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The Official - GLOBAL UPGRADE CERT success thread - Yay! I got it!

Old Sep 14, 2016, 7:42 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: flyerCO
Click below to display this full wiki and read if you have general questions about using GUCs -- they may be answered here!

Using Delta Global Upgrades


DL page: https://www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles/medallion-program/medallion-upgrades
(click or scroll to "Upgrade Certificates Overview" and expand the "Show Additional Details & Terms" sections to see T&C, especially for the specific conditions governing use on partner airlines)

"Global Upgrade Certificates, available exclusively for Diamond Medallion Members, offer upgrades on both international and domestic flights with Delta, and select flights with KLM, Air France, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia, Korean Air and Aeromexico."

Delta offers Diamond Medallion members the benefit of up to 4 Global Upgrade Certificates (GUCs) per year, which each allow a one-way upgrade to business class/Delta One for one person on any route in the Delta network, as well as a limited number of partner flights under specific restricted circumstances described below. 4 GUCs is enough to upgrade the Diamond Medallion member on 2 round trips or 4 one-way trips, or the Diamond Medallion member plus one companion on 1 round trip or 2 one-way trips.

Choosing upgrades as a choice benefit
  • Upgrades are valid one year from the date of issue, usually the day of or day after they are selected in Choice Benefits -- so best to wait as long as possible to select them unless you have a specific use planned for them
  • All Diamond Medallions also receive a Platinum Medallion choice benefit, even if just renewing existing Diamond status in a year, so DMs could for example select 4 RUCs as their Platinum choice benefit and 4 GUCs as one of their Diamond choice benefit, or 4 RUCs as their Platinum choice benefit and 8 more RUCs as one of their Diamond choice benefits
  • However, it is not possible to select 8 RUCs as one Diamond choice benefit and 4 GUCs as another, nor select 4 GUCs more than once for a single year's Diamond choice benefits -- so the most GUCs anyone can currently earn in a single year is 4
  • You may select your DM benefits at different times, so it is best to select fixed-expiration-date benefits (like gifting status or SkyClub memberships) as soon as possible, but wait until you have a specific use in mind to select upgrades, so that the expiration date is as far into the future as possible. This is especially important if you are waitlisting upgrades for a particular trip, since if the waitlist doesn't clear, a later expiration date will maximize the amount of time you have to try again to use them on a different trip.
  • For status earned based on flying in 2017, upgrades can be selected until the last day that status is valid, January 31, 2019, so they could possibly expire as late as January ~30, 2020 if they are selected as late as possible.
  • Upgrades can be used after you are no longer a Diamond Medallion as long as the upgrades are still valid, though non-DM-line phone agents will be less familiar with them, so they may be harder to use or run a higher risk of being processed incorrectly, so it may be worth booking your GUC flights before your DM status expires if possible.
  • All flights to be upgraded must be flown, not just requested, by the expiration date of the upgrade certificates, though there have been some examples of short extensions offered by phone agents (for example, to the end of the month of the expiration date) as long as the upgrade is able to be confirmed before the certificates expire. In this case it is important to push the agent to make sure the ticket is reissued right away, since it will not be possible to reissue the ticket after the GUC expires. You can tell if the ticket has been reissued because the ticket number on the booking will change from what it was when you originally booked in coach, and the GUC will be marked as "closed" in your wallet on Delta.com.

Finding upgrade space
  • Delta phone agents and the @Delta Twitter account can check for available upgrade space
  • There is no general way to check for available upgrade space online
  • However there is one exception where some flights appear to be able to be checked online: for Delta flights carrying a KLM code -- for example, most flights between the US and Europe -- ExpertFlyer.com (paid membership required) shows KLM upgrade space, and will show upgrade space for those KL-coded, DL-operated flights, which based on anecdotal evidence seems to often (but not always) correspond to upgrade space made available by Delta. This can be a way to check many dates and flights easily, but confirm with Delta that the upgrade space does in fact exist before making firm plans.
  • Upgrade space is not necessarily correlated with award space
  • If upgrade space is not available on your desired flight, you can waitlist, and it is possible the upgrade may clear before departure. If not your name should appear on the upgrade list at the gate. See next section for details.
  • Upgrade space is rarely seen in advance on busy, high-upgrade-demand routes like ATL-JNB and LAX-SYD.

