mnbp

I (successfully) used an RUC yesterday - with success being defined as just one phone call the night before to request to use the RUC instrument, and the upgrade actually clearing at the gate - with 61 folks on the upgrade list and the RUC moving me from #20 to #1 with 1 seat available.

Prior to the upgrade clearing, "Systemwide Upgrade Requested" was displayed in my reservation, so they currently use the same terminology for all three upgrade instruments (SWUs, GUCs and RUCs).

AKC6

This has worked for me, for instance PIT X/DTW [west coast] and return.

Especially urgent to do it this way if the short hop may get downgauged to a Barbie Jet with no FC. Your certificate has been closed but now you don't have an upgrade.

jerryhze

does any one have insight on this? in the same boat here...

brkandjfk

Ok, I called in to get waitlisted for the upgrade using an RUC (for tonight), and now on my reservation it says "Upgrade not available at this time" on each of the original two segments (there is also the two segments showing "waitlisted" for first class).

The PM line agent at one point put me on hold saying she had to 'look up how to enter the certificate' and this is my first ever use of such a certificate, so can anyone tell me if this is sounding correct?

rylan

I've never seen nor heard of an 'Upgrade not available at this time' status. It either says 'Not upgrade eligible', 'Medallion upgrade requested', or 'Systemwide upgrade requested'. That must be a new thing?

brkandjfk

Well after using one on a LAX-ATL-MCI route last week (about 8 hours in advance), I never placed on the upgrade list. My profile listed me as "waitlisted" for a seat in first, and DLAssist said "everything looks great on our side". At the gate, I still did not appear on the upgrade list, and on the kiosk checkin was asked if I wanted to add myself to the upgrade list. (Well, yeah!)

At the gate at both LAX and ATL, was told I was not on the upgrade list. As mentioned above, "Upgrade not available at this time" was showing on my reservation and I could not open the upgrade list on app or web.

(Redeye flight) I told the GA at LAX that I had used a cert, and she specifically told me that she saw I was waitlisted for first, but that it wouldn't be processed because there were more medallion upgrades than seats. I called the Plat line and was again told it was correct on their end. I went back to the GA and asked her to verify I was on the upgrade list somewhere. She click-click-clicked and told me that she added me and viola, I appeared on the list @ # 4 with 10 seats available. Then I was #4 with 7 seats available, then #4 with 4 seats available. My upgrade did clear.

In ATL, I asked again about the upgrade list, and mentioned the certificate and was told a very similar thing: that I was waitlisted for a certificate but that regionals clear after medallions, and that because I was not a medallion I would likely not be upgraded. I politely told her that I was PM, and she told me that for some reason the reservation did not have an upgrade requested. (I believe this was the first time she actually looked, as she previously didn't realize I was Plat as she was describing that an elite flyer is Gold, Plat, or Diamond... and I don't say this as a DYKWIA, rather because how it happened made it apparent that she hadn't looked.) Anyway, I told her that I had used a certificate for the upgrade and she told me I was waitlisted, and that it was odd because with 4 seats available, I should clear no problem as there was only one DM and one other PM on the list. She then told me that 'the system isn't letting me clear you or add you to the list' but crossed out the Exit row seat on my boarding pass and hand-wrote 1C. When I boarded, the seat change slip did print with 1C, so clearly she was able to make it happen in the system.

Now I'm a week later and both flights show as RP, and one certificate was used for the one-way. However, had I not intervened at both departure gates, it is very clear to me that I would not have cleared the upgrade at either. (and I only truly would have used the cert for the LAX-ATL segment anyway, so had it not cleared that segment I would not have wanted to use it)

I have no idea how it's supposed to look on your reservation when a certificate is applied. however, I do have an idea how it looks when it's incorrectly applied. And while I certainly did sit in first class on both segments, I cannot sit here and tell you that it's because the certificate was used (despite that it was charged against the reservation).

Clearly there is quite a learning curve that needs to happen.

AKABrownBear

Just wondering - has everyone who has been able to see the "Systemwide Upgrade Requested" has a pretty good experience with using RUCs? I applied one of mine to a flight tomorrow and see this message as well so I'm hoping I don't have to go through what others have had to.

Last time I tried before this I somehow got taken off the regular Medallion upgrade list...

AKABrownBear

For the record if anyone is wondering I was on the upgrade list in my normal PM position until I called DL. The very helpful rep told me there was a known glitch if you check in online that ignores the RUC and was able to fix it in 2-3 minutes - now I am 1 on my upgrade list and hopefully availability remains open for my flight.

So definitely call if you don't see yourself move up.

sr_tipitinas

So it looks like the best strategy for a RUC may be to wait and see if the medallion complimentary upgrade clears in the normal window, and if it doesn't, assuming there are seats left in FC, ask to apply a RUC and you should hit the top of the list unless there is someone with a higher status doing the same thing. I'm looking at a SEA-ATL flight in a couple of weeks to try this on.

rylan

Assuming you get an agent to actually code it properly....

DeltaWings

I made Plat not too long ago and haven't taken the choice benefit yet, but will likely select the RUCs.

Anyone had any luck SDCing an itinerary upgraded with a RUC like SEA-ATL-BOS to SEA-JFK-BOS? Or even a LAX-ATL-JFK to the nonstop BE product?

What types of routes are you using these on? A Friday night DTW-LAX? I've always had good success with UGs as a GM and am now batting 100% thus far as PM on flights MWF.

rylan

I'd be surprised if you could SDC using a regional onto one of the premium tcon flights and keep the upgrade, since those require global certs.

bgriff

I got an "Upgrade not available at this time" message on a reservation recently which after a call to Delta I learned was the equivalent of the old "Upgrade eligible" (i.e. upgrade *not* requested) message. In particular it seems that if you book a reservation for 2 people, even if both have their SM#s included, the old behavior of automatically requesting an upgrade for both may no longer hold, you have to call in and ask them to request the regular Medallion upgrade. Presumably too late for the flight where this happened to you, but I would definitely call again if you see that message on DL.com.

I recently applied my RUCs for myself and a companion on this same reservation for a trip in a few months, on a route (JFK-LAS) where I would have no trouble getting upgraded by myself as a PM but hoping to get myself and companion both upgraded. Reservation says "Systemwide Upgrade Requested" so hopefully everything has been entered correctly.

Any idea whether the RUCs come out of the same upgrade availability as the complimentary upgrades? I'm wondering if it's possible (as one of many things that could go wrong with RUCs) for someone else's normal medallion upgrade (within the regular upgrade windows) to cut ahead of my RUCs, if they are based on different availability buckets, similar to this problem. We will see what happens.

rylan

Upgrade certs come out of a different inventory bucket than medallion upgrades. Thats why its important to have the request in for both types. I've cleared at the medallion upgrade window a few times while on the waitlist for the cert, so the cert didn't matter.

bgriff

Interesting, I figured as much. Concern in this case is that the reservation is for me and a non-status companion, so for medallion upgrades we would both be clearing at the companion priority level, i.e. probably not clearing at all. So, other elites traveling alone could in theory clear ahead of us in the couple of days before the flight, and there would be nothing that I could do about it.

Oddly, this is one case where FCM actually works in my favor, since based on recent history, even if there are open FC seats in the days before the flight, quite likely the other elites' medallion upgrades would not process at their elite windows due to lack of medallion upgrade inventory and would be held until the gate anyway. And once checked in, by talking to the PM line, I can make sure my companion and I are correctly high up on the gate priority list.