davetravels

Who's to say that under the new program, the Global Certs will trump a paid gate UG?

Ti22

Death by 1000 cuts, right?

They tell people who earned status that the "benefits" have changed. It's one thing to make a change like MQD's and give the customer a year to decide to play their game or not. Fair enough...

It's an entirely different thing to allow people to patronize a business under the "promise" of particular benefit(s) and then pull this BS. In some cases, allowing choice benefits to be made before bringing all of this to light.

But worst IMO, yanking JFK-LAX/SEA/SFO UG's after people earned status and thought they might have a shot at them is a cheat. Bad Delta. I'm sure your SHILLS are happy to be busy around here and other outlets but this simply reeks of your continued attack against FFPs.

You better hope your profits continue and you stay outta trouble with the DOT/FAA because a lot of people will enjoy watching you squirm and twist in the wind when the climate changes.

NotHamSarnie

I'd be very surprised if they didn't, but you have a point.

rylan

Well it is pretty clear that for very frequent fliers of this route, AA is the clear winner, and also for intl since AA gives more certs and also lets you continue to earn additional ones.

KeepClimbingDick

Well certainly seems that industry consolidation and an improving economy is kicking in.

Question re JFK-LAX/SFO/SEA upgrades. Who will fill the seats now that unlimited complimentary upgrades are going away?

1. Will be the same. Just the mix of DMs will change based on those with certificates who want to use them
2. DL plans to sell more upgrades at the gate, i.e., BE TCON Monetization
3. Non Revs

We should have seen this coming with the announced increased size of EC on these routes.

GUWonder

The one thing going for DL's global upgrades over AA's global upgrades is that DL has a more diversified long-haul transoceanic route network on which the upgrades can be used. Not that it sways me. When 125k status miles are required to get a mere 4 one-way global upgrades, the opportunity cost is too high and the reward to little for me to care about them.

Are these DL ones even going to be allowed to transfer to those flying on separate flights from the DL DM? If not, they are even less useful.

theYipster

Delta is also about 3-4 years ahead on AA on the conversion of their J product to flat-bed. Most of AA J is angled, including all flights to Asia. Where AA does have lie-flat J, it's a great product… better than J on DL's 744s. However, right now it's only on the 77Ws to LHR and GRU. I wouldn't be surprised if AA reduced their SWU benefit as the 772s and 767s conversions neared completion in several years.

As I said upthread, I'm of the mind that the new Global Upgrades are a major positive step forward for DL. I do think the JFK-LAX/SFO/SEA restrictions are too much… Given the competition on the route, I expect DL will backtrack and allow Regional Upgrades on these flights like UA. If AA follows suit and eliminates comp upgrades when their trans con fleet has fully converted to a comparable product, that will be truly disappointing but also not unexpected.

I am NYC based and this does affect me significantly. I've probably made 40+ trans con flights this year, with the majority of them on DL, and I have sat up front on all of them with upgrades. Starting in March, all of my transcon business will be AA. The 762s are comparable to the 757 recliners in comfort, and their 321s will match or exceed the 76Ws. It should also be noted that AA's EXP transcon upgrade policy has always been better than DL's. AA routinely upgrades at the window on these flights, and there is often advance SWU or miles upgrade availability.

MS02113

The global/regional nomenclature makes little sense when considering that four domestic routes (JFK-LAX/SFO/SEA and ATL-HNL) require global certificates but many international routes (e.g., Caribbean, Mexico, Central America, etc.) are eligible for regional certificates.

The differentiator, of course, is the availability of BusinessElite service. Why not just name the certificates accordingly, then? That is, offer "First/Business Class Upgrades" and "BusinessElite Upgrades" to head off the inevitable confusion. But then, Delta.com can't even get the seat map descriptions correct, hence all the questions on FT about MD88s with flat-bed seats. Come to think of it, Delta should just stop calling the forward cabin "business" on domestically configured aircraft, no matter the route or flight number.

cmh flyer

Can someone explain why DON'T awards with miles go to the gate? Maybe that should be a change, in light of all the other changes?

jamesteroh

If someone is on a Y, M, or B fare and there are still seats in BE after the SWU's have cleared I think it would make a lot of sense to offer mileage upgrades at the gate on international.

A Y,M,B fare is far from cheap on international, and if there are seats up front after the SWU's have cleared, Delta should allow the people willing to pay with the miles for the upgrade to sit up front.

amolkold

For those planning to switch to AA:

I sat in whY on JFK-LAX this past Sunday on AA ... #1 of 0 for the upgrade (nobody got upgraded). The ice storm in DFW may have had a say if people in paid F via DFW were rerouted.

That said, FA came straight up to me and thanked me for flying AA as an EXP, and offered the standard BoB snack/sandwich + drink for every EXP in coach.

A few weeks ago, I was upgraded JFK-LAX on a Sunday evening about 4 hours before the flight (just before it went to airport control). A Gold elite (25K EQM) was sitting next to me as she got upgraded as well using miles (so all EP's must have cleared).

As for the new A321 planes, the J cabin is going for 30 seats to only 20 seats . But the Y cabin is going from 128Y to 72Y (36 E+/36 E-). So there's actually a better ratio for upgrades, combined with the increased frequencies. We'll see how it works.

And for those who want to use miles, 10F is remaining 10F, and AA has great service on LAX-JFK ... Flagship CheckIn for F passengers, Flagship Lounge Access, and 1x1 seating.

brazzleman

And this chart seems to indicate that Hawaii is "international" and mileage upgrades are only for YBM: https://www.delta.com/content/www/en...tificates.html

I hope that's a typo in their chart and it's still K class and higher

bubbashow

Then you are the type of flyer dl (and so to be every carrier) doesn't want to incentivize. Enjoy your soon to be more frequent rides in the back. Precisely where low rev flyers belong.

DanTravels

These are an artifact of the old NW routes. I can't recall whether DL has, or had, any 'direct' flights XXX-SLC-HNL - anybody know? And I don't recall whether even NW had any DTW-(SEA/SFO/LAX)-HNL 'direct' routes, or any XXX-(SEA/SFO/LAX)-(OGG/KOA) 'direct' routes, so it may just be a matter of avoiding routings that include those 'direct' flights between MSP and HNL.

kuhlguy

As a PM that does LAX-JFK-LAX about 6 times a year this sucks ... I've been fortunate enough to be upgraded 5/6 times this year ... I like the way this was saved for the end of the year when it's way too late to jump ship for me at least ......