Requesting an upgrade
  • You must call or Tweet at Delta to request an upgrade, they cannot be requested on the website
  • If upgrade space is available, the agent will process the upgrade immediately and you will be able to select business class seats
  • If the upgrade is confirmed in advance, your ticket will be reissued in business class at some point before the flight and you will receive a new itinerary email when this happens; occasionally the ticket does not get reissued and you will not be able to check in, but a quick call to Delta usually fixes this easily
  • Occasionally an email is sent to alert you if a waitlisted upgrade has cleared, but often the best indication is if a segment of your itinerary disappears entirely from Delta.com, which usually means the upgrade has cleared on that segment. Call Delta to have them process it so that it reappears in your itinerary, and you will be able to select business class seats.
  • There have been reports of upgrades coded incorrectly by agents -- unfortunately there is no way to know for sure if your upgrade is coded correctly, and requested upgrades seem to show up a few different ways on Delta.com, sometimes with an "upgrade requested" designation on the flight, and/or with a "phantom" duplicate flight in the seat maps which will not let you select seats
  • If an upgrade has not cleared by check-in time and you do not appear on the upgrade list on the Delta app or Delta.com, call to have an agent correct the upgrade
  • In certain airports where other airlines handle Delta's flights (particularly AMS), it is not officially possible to clear at the gate; KLM does process upgrades at the gate in AMS for certificates waitlisted 24 hours in advance of departure, but this is not an officially guaranteed benefit. To be safe make sure you have your GUC certificate numbers and redemption codes written down in case the KLM agents need this information.
  • If you are connecting, for example flying MCO-ATL-LHR, and upgrade space is not available on ATL-LHR, best practice is to waitlist on the ATL-LHR leg only, so as not to waste a global upgrade on the short MCO-ATL flight, and then add the upgrade request to MCO-ATL when/if ATL-LHR clears; most agents will understand this approach and may even proactively suggest it
  • If you have selected your choice benefits very recently (within the last 24-48 hours), the phone agent may not yet be able to see your upgrade codes, but you can read the codes to the agent from the My Wallet page on Delta.com
  • The priority order of GUCs, RUCs, mileage upgrades, and complimentary upgrades is not 100% clear, but it is known that GUCs and RUCs have higher priority than complimentary upgrades, and that GUCs and RUCs appear to have equal priority. It is listed on Delta.com that GUCs and RUCs clear first by medallion level and then by time of request, which is different from the upgrade priority used for complimentary upgrades (which is also listed on the website)

Other upgrade rules
  • Upgrades are valid on Delta flights on all economy fares except Basic Economy (E)
  • It is possible to request upgrades in one direction of a roundtrip only, for example if you had 4 US-Europe trips planned and only 4 GUCs, you might decide to upgrade the eastbound flights only as they are overnight flights and remain in economy for the westbound flights.
  • On flights operated with a Premium Select cabin, Delta has indicated that it will still be possible to use a GUC to upgrade directly from economy to Premium Select or to Delta One using the same number of GUCs. However, if an upgrade is cleared from economy to Premium Select, the GUC will be considered used, and another GUC would be required to upgrade again to Delta One. The best strategy is probably to waitlist only for Delta One upgrades, and perhaps if the GUC is close to expiring or you don't expect to have another use for it, to add a request for a Premium Select upgrade close to departure if the Delta One upgrade hasn't yet cleared and/or the Delta One seat map looks very full.
  • Upgrades may be used for the SkyMiles member and up to one companion; The companion need not be in the same PNR, but must be traveling on the exact same flight as the GUC holder.
  • Unlike AA and UA upgrades, DL upgrades cannot be gifted to someone whom the SkyMiles member is not traveling with
  • As of January 22, 2018, it is now officially possible to use a certificate for a companion but not for yourself, as long as you are traveling on the same flight as the companion -- for example if you are eligible to buy a business class ticket for business travel and want to bring your spouse by buying an economy ticket and upgrading them. It is not clear if you could upgrade your companion but not yourself. In the past the question has been raised of waiting for a complimentary medallion upgrade for the main member and then using a certificate for the companion, but now that companions for complimentary medallion upgrades are processed at the same priority as the main member, this is no longer a likely concern.

