their upgrade window. No status won't get you comp upgrade to C+.