kleveringham

I literally felt a lurch in the pit of my stomach when I got the email. I can sit happily in coach for any US flight but on a 17 hour flight to Johannesburg things are different. By removing the systemwide upgrades for Platinums Delta pretty much told us what they think of us. Fly more; spend more; and we will throw you a few crumbs - systemwide (or Global) upgrades. I regularly buy an M or B for South Africa and use an upgrade certificate. That's why I fly Delta even when it is inconvenient. But obviously that's not enough now. I'll get my last ones bfore the end of February 2014 and then switch to Star Alliance or Oneworld.

MSPeconomist

Of course upgrade inventory is still required. We can't check on EF any more, so the only choice is to call or tweet DL and hope that a willing and competent agent responds.

savekenny

I always choose transcons because I've found them easier to upgrade than ATL flights, but with this new transcon no-upgrade policy, I will likely be going through ATL for the extra miles and flying into LGA instead.

Adamostella

Premium or not isn't even the issue. Any direct flight to/from SEA-NYC on DL is Business Elite. So it's the choice between economy comfort on DL vs. normal first on another carrier.

Moreover, its the mentality of "hey thanks for being a PM, enjoy you seat in the back" that gets me.

rylan

RealHJ is seeing the true nature of the changes and new global upgrade certs. I also strongly believe that advance upgrade inventory will be extremely limited to non-existant in order to force everyone on the low fares to the gate lottery.

With RP/OP also being hidden, that gives DL the obviously opportunity to only clear advance upgrades for higher fares. Since the waitlist will be full of DMs, those on higher fares will be at the top and if DL released a seat, it goes to the pax who purchased an expensive fare anyway...

EchoVictor

My current situation:

--I flew about 20 transcon segments (NYC-LAX/SFO/SEA) this year. All but one of them were upgraded, of course only last-minute at the gate after everyone had a chance to buy the seats. (So what is Delta really giving up?)
--Most companies, including mine, don't allow the purchase of business-class tickets on domestic routes, but they don't care what fare of economy I buy.
--I'd often wait until the last minute to buy transcon tickets, which benefited Delta quite a bit because I was paying on average ~$1,000 r/t. With a higher fare class, I was more likely to be upgraded with complementary upgrades or I could use one of the 10 SWUs granted every year.

New situation:
--No more complimentary upgrades NYC - LAX/SFO/SEA.
--New "Regional Upgrade" certificates not usable on this route either (!!!), despite it being domestic.
--Only new "Global Upgrades" usable on this route. Diamonds are to be granted only four per year.

Does Delta really think Diamonds like me are going to want to take 20 transcons per year and only have a shot at getting upgraded on four of them? Does Delta expect me as a busy person to waste time connecting in Salt Lake City or Atlanta on my transcons to have a shot?

These changes are a huge win for bargain-basement Diamonds who don't fly transcons frequently: Current SWUs that require very high fare classes are being replaced by (a small number of) Global Upgrades that are really usable.

For me the outcome is as follows:
--Will evaluate other options including AA (unlimited upgrades on this route for top tier) and UA (gives top tier a total of 12 certs usable on this route)
--When I do fly Delta, I no longer have an incentive to buy a K+ ticket. Will buy tickets where possible earlier and at far lower prices
--Will fly far fewer transcons PERIOD, because for people like me who take 80+ flights per year, spending 5 to 6 hours in coach twice a week is disaster.
--When I fly international, I will be out of Global Upgrades so probably won't fly Delta as much anymore even on my ~$4,000 coach tickets. Previously I had enough SWUs to upgrade these.

DLGrkItalNY

Just call and ask agents to find an upgradeable flight and keep calling and keep calling. At some point they'll get the message.

mayerstrat

My only complaint with this update is that I wish they would have told us sooner. As someone who flies mostly international I would have taken another mileage run this year to push me over the line to Diamond. Now it's too late to act.

bennos

On further reflection, I think DL is actually missing a revenue opportunity here (which is very unlike them). Imagine if instead of saying "no more EUAs on TCON" they said "JFK BE services will be eligible for Medallion Upgrades or Regional Upgrade Certificates on K+ fares."

That would price them competitively with VX DoD upgrades (though the latter are confirmed when you pay... DL would still be a lottery).

Often1

1. Only 4 of the new GU's.
2. The desireable TCON's no longer qualify for Medallion freebie UG's, so you will have to burn two of your precious GU's on a RT. By the way, regionals won't work either.
3. You will now compete with almost every el cheapo deep discounter out there for what will likely be the same # of seats upfront.

Can't wait for the threads starting with, "I'm zero for X on my GU's -- what good are they?"

Just more deckchairs on the same sized deck.

rylan

Actually, we already had medallion upgrades available to all of those places except for Hawaii....

rylan

Non-revs will get upgraded also. I would also guess that DL will sell standby upgrades at the gate for $250, like they do on other routes where there are empty seats up front.

BER Flyer

How should i interpret this sentence.
"If a Medallion member and companion (if applicable) do not clear the waitlist prior to departure, they will be automatically added to the airport standby list at time of check-in and will be cleared at the gate if space is available."

Now this COULD mean a real enhancement if they really always clear anyone from the waitlist IF there are seats left and not only if upgrade space opens up on day of departure.

savekenny

I only learned about complimentary upgrades to Northern South America last night and was looking at the schedule... the flights down there are either 738 or a 763 recliner to Lima. So no big loss losing those "BE" upgrades anyway...

allanak

Hmm. I never noticed that. Just looked at the old list...I guess we lost Central/South America/transcon in exchange for Hawaii. Worse than I thought.

If the 763/764 has between 36 and 40 flatbeds, I wonder how many seats will go out empty or how many op-ups will come as a result? Domestic op-ups