Using upgrades on KLM

Dedicated thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delt...grade-klm.html
  • "For travel on KLM-operated, Delta-marketed flights this certificate may be used to upgrade on published fares booked in Y, B, M, H, Q, K, L, U, T, X or V class and all fare classes upgrade into Z class. For travel on KLM-operated flights marketed by KLM, fares booked in Y, B, M, K, H, L, Q, T, N, R, or V class are eligible to upgrade into Z class. For travel on KLM-operated flights marketed by AF, this certificate may be used to upgrade on published fares booked in Y, B, M, K, H, L, Q, T, N, R, or V class into Z class. "
  • NOTE: some of the combinations above are only (relatively) recently eligible for GUCs. Phone agents may not be familiar with the new rules, and may need to be gently pointed in the direction of the DL T&C on their own website.
  • In the course of processing the upgrade of a Delta-marketed, KLM-operated flight, Delta reissues the KLM flights on KLM flight numbers when they issue the upgrade, but the flights must be bought on DL flight numbers initially (unless buying expensive Y, B, or M fares with KLM)
  • It is not possible to waitlist for upgrade on KLM flights, nor to go to the airport upgrade list, so space must be available in advance in order for the upgrade to clear. Many agents will offer to put you on the waitlist, but putting you on the upgrade waitlist for a KLM flight will simply never clear so you're better off monitoring it yourself (see next bullets).
  • KLM upgrade space can be checked on ExpertFlyer.com (requires a paid membership). ExpertFlyer also allows users to set alerts for particular fare classes becoming available, which could be useful in lieu of being able to waitlist -- you can set an ExpertFlyer alert for "Z" availability and then call Delta to grab the upgrade if you receive an ExpertFlyer alert that it becomes available.
  • KLM upgrade space on a single segment is different if you search that segment alone vs. if you search a connecting itinerary involving that segment. So if you are looking for KLM upgrades ORD-AMS-JNB, you need to search ORD-JNB in ExpertFlyer to see the true availability; even if there is space on ORD-AMS and AMS-JNB, if it Z space doesn't show up for ORD-JNB you won't be able to upgrade. Unfortunately this means that ExpertFlyer availability alerts, which can only be set on a segment-by-segment basis, are not useful for monitoring KLM upgrade availability on connecting flights.
  • In some cases, adding a DL domestic connecting flight can change KLM upgrade availability. For example ATL-AMS on KLM may show availability but MCO-ATL-AMS may not. Example. Unfortunately some more complex routings, such as forcing an extra connection to find KLM upgrade space (flying JFK-ORD-AMS-CPT instead of JFK-AMS-CPT), do not show up on ExpertFlyer so you are at the mercy of hopefully finding Delta agents who know what they're doing.
  • Bookings with KLM ticket numbers (starting in 074) can be upgraded using the same rules as bookings with Delta ticket numbers (starting in 006). Delta-operated, KLM-coded flights can be upgraded under the same rules as any other KLM-coded flight. Delta-coded, Delta-operated flights booked on a KLM ticket number can be upgraded the same as if they were booked on a Delta ticket number, so in any fare class other than E.
  • There have been numerous challenges with KLM upgrades, so be careful, be persistent, and make sure you request the upgrade within the no-risk cancellation window of the ticket so you can cancel if it doesn't work as expected.
  • More KLM upgrade reading: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Using upgrades on Virgin Atlantic

