Qwkynuf

It seems weird, but not every unsold seat on every flight is allocated for upgrades, and the ones that are, are allocated between different "buckets". If I remember correctly, upgrade certificates share inventory with "mileage upgrades" - which is separate inventory from "Medallion Upgrades".

As an example, say that your flight to Phoenix is on a 737-900. That plane has 20 first class seats. Delta makes projections based on a whole bunch of stuff - including historical data and knowledge of events that might drive demand. For example, they may know that they can sell every one of those seats for the first day of Spring Training, so they might not upgrade *anyone* before the gate.

Another time, they may be confident that they can sell 15 seats. So they might allocate one for cert/miles and two for Medallion upgrades, and leave the other two till departure - just in case. Keeping in mind that all of those seats remain for sale to anyone willing to pay for them.

At the 5-day upgrade window for DM, they would then auto upgrade 2 Diamond members (even though there are 5 empty seats. If no one is using a cert, that's the way it stays until departure and then Medallions are upgraded from the UG list based on the published criteria.

If two people call in to use RUCs, one would get the upgrade immediately, but the other would be waitlisted until either Delta released more inventory to that bucket, or until the gate - where they would (should) appear at the top of the UG list, ahead of any Medallions eligible for complimentary upgrades.

If 5 people end up buying all of those seats before they are given away, then tough noogies - no one gets a free upgrade

So, your disappearing seats could have a lot of causes. If you are just looking at the seat map to make the judgment, keep in mind that it only shows *unassigned* seats - not *unsold* seats. Apparently some people buy plane tickets without proactively selecting a seat. In that case, the seats show as "available" (but really "selectable) until they either choose one or are automatically assigned one at check in. Could be people upgraded at the DM/PM 5-day window, the GM 3-day window, or the 1-day FO window. Could be other certificates which were waitlisted before yours, or people actually buying the seats using money (either as a new ticket or buy-up offer at or before check in)

An interesting data point that happened to me earlier this week: I checked in to my Tuesday flight around 20 hours before departure. I had cleared the first leg 5 days out and was #1 for one seat on the other leg, which was a 4+ hour flight. I looked again before I went to bed (~10 hours prior to the second leg) and found that I had dropped to #2 for that one seat. I called in to the Diamond line and asked to waitlist an RUC to jump myself back to the top of the list. The agent told me that the one remaining seat was marked as "upgrade available", and she was able to confirm me into that seat immediately. So I dropped off of the upgrade list, the one seat went to zero, and there were no gate upgrades on that flight. The list was about 25 deep at that point, if I remember correctly.

So, the short answer is that there is a lot to it, and it's not really very simple.

Qwkynuf

Just to add to this.... In recent past I have noticed that if I look at the reservation on the Delta website (not the phone app) there will be a note (link) that says "Upgrade Waitlisted". I don't know if this verifies that the certificate was applied correctly, but every time I have seen it I either got the upgrade or appeared at #1 or #2 slot on the Upgrade List after checkin.

mnbp

Unfortunately, seeing the text "Upgrade Waitlisted" is merely an indication that one of the manual steps may have been completed correctly. However, there are other manual steps for which there is no validation until the ticketing automation actually tries to apply the certificate (either by a waitlist being satisfied in advance and the certificate being closed/used as payment for the upgrade, or the verification that happens when you check in for a flight and your flight's ticket coupons are validated and you are added to the airport upgrade list at a certificate upgrade priority - towards/at the top of the upgrade list).

MarkCron

To RUC or not ... ATL-SEA on a Sunday around noon (757-300)? As A PL, what do you think? My gut says I need to apply RUC to have any chance.

Kate10010

MarkP24

I would. Any flight out of ATL, and even if it wasn't out of ATL, anything over 3 or 4 hours, I usually apply one regardless of flight load. Earn and burn.

MarkP24

Good luck!

daloosh

I agree, that sounds like primetime for folks wanting to be settled on the west coast for Monday morning. Even earlier than noon, I would apply RUC (and likely not get anywhere as a PM).

dlflyer00

Does anyone have tips for convincing agents to allow a same-day change with a RUC? I usually have to call at least three times before an agent will process a SDC with the "any available first class seat" rule. I just try to explain that I've done it several times in the past but this has mixed results...

On the bright side, I am now ticketed SFO-JFK-JAX instead of SFO-ATL-JAX!

Zorak

I'm on a good run lately, haven't had to do too much persuasion, but it does seem hit or miss. It would be nice to learn of any reference to an internal resource or policy that states this in writing, that we could point agents to.

When I do face resistance, I assume people use the "I've always been able to do this before" excuse even then that isn't true, so I try to avoid phrasing that way. If they say it's not allowed, I'll say something like "it was my understanding that a cleared RUC upgrade was treated as a paid F fare" and, depending on how you read the situation, maybe ask for a supervisor. If that leads to a "we'll do it to you this one time as a favor" then grit my teeth and say thanks :-/ otherwise just politely HUCA.

hjz131

One new record for me, I cleared 57 days ahead of the flight SAN-DTW. It's a Wednesday 2pm flight, with 17 F open.

ajggiant

Did I miss a change in the Nov. 2017 rule that prohibited an SDC from a domestic FC seat to a domestic D1 seat changed?! If it hasn't, I'd like to get tips from you on how you convinced agent to SDC from SFO-ATL-JAX to SFO-JFK with D1!

Looking at the Delta SDC page, the language now reads:
"If you have a premium cabin fare like Delta One®, Delta Premium Select or First Class you may make a Same-Day Confirmed change as long as a seat is available in the cabin purchased or a lower cabin"

Whereas, the big SDC/SDS wiki and other previous threads on the November 2017 policy change prohibiting SDC quoted this language (which I do not see on the Delta SDC page):
"If your original ticket is a First Class ticket, you may move only to other flights with a First Class seat available; you may not move to a flight with a Delta One experience, even if seats are available."

dlflyer00

flyerCO

I contacted DL Corporate and the CS agent added a note to my account. It points agent to the section of the policy that allows it. They also noted that it is indeed allowed in case agent refuses to read the policy.

dlflyer00