With people climbing over the FC passenger to get to the lavatory? Charming!

I don't think this has much to do about non-revs. Sounds like a way to cull the amount of TPAC/TATL/TCON redemptions. At the same time the carrot for DMs is lower fare requirements. Plats and lower get the stick. But there could be more inventory for award redemption.

If you think freqeunt flyer's are moochers, be glad you don't have to work with people in the media. When I worked in the entertainment industry those people expected everything for free and wanted the best seats, etc.

Your SWUs do not convert. They remain SWUs under the existing T&C (YBM fare for intl, K+ for domestic/caribbean) until either used or expire.

As of March 1st, SWUs can no longer be selected, and PMs cannot select the global upgrades for international travel.

Thanks for the laugh!!!

For those who don't chose SWU's as one of their choice gifts and don't use JFK to fly to airports effected, I don't see how this will have any of any negative effect at all.

For PM's that chose SWU's definiately a negative effect for those that used them internationally. If a PM flies a long haul on a LUT fare, could be a positive or a wash.

For me as a DM this will be a positive change IF I can use the SWU on a cheap domestic ticket. My wife and I usually take one international pleasure trip a year and if I can upgrade both of us on a low fare it will be a big savings.

For non-rev's on the JFK routes this is definitely a positive. For non-revs flying to Hawaii from LA, definiately a bad thing. For non-rev's on international it will mean no PM's being able to use the SWU's internationally and fewer for diamonds but more diamonds may be using them now that they can be used on any fare except an E.

IME, it is cheaper to buy a discounted J fare than a B or Y fare and I don't have to play the game of finding a route to use them on and typically don't use the SWU's for my one gift. For next year I probably will unless there is a lot of Sheena reported with people not being able to use them.

Well, although the Hawaii upgrade seems like it's a bonus, there is one snag.

As a large number of flights to HI are 'direct' flights, but they have a stop-over (i.e. MSP-SFO-HNL) those flying the entire route will not be UG eligible -- on either leg!

Just found out myself from @DeltaAssist

^ Obviously that poster doesn't know Delta as well as most of us on FT do

No. Non-revs will get tons of UGs on these routes.

Why can't you do the usual trick of either booking it as multi city or having a DL agent separate the segments? This sounds like perhaps DL plans to enforce not allowing this to be done any more.

No. You can't use miles to UG JFK-LAX because UG inventory never (or almost never) opens in advance, and miles UG waitlist requests don't go to the gate. So you will in fact have zero options for UGing this route.

Per DL.com, yes.

Unless you book it as a multi-city by segment, I guess.

This is the same problem we documented with, e.g., DL 129 between ATL and PEK that stops in SEA with a plane change: it looks like something that can't be UGd but apparently it can by booking the segments separately.

Yes inventory must be available, and availability is severely limited. Now that DL no longer allows EF to display OP inventory, the only way to find out is to call DL and ask an agent, and keep going with every possible routing on every possible day until you find the inventory, and if you don't find any, call in again on the next day, and the next day, and the next day, rinse and repeat ad infinitum et ad nauseam... nice enhancements huh?

That is impressive! If DL is currently filling up all of those 763ER's with $6,000 J fares then that can only mean they should increase the price.