3-year-old thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta-air-lines-skymiles/1779666-guc-now-able-used-virgin-atlantic-vs.html
related, upgrading VS with SkyMiles (also requires G class, so the info may be useful too?): https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta-air-lines-skymiles/1857464-definitive-thread-use-sky-miles-upgrade-vs.html
  • "Valid on Delta-marketed (DL flight number), Virgin Atlantic-operated flights for use globally on published fares booked in W, Y, B, M, H, Q, K, L, U, T, X or V class to G class (Upper Class). " Upgrading on Virgin-marketed (VS flight number) flights using GUCs is not possible.
  • Global Upgrades on Virgin Atlantic flights must be confirmed 24 hours prior to departure.
  • Global Upgrade Certificates may not be used to waitlist for a Virgin Atlantic-operated flight. Many agents will offer to put you on the waitlist, but putting you on the upgrade waitlist for a Virgin Atlantic flight will simply never clear so you're better off monitoring it yourself (see next bullets).
  • DL flight numbers are not available for most Virgin Atlantic flights to regions other than the US (for example LHR-JNB), so it is not possible to use GUCs on those flights.
  • Virgin Atlantic upgrade space appears to use the same availability as awards, so if a business class award is available for a Virgin Atlantic flight on Delta.com, it should be available for an upgrade (as long as that flight is booked on a DL flight number). If an award is not available, an upgrade is probably not available -- but if you notice any exceptions to this rule please share in the thread. You can also monitor G space using ExpertFlyer (see KLM section above).
  • Because G is the same code as Virgin Atlantic uses for award tickets, after you fly the tickets will register with Delta as having been awards and will not earn any miles. Watch your mileage earning carefully and you will likely have to call Delta and explain that it wasn't an award ticket but an upgrade from a paid coach ticket, and they will correct the mileage earning to be equivalent to what you would have earned on your original coach ticket.

Using upgrades on Virgin Australia

Valid on Delta-marketed, Virgin Australia-operated flights on published fares booked in Y, B, M, H, Q, K, L, U class to Virgin Australias Business Class.

Using upgrades on Air France

Dedicated thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delt...20-onward.html

"For travel on Air France-operated flights marketed by Air France and booked in Y, B, M, K, H, L, Q, T, N, R, or V class, customers can upgrade into A class (Premium Economy) or Z class (Business Class). For Air France-operated flights marketed by KLM, customers with a published fare booked in Y, B, M, K, H, L, Q, T, N, R, or V class can upgrade into Z class (Business Class). For Air France-operated flights marketed by Delta, customers with a published fare booked in Y, B, M, H, Q, K, L, U, T, X or V class can upgrade into A class (Premium Economy) or Z class (Business Class). In addition, customers traveling on an Air France-marketed and operated flight and booked in W, S or A class as well as customers traveling on an Air France-operated, Delta-marketed flight and booked in P, A, or G class can upgrade to Z class (Business Class)"

NOTE: GUC usage on AF used to be restricted to high fare classes only. Phone agents may not be familiar with the new rules, and may need to be gently pointed in the direction of the DL T&C on their own website.

Using upgrades on Korean (restricted to certain fare classes only)

Dedicated thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delt...ed-thread.html

"Valid on Delta-marketed, Korean Air-operated flights for use globally on Delta's published fares booked in Y or B class to Korean Air's Z class, or booked in M class to Korean Air's O class."

GUC usage on Korean requires the purchase of high fare classes, which may mean that it is cheaper to buy a discounted business class ticket than to buy an eligible coach fare and try to upgrade. Uniquely, it is possible to use GUCs to upgrade from business to first on Korean, but only if you buy the most expensive business class fares.

Using upgrades on Aeromexico

"For travel on Aeromexico operated, Delta marketed flights this certificate may be used to upgrade on Delta`s published fares booked in W, Y, B, M, H, Q, K, L, U, T, X or V class and all fare classes upgrade into Aeromexico`s O class."




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The Official - GLOBAL UPGRADE CERT success thread - Yay! I got it!

Old Nov 30, 2017, 5:01 am
  #2626  
 
Join Date: Oct 2017
Programs: DL DM 1MM
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Looking for advice, hoping to maximize my chances of ending up with a happy story for this thread.

I asked twitter to apply an upgrade certificate to DL 1 LHR -> JFK on Dec 7. The certificate is applied and wait-listed, and looks not unpromising -- 5 unclaimed seats and at least 3 still for sale.

