jaimemayo

This is what I did for the first time ever. I will be in China and am coming back through BKK. I started calling for upgrade space BKK-USA in the beginning of February. Same old story: nothing TPAC for upgrades. I had flexibility for one week coming back in July; nothing was open yet but BKK-NRT was open on one date. The agent said my chances were "good" that I would clear NRT-DTW because there were still 34 BE seats open. I know it is possible that I do not clear but it was February 28 and it was my last chance to get 150% mileage with an M fare. I waited until the last minute and booked the best flight I could under the circumstances, just like you said.

GYEWorldTraveler

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that it was an NRPS and not an NRSA. I have sat next to quite a few NRPS employees and while technically I believe they would be defined as nonrevs, for the most part they have been managers or higher for some division of Delta. One manager told me they were able to book business class a couple weeks in advance assuming there was the appropriate inventory. So if that was the case here, the NRPS who could have been mistaken for a standby by the OP or whoever saw the boarding pass, would have already been booked in that seat before the day of the flight.

The only way the OP could be upset is if there were open BE seats when they went to the gate and there were no other people on the upgrade list ahead of them. If there were open seats at the gate and nobody else on the upgrade list, well you got shafted. A passenger using a SWU would be ahead of any NRPS or NRSA passenger at the gate. I'm curious to know what really happened.

ILovetheReds

I am the OP and am not upset, someone in Mrs. Reds office is

When searching through threads trying to find an answer to my question before starting this thread I saw some posts about the Plat line not properly coding SWU's. I wonder if that is what happened here. I know he said J went out full.

I think it is foolish he bought a M fare without the appropriate inventory, but every time I look for upgradeable fares using miles on international trips, the flights I want never have inventory on EF and I am not going to risk spending all that extra $ on an M fare and end up sitting in coach when I could have bought an L U or T fare for much less. For a trip this summer to LHR and there are no confirmed upgrades available. I want the extra MQM's and was going to buy a B fare if there were any seats available for upgrade and with the price difference between a Z and a B fare, I figure I am better off getting the voucher as my choice gift instead of the SWU's and applying that towards my trip. I realize it is going to cost me more, but I won't have to worry about the upgrade not clearing this way and my wife won't have to worry about her special meal request.

This person and his wife are well compensated and they could have easilly afforded an S or Z fare ticket anyway.

ILovetheReds

Thanks! I didn't realize that. I thought it was only senior management/execs that received positive space benefits in J. I didn't realize it was a benefit for most Delta employees and their retirees.

HongKonger

You didn't realize it because it isn't true.

iTanNicNic

^^^

davetravels

This part is probably true!

sushi lover

Jeez....talk about selective reading. 4 or 5 people tell him that Mr Tickets is high as a kite and yet he quotes him and agrees with him.

Mr. Tickets

You need to read, I said "There a lot of very senior current and retires in Minneapolis. They will outrank a Platinum." I didn't say rank and file. I know a number of retired execs and they can pretty much do what they want. I have seen it done.

c_d

I have been outranked by a FA in uniform on a leisure trip with her friends. Her BP was clearly stating NRPS. In the conclusion of this problem, a DL executive assistant contacted me and concluded that my confirmed SWU upgrade was taken away in error and assigned to an employee. Not only she but also several knowledgeable members of this board send me PM's with specifics on the various and ongoing problem in this outstation.

However, despite all the legally non-binding and worthless statements, all she was willing to do was to reinstate the "used" SWU and throw a boat load of SM on top of it. When I declined that "offer", the tone of her mails quickly went rough. Apparently, DL is not a fan of transparent processes and actively clouds information to their customers. To quote parts of one e-Mail: "Please allow me to take this opportunity to set some expectations regarding any future correspondence regarding this case. As you may realize, such matters are considered confidential and are not disclosed to the public. We hope you understand our position and again want to assure you that your comments are being taken very seriously and handled internally."

Despite the written confirmation of DL and partners "have let you down in so many ways", this was my last straw with DL and the ST. I did not expect any super special treatment but wanted to be put in the situation situation that I was in before the flight. I couldn't care less about SM and SWU's but I wanted my 950€ (~ $1300) KLM Exit-EU compensation voucher back that I had used to upgrade my flight into fare class B. That did not happen. I ended up with a flight that was issued and even posted as B/Z while sitting in Y.

Finally, I did what baby fliers (in terms of status, revenue, and frequency of actually sitting in a plane) like bubba are preaching all day long: I took my business elsewhere. Naturally, the grass is not super greener (some tired planes, bad IFE, alliance could be better aligned, web page as bad as Dl.com) but I enjoy an astonishingly better schedule with late evening departures (woohoo!), save 5 hrs each way in average, and 1-change connections to TXL once more!

PRWeezer

Maybe a silly question, because I'm asking how smart is DL IT: Since Int'l flights don't allow complimentary upgrades like domestic routes, would an Int'l flight that has people waitlisted via SWU populate an upgrade list that the pax could view online or via the delta app prior to the gate - as a domestic flight would have? On other threads about SWUs that weren't coded properly, the first hint for the pax is their place on the upgrade list, i.e. not at/near the top. But I can't recall if any of those were on Int'l flights.

I know DL's internal system will show UP2A/UP2B priority once the pax has checked in, domestic or Int'l, so a pax could call/Tweet an agent to confirm proper coding & allow time for a fix before getting to the gate if something is amiss. Again, not saying this is what happened here, just wondering how easy it would be for a pax to get the peace of mind that things are in order. Given the problems others have had, I wouldn't want to wait until I was at the gate to know if it was coded correctly.

HongKonger

So I was correct, it isn't true. You weren't outranked, it was Shena. This is why I laugh at the DL apologists who say Shena doesn't happen especially on international. LOL at her telling you to keep it private. If they wanted to solve the problem they could.

You had every right to ask for the fare difference back. I would have done a chargeback on my credit card.

Which airline are you talking about that you switched to?

bubbashow

Not at all false. MANY retired executive-level employees leave with CONFIRMED F/J benefits as part of their severance.

ALSO - employees traveling on company business OFTEN have confirmed F/J.

DLFan2

Unless you are KofV and dating a FA...then you will always get positive space and priority above all Medallions.

HongKonger

Well that goes without saying... And DMs will be required to fan him with palm fronds and feed him grapes and massage him with olive oil.