Million Miler trumps Reserve card for Upgrade Priority?
May 15, 2013, 1:03 pm
#1
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Million Miler trumps Reserve card for Upgrade Priority?
I was travelling last week with my father and encountered this. I am DM with a DL Reserve card, while my father is DM (and 2 or 3 Million Miler) with no Reserve card. I booked the itinerary for the both of us at the same time - so we were in the same fare class, same time of booking.
Based upon my understanding of upgrade priority, I expected to be in front of him on the upgrade list thanks to my Reserve card. While at the airport, I asked the agent what was our place on the list, and she responded that my father was 1st and me 2nd. I looked perplexed and asked her how, and she replied that it was because my father was Million Miler...she said that factored in to the upgrade priority.
Now everything I have read about DL's written policies would lead me to believe that this is false and the agent misinformed, but in practice that's what happened (not that I mind in this case bc the old man deserves the upgrade in front of me - luckily we were both upgraded!).
Does anyone know what's up with this?
P.S. I just looked on delta.com and there's no more mention of the Reserve card being a tiebreaker: http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...-upgrades.html
Based upon my understanding of upgrade priority, I expected to be in front of him on the upgrade list thanks to my Reserve card. While at the airport, I asked the agent what was our place on the list, and she responded that my father was 1st and me 2nd. I looked perplexed and asked her how, and she replied that it was because my father was Million Miler...she said that factored in to the upgrade priority.
Now everything I have read about DL's written policies would lead me to believe that this is false and the agent misinformed, but in practice that's what happened (not that I mind in this case bc the old man deserves the upgrade in front of me - luckily we were both upgraded!).
Does anyone know what's up with this?
P.S. I just looked on delta.com and there's no more mention of the Reserve card being a tiebreaker: http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...-upgrades.html
May 15, 2013, 1:30 pm
#2
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Interesting... is reserve card tiebreaker in fact no longer a benefit? Any DL rep able to chime in?
Based on your experience it would seem that the reserve was not given priority, since you are both DM and same fare class so you should've been ahead. When you book two pax together, one does have a slight time advantage, usually by 1 second or some fraction (but don't know if the system sees that) since one ticket is purchased and then the next. You can see that based on the sequential ticket numbers... is yours after him?
I did find this that mentions upgrade priority for reserve... http://skymilesoffers.delta.com/cc_b...reserve_tc.php
Based on your experience it would seem that the reserve was not given priority, since you are both DM and same fare class so you should've been ahead. When you book two pax together, one does have a slight time advantage, usually by 1 second or some fraction (but don't know if the system sees that) since one ticket is purchased and then the next. You can see that based on the sequential ticket numbers... is yours after him?
I did find this that mentions upgrade priority for reserve... http://skymilesoffers.delta.com/cc_b...reserve_tc.php
Last edited by rylan; May 15, 2013 at 1:43 pm
May 15, 2013, 2:17 pm
#4
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If your father was the first ticket in the PNR which was later split, the system could be seeing you as a sort of glorified excompanion and not going back to look for the Reserve card status, I guess. Or maybe splitting the PNR permanently keeps people in the upgrade order they were in on the single PNR, although this would get messed up if others on the upgrade list should be, for instance, lower than father but higher than son.
Is there now nothing on delta.dumb that specifies Reserve card giving upgrade priority? How is the card currently being marketed with respect to the upgrade priority question?
Is there now nothing on delta.dumb that specifies Reserve card giving upgrade priority? How is the card currently being marketed with respect to the upgrade priority question?
May 15, 2013, 2:20 pm
#5
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Join Date: Aug 2011
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Interesting... is reserve card tiebreaker in fact no longer a benefit? Any DL rep able to chime in?
Based on your experience it would seem that the reserve was not given priority, since you are both DM and same fare class so you should've been ahead. When you book two pax together, one does have a slight time advantage, usually by 1 second or some fraction (but don't know if the system sees that) since one ticket is purchased and then the next. You can see that based on the sequential ticket numbers... is yours after him?
I did find this that mentions upgrade priority for reserve... http://skymilesoffers.delta.com/cc_b...reserve_tc.php
Based on your experience it would seem that the reserve was not given priority, since you are both DM and same fare class so you should've been ahead. When you book two pax together, one does have a slight time advantage, usually by 1 second or some fraction (but don't know if the system sees that) since one ticket is purchased and then the next. You can see that based on the sequential ticket numbers... is yours after him?
I did find this that mentions upgrade priority for reserve... http://skymilesoffers.delta.com/cc_b...reserve_tc.php
Interesting that in your link it says: "Increased Upgrade Priority within Medallion tier and fare class is applicable only to primary Cardmember and within the Complimentary Medallion Upgrade Program" but then in the Complimentary Medallion Upgrade Program details there is no longer any mention whatsoever of the Reserve card - http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...-upgrades.html . ??????
May 15, 2013, 2:27 pm
#6
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Time of booking should only be the last case tiebreaker. Reserve tiebreaker should have kicked in first as I'm sure you'll agree.
Interesting that in your link it says: "Increased Upgrade Priority within Medallion tier and fare class is applicable only to primary Cardmember and within the Complimentary Medallion Upgrade Program" but then in the Complimentary Medallion Upgrade Program details there is no longer any mention whatsoever of the Reserve card - http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...-upgrades.html . ??????
Interesting that in your link it says: "Increased Upgrade Priority within Medallion tier and fare class is applicable only to primary Cardmember and within the Complimentary Medallion Upgrade Program" but then in the Complimentary Medallion Upgrade Program details there is no longer any mention whatsoever of the Reserve card - http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...-upgrades.html . ??????