The tricky bit is that the certificate is set to expire on the 5th, two days before the flight. So should I try and 'get an extension', or hope for the best? My thought is that it could clear before it expires on the 5th, and that would be ok, or maybe the system says 'yep, there's a certificate applied so I'll use it regardless of expiration date'. Alternatively, when the certificate tries to clear, either before the 5th or after, the system will detect that the certificate is expired on day of travel and I'll be out of luck.
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Old Nov 30, 2017, 7:30 am
  #2627  
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Originally Posted by speede racer
Looking for advice, hoping to maximize my chances of ending up with a happy story for this thread.

I asked twitter to apply an upgrade certificate to DL 1 LHR -> JFK on Dec 7. The certificate is applied and wait-listed, and looks not unpromising -- 5 unclaimed seats and at least 3 still for sale.

The tricky bit is that the certificate is set to expire on the 5th, two days before the flight. So should I try and 'get an extension', or hope for the best? My thought is that it could clear before it expires on the 5th, and that would be ok, or maybe the system says 'yep, there's a certificate applied so I'll use it regardless of expiration date'. Alternatively, when the certificate tries to clear, either before the 5th or after, the system will detect that the certificate is expired on day of travel and I'll be out of luck.
Not a lot you can do unfortunately. In theory if the cert clears before expiration, it can be processed. I am not sure whether you will automatically be dropped from the upgrade list if it doesn't clear before expiration -- the good news is that if it doesn't clear before expiration, it would almost certainly clear only at the gate (if at all), and so there's a chance you may still appear on the upgrade list and get upgraded by the gate agent, not realizing that the cert is expired; I'm not sure how much "research" the gate agents do on whether everything is in order when they are running through the upgrade list before departure, but it definitely helps that Virgin staff process day-of-departure upgrades at LHR (since VS staff serve as gate agents for DL flights departing LHR) -- a while back I got an upgrade at departure on LHR-JFK and didn't have a cert deducted at all, presumably due to the Virgin staff missing a step in the process.

I suppose it is also further complicated by the fact that technically you would owe more APD if the upgrade clears, though again I'm not sure that this is paid much attention once on the airport upgrade list -- I didn't pay the APD on my one data point, which admittedly was a few years ago and relatively early in the DL move to LHR T3 so things may have gotten more sophisticated since then.
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Old Nov 30, 2017, 8:15 am
  #2628  
 
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Sitting here watching things for ATL-AMS on 12/1. On the standby list shows 7 seats availble, EF shows 1 seat for sale in J. Talk about a frustrating thing - leads one on to think there will be plenty of seats and a good chance still...when in reality its another opaque or false view of reality and then suddenly it will be J0 with no explanation and no success. I hope I get to report back otherwise in the next 36 hours...but seeing the many misses of late not holding my breath.
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Old Nov 30, 2017, 1:51 pm
  #2629  
 
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Called DL for flights in July (CLT->X->AMS->SVG and CPH-X-CLT return). I had KLM flights researched with Z fare space available--fully expecting nothing immediately available on DL. To my surprise was able to clear CLT-DTW-AMS-SVG and the return via JFK right at booking (all on DL metal, ex AMS-SVG of course). I am now 10 for 10 on GUC's...gotta say I am pretty pleased!
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Old Dec 1, 2017, 6:43 am
  #2630  
 
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Originally Posted by speede racer
Looking for advice, hoping to maximize my chances of ending up with a happy story for this thread.

I asked twitter to apply an upgrade certificate to DL 1 LHR -> JFK on Dec 7. The certificate is applied and wait-listed, and looks not unpromising -- 5 unclaimed seats and at least 3 still for sale.

The tricky bit is that the certificate is set to expire on the 5th, two days before the flight. So should I try and 'get an extension', or hope for the best? My thought is that it could clear before it expires on the 5th, and that would be ok, or maybe the system says 'yep, there's a certificate applied so I'll use it regardless of expiration date'. Alternatively, when the certificate tries to clear, either before the 5th or after, the system will detect that the certificate is expired on day of travel and I'll be out of luck.
No need to do anything. DL GUC is not hard coded to expire (Unlike AA or UA's) so that as long as you are waitlisted, you will be fine.

