Shouldn't have to be via DM desk. GA "should" be able to handle. (shaking head...)

As others have said you DO NOT need A available to SDC if you are booked in A. Holding a purchased ticket in first, you just need F1 to SDC. I've SDC'd various times from a A or P fare to a flight that only had F left for sale.

Its the same rationale as SDC in coach. If you have a T ticket, you don't need T available to SDC, just Y1.

AFAIK technically you must have a confirmed FC seat on your original flight. If you have an A fare but are currently seated in coach or if your current segment is a RJ without FC, I don't think you can SDC directly into FC for the new flight, even if a F seat is being sold. In a sense, the A fare only becomes FC when you're confirmed in a FC seat (on your original flight). The same principle would apply if you've already SDCed from an A fare into coach and now want to SDC onto another flight into FC.

Thats true... was just assuming that if you had an A fare, you also have a confirmed seat up front on the original flight. As you mentioned there are a few scenarios where that may not be the case.

I dont think its possible to buy an A fare and not be issued an FC seat assignment. To have Delta sell A there needs to be an A in inventory and A inventory comes out of FC, not coach.

Try it - go to EF and find a flight with Y>1 and F0 and see if you can force Delta Dumb to sell an A or P. Won't happen as inventory will be F0 P0 A0. On the other hand, it is simple to buy an A when the availability is F>0 and A>0.

My experience has been, if I have an A and want to SDC I go right to FC if F>0 even if Y=0. I've even had luck with an H (not HUP) with a confirmed SWU in F SDCing right to F when Y=0. Granted, most recently it also included a possible flight delay on the original flt that could have resulted in a misconnect (ultimately it didnt) which I pointed out to the SC agent when I asked. Even if it was out of "courtesy", it does speak to the fact it is possible to do this.

I've seen DL sell A fares, as through fares, when it's a FC mainline followed by a connection to a CRJ without FC. It's not so easy to find them and they don't appear for all such connections, but I think it arises when the A fare is lower than coach that's available on the mainline segment.

Huh? I tried ATL SLC BZN - only the CR9 flt has a through fare with A or P. Try it yourself. I can split it and get A or P on ATL-SLC and Y on the connection for any combination with F>0. Like I said - no F then there's no A and there's no ticket to buy.

Any A fare has had, at its inception, a FC seat associated with it. You cannot buy an A fare on a CRJ200. I suspect if you wanted you could easily split the fare class on the ATL-SLC-BZN and get an A to SLC and a Y to BZN. I've done this myself more than once - splitting the ticket between Y and BE on an international itinerary for example, when F=0 on the connection to the gateway.

Which brings us back to the question - if you SDC from an A fare is it possible to get a direct switch to another FC seat when Y=0 and F>0 - the answer is - yes you can though it can take a call to the DM desk. With regard to a Y (not full Y but rather B,M, etc.) fare in the presence of a complimentary upgrade, without Y>0 you cannot SDC and get on the upgrade waitlist - you will SDS and clear only after the FC waitlist clears which means unless there are less medallions than seats up front, you will fly in the back.

In my opinion, this really needs to be fixed in that you end up with an executed priority list that has DMs in the back and PMs upfront only because of Delta IT not being capable of doing two things at once.

Of course, as I said above, you can SDC from a FC seat with an A fare to any available FC seat, even if DL is selling only full F. If the flight you want is F0 but Y>0, you can voluntarily SDC from your A fare into coach. However, once you have done that, you are only confirmed in coach even though you have paid a fare that entitles you to FC if available. At that point, if you try to SDC again, I don't think you SDC directly into F, although you would be at the top of the list at the gate for a FC seat.

So to follow up to the responses, I thought I was correct too. My afternoon started with calling the diamond line on the way to the airport. She said no seats. Checked with the ticket agent at check in, no seats. Went to the gate and saw that there were two unclaimed seats. No dice. Sky club deferred to GA, but also agreed with me, and others, that it should not matter. My guess is that the GA had taken control of the flight through all of this, and she was having none of my discounted first, as she put it. And yes, I was confirmed first on a later flight, and yes, I have had no trouble doing this either in the past. What I don't know is if there were A fare seats in the past, but agree, it should not matter.

Alas, I survived for a few hours in the sky club, but would have been nice to be home sooner.

Does this mean that if I book an award ticket in FC, that I can then SDC onto any other flight with FC available? Are certain award FC tickets only able to SDC to FC award tickets at the same point level? Or is it like paid tickets where you can pretty much SDC to any flight within the 3-hour rule?

I would think it would be easier to find F>0 on most flights thanks to FCM compared to Y>0.

If you have a domestic FC award ticket, or as an unpublished benefit, a FC domestic segment of an international award ticket on which all international segments have already been flown, you can indeed SDC directly into FC whenever F > 0. There does not need to be discounted FC space or FC award inventory on the new flight. I know this because I escalated at LAX under these circumstances, when I was refused the right to SDC into FC at T-3 when inventory was F2. I talked to an outstanding redcoat who thankfully was interested in learning the precise rule, so he escalated the question to someone who really did know. Then he confirmed my understanding and explained the rule to several staff in my presence.

So, if a ticket is otherwise eligible for SDC, it doesn't matter that you have an award ticket. No award inventory is necessary. A FC award segment SDCs directly into FC whenever F > 0. Period.

It's still fare class A. Just because you volunteered to accept a Y seat when F=0 does not change the fare class. It is immaterial what the fare basis was or is ( eg HUP). The challenge is finding the right agent and that has been the DM line in some cases. If you hold an A you are entitled to a FC seat if one is available and it is a valid SDC. Why would it matter from where you are SDCing?

The fare rules that I've looked at have language saying that it only becomes FC when a FC seat is available into which the passenger is booked. Otherwise it's coach and books into coach.

fare by rule text
economy web fare with an instant upgrade at the time of
purchase to first/business
application
class of service
these fares apply for economy class service.
Capacity limitations
please note-
both economy and first class booking inventories
must be available at time of booking.

I've seen DL sell these A fares where FC is only available for some of the connecting segments, for example a connection to a little CRJ. These did not look like broken fares.