I have been able to book/upgrade recently from AF prem econ to biz on a W fare using an SWU I booked it about 4 weeks ago for a March 2014 trip (atl-cdg) I was quite surprised to find the availability...and the fare was 1500usd round-trip.^

If Delta can fill up J with $6K fares than wouldn't they be making it a three cabin plane adding F and wouldn't the competition make that route non-upgradeable as well if people that are getting upgraded would be willing to pay those fares?

And why allow non-rev's or SWU's to sit up front if people are expected to pay for the service they want? If someone is paying $6K for a 5 hour flight they will want the FA's waiting on them not Non-rev's who aren't paying anything to be up front.

Congrats.

That's good news.

Did you use EF to find the upgrade space?

Yes , but then I also had to look to see if DL.com had a low award mileage ticket available. We have all seen that AF does not open up all of that availability to DL. After I saw the AF award flight availability on DL.com, I called and booked it immediately. I also booked out of JFK to CDG, CDG to ATL just after Christmas in the same manner. But these were the first I have found in well over a year.

Yes

Random observations:

1. A mixed bag of enhancements versus degradations IMO. It is pretty big to break down the "Berlin Wall" of Y/B/M requirements for international upgrades, but granting only two of them to DMs seems pretty tight to me compared to the AA program.

2. PMs seem to be getting hit the hardest.

3. Like the fact that Hawaii-West Coast Medallion Upgrade eligibility is being established, but for the life of me I don't know why Hawaii is moving to a Y/B/M fare requirement to upgrade with miles. It used to be that way years ago, then transitioned to K+, now it's back to Y/B/M. I think the discount F fare is less than M already from my experience. Makes little sense to me.

4. Don't understand the distinction between RP/OP inventory usage by Delta reps doing the booking versus R/O inventory usage by travel agents. Are the two inventories identical? Does RP = R and OP = O? Why wouldn't you make upgrade inventory nomenclature the same regardless of the booking channel?

5. Overall, nothing was simplified. Everything went up several notches on the complicated scale. The phone res agents had a hard enough time answering questions correctly under the old system; hate to think what it will be like the next year or two while they learn this one.

6. Interesting strategy in the JFK transcon market, denying upgrades for most everybody. As competitive as that market is, I have a hard time seeing this standing. But, we'll see.

Overall I think I am happy with the changes. However, I am surprised that no one seems to be ruminating on how this will effect international op-ups. My flying is 99% international, and on those flights where I am booked into economy/premium economy....my op-up percentage is pretty good over the last 2 years. That has been much more valuable to me than the SWUs which have been so difficult to use. I am wondering now with a potentially longer "official waitlist" at the gate...if it will virtually eliminate op-ups? This change forces the use of certificates and mileage (before gate) for something that happened to us at "no-cost" before. I think it is a smart business move on their part, effectively "monetizing" international op-ups. But for me......we will see.

I've read (searched) the thread, but didn't see this addressed specifically ...

From : https://www.delta.com/content/www/en...tificates.html

I'm reading that as Hawaii mileage upgrades now require M+, where as before it was K+.

(Amazingly, I was able to use miles to upgrade myself+partner on a K fare from ATL-HNL on the 330 on 12/30/12.)

Are the Global Certs for a RT flight, or 1 way? Just trying to decide if I need to take a quick trip to Singapore over Christmas...

I did the same for about the same price for an April open-jaw (IST, FCO) flying AF.

And Yes, MSP, I did use EF.

One way.

I had three trips in AF "W" in Aug, Sep and Oct and I looked for "O' availability on AF throughout all three months with zero availability. I do now see a good bit of availability in random dates throughout Jan. This is indeed good news!!!

Granted but if they were available, I'm flying BE TPAC/TATL for less than it costs me to fly MSP-FAR-MSP in a CR2.

You freeloader!

I actually don't think it is more than this. We're less common than you think. Last Saturday on DL251 AMS-DTW, I was complaining about my brutal seat way back in the mid 40s to the GA asking for EC. Apparently the flight was completely sold out and there were a total of 6 diamonds on the flight so accommodating for EC was not easy for her.

Point is, sold out transatlantic from their biggest European hub on a crazy travel day - 6 DMs total.

Understand this is only one data point but I really feel it isn't much more than that.