In my case, the trip I applied my GUC will commence way after GUC expiration, but ten days after the expiration date, the system automatically cleared my upgrade.

But, in your case, since ex-LHR is subjected to higher APD, it will be somehow complicated than my case.
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Old Dec 1, 2017, 8:59 am
  #2631  
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Originally Posted by hockeyinsider
Stop being a cheapskate and pay the $99. Yes, it's a short flight but it will make your life easier. You're lucky it was even available. I've only once managed a complimentary upgrade on KLM and that was only because I was flying LHR-AMS-CDG-DTW in business-class but AMS-CDG was in economy for whatever reason. KLM sells upgrades but not for $99.

The Virgin Atlantic arrivals lounge is about 5 minutes past the exit doors after customs and immigration. You need to take an elevator up a level as if you were going to the parking garage. There are signs marking the way. The space itself is a little tired -- the decor is early 2000s -- but it's a great way to shower, get a manicure or massage, have a breakfast, grab some newspapers, do emails and so forth. My guess would be if your flight lands at 9:30 a.m. you probably won't be at the lounge for 40-45 minutes, at the earliest. That's a fairly busy time for arrivals so there may be a delay at customs and immigration, even in the fast track lane. (Your Delta flight attendants are supposed to give each business-class passenger, as well as diamonds in economy-class, passes for the fast track, aka priority, lane for customs and immigration.)

If you aren't spending any time in London then you won't get to use the Virgin lounge because you'll bypass customs and immigration and proceed directly to international connections and over to Terminal 4. There is a Sky Team lounge in the terminal that Air France and KLM uses, which Delta formerly used. I like this lounge. Lots of space. The lounge is spread out over two levels. There is a small spa with some complimentary treatments. The wine selection is always good.

In Amsterdam, I despise the KLM lounge. Not only is it notoriously overcrowded, but you might wait 30 minutes to get any issues resolved with a desk agent. I've waited 60 minutes for a shower before. The food is horrible. Like industrial. High school and hospital cafeteria food is better. The only good aspect is the self-serve bar.

I normally go to the KLM lounge, get a drink or two and then just walk around the airport and people-watch. Amsterdam's airport is great for people-watching. Plus, there are lots of shops.
A - - C H E A P S K A T E?!?!?!?!?

I'm thrifty, but, not a cheapskate! For an extra $99, I'd get a confirmed UG - The seat is EXACTLY THE SAME AS COACH, with the middle seat blocked. A different meal <arguably better>. I say that the Business Class food on intra-Europe AF/KL flights is weirder. As to not having to worry about whether or not I'll have to pay for a third checked bag - - flyerCO says the checked bag allowance goes by the long haul segment.

Thanx for the info on the Virgin arrivals lounge. I'm gonna do it, for sure! The SkyTeam Lounge in T4 I visited last trip. It's very nice!

Originally Posted by sethb
That's correct. You're lucky they're not charging it because the long segment is upgraded.
I figured the additional tax was correct, just a little disappointed since I'm pretty sure I didn't pay it last time.

Originally Posted by flyerCO
You'll get the allowance for the cabin you're in on the long haul.
I do believe you, flyerCO. You fly A TON! I'd really like a second or third opinion!

Can anyone else chime in as to, when flying:

LHR/AMS - KL Y class
AMS/DTW - DL One
DTW/PIT - DL F

Should I get the KL Y class checked bag allowance of 1 bag + 1 for being STE+, or 2 bags for Delta One TATL + 1 bag for STE+?!?!?

Thanx in advance!
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Old Dec 1, 2017, 1:29 pm
  #2632  
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Just cleared for my Dec 21st flight DTW-AMS DL 132 - yay
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Old Dec 1, 2017, 6:10 pm
  #2633  
 
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Cleared as 1 of 4. Happy I got the upgrade but sad for fellow Diamonds who did not. Frustrating a benefit like this goes to the wire - when there was plenty of seats available weeks ago. Will advocate the 2 instantly upgradeable idea more as time goes on. Good luck to everyone on the list!
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Old Dec 2, 2017, 9:07 am
  #2634  
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Originally Posted by davetravels
A - - C H E A P S K A T E?!?!?!?!?

