I was reading some of the older posts on the SC beverage changes and see he uses a Delta Am Ex reserve card to get in. Not sure why he bashes people for using comp. upgrades instead of paying for first yet uses the skyclub without a paid membership. Seeing the annual fee on the Delta Am Ex reserve is more than a SC membership, he must be getting MQMs from it, otherwise it would be cheaper to pay the annual SC membership.

GREAT deal on your ticket. What airline was that on? I'd love to go to India for that kind of fare.

The annual fee for the Reserve is $450 but not only does it come with the SkyClub access but also a companion ticket which easily puts the value beyond simply buying a SC membership. For me as GM, a SkyClub membership would be $400. So for an extra $50 I can get a Reserve AmEx with SC access and a companion ticket good for a first class ticket, which twice has saved me $900+. So for an $850+ overall gain (not including the value of the MQMs and miles earned), why would I not choose to gain SC access via the Reserve over buying a SC membership? The only additional benefits from SC membership over the Reserve is you can access the SkyClub even when not flying DL (and you can access the Alaska Board Rooms for now but that only helps if you're at one of the few airports with an AS board room), and if you're not SkyTeam Elite Plus, you can use you're SC access to enter those lounges too.

4) Fly another airline with UG potential. (UA via regional certs, AA via stickers or if EXP, VX DoD cash upgrades.)

But Bubba has continually said WFBF and is against upgrades on cheap fares. For you or I the card would make sense, but for someone that feels that Delta should only allow people in first who pay for first or are non revs.......

Bubba didn't buy a glitch fare for his recent Hawai'i vacation. He flew F on UA.

The value of UA F is about as much as that of a glitch fare.

Oh? UA doesn't offer the same capacious 37" pitch in F as does DL?

Actually UA averages a whopping 38" of pitch in domestic F on many aircraft! Amazing as that could just about pass for Prem Econ on many foreign airlines. Sadly though, the soft product is beaten out even by UTair's Y cabin standards.

Just returned from LHR. I flew there from Hawaii. I did fly United first to the islands and home again. I was paid full fare F going and Z coming home. I was able to fly a variety of aircraft, including PMUa In a 3 cabin triple seven. the business class seat is awful. It is narrow, it is short, and doesn't come close to comparing to delta. On the PM co. 767 400, the business first pod does not compare 2 the Delta 767 400. I am 6 foot 1 and easily fit into deltas, but had barely any foot room on United.the trip to London from Detroit was iN paid business on Delta, and it was a delight. The sleeper seat was comfortable, the aisle access is great, and the catering is adequate.

I don't know who was referring to my American Express reserve card, but if you will investigate my postings more thoroughly, you will see that I cancelled my reserve card because of the terrible cuts and the unwashed masses environment of the Sky Club.

Apples to oranges.

For short haul flights, compare UA F to any European airline's J cabin.

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That would pretty much mean the inverse, better soft product, worse hard product in general. The difference is when you start talking about transcon flights which are 5-6+ hours. In these instances EU airlines (not even to mention Asian/Mid East airlines) offer a much more substantial product, often using long haul or dedicated mid-haul equipment. The only close comparison there would be NYC-SFO/LAX which is a pretty limited.

Personally, I don't really mind flying in Y on 2.5 hour or less flights. To me it's more important to be able to have a nicer product on 5+ hour flights which seem to be suffering from reduced pitch. DL's new 37" excuse is pretty pathetic.

DL's "F" class is upgrade class. 14% of the people up there pay for it. The rest are riding for nothing more. What do you expect?

Wasn't that the 'old' stats prior to the advent of FCM? I would expect that pax sitting up front on FPAG tickets is much higher than 14% now, or else you wouldn't see threads about lack of upgrades.

Yes...I did use the old stat. I'd love to see how FCM (I hate that term....it is just pricing what the market will handle) has changed the loads up front.