May 15, 2013, 2:32 pm
#7
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I was travelling last week with my father and encountered this. I am DM with a DL Reserve card, while my father is DM (and 2 or 3 Million Miler) with no Reserve card. I booked the itinerary for the both of us at the same time - so we were in the same fare class, same time of booking.
Based upon my understanding of upgrade priority, I expected to be in front of him on the upgrade list thanks to my Reserve card. While at the airport, I asked the agent what was our place on the list, and she responded that my father was 1st and me 2nd. I looked perplexed and asked her how, and she replied that it was because my father was Million Miler...she said that factored in to the upgrade priority.
Now everything I have read about DL's written policies would lead me to believe that this is false and the agent misinformed, but in practice that's what happened (not that I mind in this case bc the old man deserves the upgrade in front of me - luckily we were both upgraded!).
Does anyone know what's up with this?
P.S. I just looked on delta.com and there's no more mention of the Reserve card being a tiebreaker: http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...-upgrades.html
Based upon my understanding of upgrade priority, I expected to be in front of him on the upgrade list thanks to my Reserve card. While at the airport, I asked the agent what was our place on the list, and she responded that my father was 1st and me 2nd. I looked perplexed and asked her how, and she replied that it was because my father was Million Miler...she said that factored in to the upgrade priority.
Now everything I have read about DL's written policies would lead me to believe that this is false and the agent misinformed, but in practice that's what happened (not that I mind in this case bc the old man deserves the upgrade in front of me - luckily we were both upgraded!).
Does anyone know what's up with this?
P.S. I just looked on delta.com and there's no more mention of the Reserve card being a tiebreaker: http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...-upgrades.html
May 15, 2013, 2:39 pm
#8
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Were you on the same PNR? Or a differen PNR? If on the same PNR, then it doesn't matter who is displayed first, as you will only be upgraded together or not at all. If you did indeed book seperately and were on different PNRs, then something may be a little fishy. Need more details before saying for certain though.
However, if they remained on the same PNR, the priority order should have come from the PNR and not relative status between the two of them. However, the GA should have known then that either both or none would clear, so that her argument about father's MM status would not have mattered.
ADDED. This raises another question. If the lead passenger on the PNR has lower status, does that status determine where they are in the upgrade list or does the priority come automatically from the higher status one on the PNR? In this case, should we worry that if there had been another DM in same fare class with the reserve card who had requested the upgrade later, that person would have been above the father and son for the upgrade?
May 15, 2013, 2:53 pm
#9
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OP mentions booking the tickets together, which I interpreted as being on the same PNR. Since the OP said he would have been OK with only father having the upgrade, I assumed that the PNR had been split, with the son planning to give upgrade to father if there were only one FC seat.
However, if they remained on the same PNR, the priority order should have come from the PNR and not relative status between the two of them. However, the GA should have known then that either both or none would clear, so that her argument about father's MM status would not have mattered.
However, if they remained on the same PNR, the priority order should have come from the PNR and not relative status between the two of them. However, the GA should have known then that either both or none would clear, so that her argument about father's MM status would not have mattered.
May 15, 2013, 3:05 pm
#10
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My interpretation was that the OP booked the tickets together but didn't split the PNR since no reference was made of splitting the PNR - by saying he would have given the upgrade to his father, I interpretted that as saying he thought he would be higher on the UG list than his father (because of the DL Reserve AmEx factor) but would have then just swapped seats if he got the upgrade and the father didn't, all while not realizing that with companion upgrades, unless you split the PNR, then it's "both or none". But that's why I hope the OP can provide some clarification since my interpretation may be wrong if I'm not understanding something correctly.
May 15, 2013, 4:15 pm
#11
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OP mentions booking the tickets together, which I interpreted as being on the same PNR. Since the OP said he would have been OK with only father having the upgrade, I assumed that the PNR had been split, with the son planning to give upgrade to father if there were only one FC seat.
However, if they remained on the same PNR, the priority order should have come from the PNR and not relative status between the two of them. However, the GA should have known then that either both or none would clear, so that her argument about father's MM status would not have mattered.
ADDED. This raises another question. If the lead passenger on the PNR has lower status, does that status determine where they are in the upgrade list or does the priority come automatically from the higher status one on the PNR? In this case, should we worry that if there had been another DM in same fare class with the reserve card who had requested the upgrade later, that person would have been above the father and son for the upgrade?
However, if they remained on the same PNR, the priority order should have come from the PNR and not relative status between the two of them. However, the GA should have known then that either both or none would clear, so that her argument about father's MM status would not have mattered.
ADDED. This raises another question. If the lead passenger on the PNR has lower status, does that status determine where they are in the upgrade list or does the priority come automatically from the higher status one on the PNR? In this case, should we worry that if there had been another DM in same fare class with the reserve card who had requested the upgrade later, that person would have been above the father and son for the upgrade?
May 15, 2013, 4:23 pm
#12
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May 15, 2013, 4:24 pm
#13
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Something smells fishy here especially given the fact that DL's website details about upgrade policy has no mention whatsoever anymore (didn't it used to?) about the DL Reserve.
Does anyone know any of the Amex reps on Flyertalk who could chime in? I suspect we'll get an answer from them much sooner than from Delta.
Does anyone know any of the Amex reps on Flyertalk who could chime in? I suspect we'll get an answer from them much sooner than from Delta.
May 15, 2013, 4:34 pm
#14
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This http://www304.americanexpress.com/ge.../Delta-Reserve says nothing about upgrade priority. I guess that benefit is officially dead.
May 15, 2013, 5:19 pm
#15
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This http://www304.americanexpress.com/ge.../Delta-Reserve says nothing about upgrade priority. I guess that benefit is officially dead.
I'm surprised Amex hasn't blocked any of these moves from DL - the MQD requirement makes their MQMs less valuable and this of course makes the Reserve less appealing.