I'm thrifty, but, not a cheapskate! For an extra $99, I'd get a confirmed UG - The seat is EXACTLY THE SAME AS COACH, with the middle seat blocked. A different meal <arguably better>. I say that the Business Class food on intra-Europe AF/KL flights is weirder. As to not having to worry about whether or not I'll have to pay for a third checked bag - - flyerCO says the checked bag allowance goes by the long haul segment.

Thanx for the info on the Virgin arrivals lounge. I'm gonna do it, for sure! The SkyTeam Lounge in T4 I visited last trip. It's very nice!



I figured the additional tax was correct, just a little disappointed since I'm pretty sure I didn't pay it last time.



I do believe you, flyerCO. You fly A TON! I'd really like a second or third opinion!

Can anyone else chime in as to, when flying:

LHR/AMS - KL Y class
AMS/DTW - DL One
DTW/PIT - DL F

Should I get the KL Y class checked bag allowance of 1 bag + 1 for being STE+, or 2 bags for Delta One TATL + 1 bag for STE+?!?!?

Thanx in advance!
To be clear..

Is this the return portion of a RT? If so it'll slightly change the answer.

Howerever if this is OW, then KL can choose either the policy of the marketing carrier of either 1)the first flight or 2)of the TATL).

Regardless of which (KL or DL) applies they give the allowance for Business since your TATL is in Business.
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Old Dec 2, 2017, 9:56 am
  #2635  
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Originally Posted by flyerCO
To be clear..

Is this the return portion of a RT? If so it'll slightly change the answer.

Howerever if this is OW, then KL can choose either the policy of the marketing carrier of either 1)the first flight or 2)of the TATL).

Regardless of which (KL or DL) applies they give the allowance for Business since your TATL is in Business.
As you replied to my other post about LAX D1 check-in, it's a return on an open jaw ticket starting with LAX/ATL/LHR and LHR/AMS/DTW/PIT on the way back, that's technically booked as a coach ticket with the TATL segments UG'ed with a GUC. On the return, my LHR/AMS flight is still in Y, but, AMS/DTW and DTW/PIT are confirmed in J & F.
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Old Dec 3, 2017, 6:08 pm
  #2636  
 
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Battlefield upgrade today

flying SLC-SEA-AMS today. I bought an L Fare 14 days before departure and picked the best flight I could find based on inventory according to ExperFlyer. Nothing available to directly confirm on outbound, although was confirmed on return.

In in the week leading up to departure, I watched inventory bounce around between J7 and J0. When I went to bed last night, I was 1/3 for 2 seats.

This is morning was a very different tale. When leaving SLC, I was 2/5 for 1 seat. I asked the nice lounge dragon what she thought, and she said dont board until everyone else has.

Medallion upgrade to SEA cleared at window, when I landed in SEA the Porsche picked me up, which was just awesome, but Was now 3/0.

At time of boarding I approached GA, and identified myself. He told me no way would I make it, just go ahead and get on. I was a little suspicious that was not the best move, as I watched the two ahead of me clear right as they started boarding PREM.

I hung back back until everyone was aboard, at which time GA paged me and asked me to board. I asked if there were any no-shows and he said no. I thanked him, handed him by BP and got settled.

About 5 minutes after getting settled redcoat comes and finds me with new boarding pass - for seat 2G.

These things may be complimentary, but they certainly arent free. I spent waaay to much time agonizing over whether it would clear.
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Old Dec 4, 2017, 11:46 am
  #2637  
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Originally Posted by pauly_long
flying SLC-SEA-AMS today. I bought an L Fare 14 days before departure and picked the best flight I could find based on inventory according to ExperFlyer. Nothing available to directly confirm on outbound, although was confirmed on return.

In in the week leading up to departure, I watched inventory bounce around between J7 and J0. When I went to bed last night, I was 1/3 for 2 seats.

This is morning was a very different tale. When leaving SLC, I was 2/5 for 1 seat. I asked the nice lounge dragon what she thought, and she said dont board until everyone else has.

Medallion upgrade to SEA cleared at window, when I landed in SEA the Porsche picked me up, which was just awesome, but Was now 3/0.

At time of boarding I approached GA, and identified myself. He told me no way would I make it, just go ahead and get on. I was a little suspicious that was not the best move, as I watched the two ahead of me clear right as they started boarding PREM.

I hung back back until everyone was aboard, at which time GA paged me and asked me to board. I asked if there were any no-shows and he said no. I thanked him, handed him by BP and got settled.

About 5 minutes after getting settled redcoat comes and finds me with new boarding pass - for seat 2G.

These things may be complimentary, but they certainly arent free. I spent waaay to much time agonizing over whether it would clear.
What I don't understand is how you can go from number 1 to number 2 to number 3 on the list. I always thought time of request mattered, not fare class for global upgrade certificates.
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Old Dec 4, 2017, 11:56 am
  #2638  
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Originally Posted by hockeyinsider
What I don't understand is how you can go from number 1 to number 2 to number 3 on the list. I always thought time of request mattered, not fare class for global upgrade certificates.
You don't appear on the list till checked. OP was always third, just appeared 1st.
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Old Dec 4, 2017, 12:02 pm
  #2639  
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Originally Posted by hockeyinsider
What I don't understand is how you can go from number 1 to number 2 to number 3 on the list. I always thought time of request mattered, not fare class for global upgrade certificates.
We don't have any public information about what priorities are used to rank GUC requests, but I strongly suspect fare class does matter, given that Delta has long used that as a tiebreaker for domestic upgrade requests (and the complimentary domestic upgrade tiebreaking priorities are now published on the Delta site).

But in any case moving from 1 to 2 to 3 doesn't necessarily have to do with what tiebreakers are used -- rather, you only show up on the app/website/airport upgrade list once you check in. So if some people hadn't checked in yet, they wouldn't have shown up yet, and appearing to be #1 on the list 23 hours in advance is a false sense of security. (With the app now auto-checking people in, this longstanding false sense of security may be coming to be less prominent than it used to be, though. But in some cases, especially for international flights, the auto check in does not always fully work, so some people still end up checking in later.)

If the tiebreaker is fare class or something else besides time of request, dropping places on the list could also be due to people changing flights, newly booking the flight, etc.

FYI AA used time of request as the primary tiebreaker for systemwide upgrades for a long time, so also possible you're thinking of them.
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Old Dec 5, 2017, 12:22 am
  #2640  
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Originally Posted by bgriff
We don't have any public information about what priorities are used to rank GUC requests, but I strongly suspect fare class does matter, given that Delta has long used that as a tiebreaker for domestic upgrade requests (and the complimentary domestic upgrade tiebreaking priorities are now published on the Delta site).

But in any case moving from 1 to 2 to 3 doesn't necessarily have to do with what tiebreakers are used -- rather, you only show up on the app/website/airport upgrade list once you check in. So if some people hadn't checked in yet, they wouldn't have shown up yet, and appearing to be #1 on the list 23 hours in advance is a false sense of security. (With the app now auto-checking people in, this longstanding false sense of security may be coming to be less prominent than it used to be, though. But in some cases, especially for international flights, the auto check in does not always fully work, so some people still end up checking in later.)

If the tiebreaker is fare class or something else besides time of request, dropping places on the list could also be due to people changing flights, newly booking the flight, etc.

FYI AA used time of request as the primary tiebreaker for systemwide upgrades for a long time, so also possible you're thinking of them.
Time of request I believe is the tiebreaker. At least it used to be. We've never had any info about if elite level or fare class comes into play.

Also auto-checkin is really just auto-launch the check page. You are NOT checked in till you click the required federal acknowledgement. I've seen one person get upset that their seat had been given away. They flew in on OAL and assumed auto-checkin meant just that. Went to pull up/print BP at gate and got the too late message.
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