I just took delivery of some popcorn I bought from a kid raising money for his school.

What fortuitous timing! :D

If not BS/trolling, my next best guesses are:

-Somebody misunderstood the removal of medallion upgrades from E fares and has declared the removal of complimentary upgrades more broadly

-It's a leak by Delta, as kind of a Jedi mind-****k to AA which has yet to reconcile free upgrades in US Dividend Miles with paid sticker upgrades for <EXP in AA AAdvantage.

Pushing the MQD up in 2016 might just be the start. I could believe that DL might be considering this.

Ummm . . . IBTL

I can not remember when but some 10 years ago one had to purchase at least a Q fare to qualify for an upgrade. So while there are no UG on E fares I could easily see the rules being extended to sLUTEX fares.

HAHAHAHAHA the sky is falling - the SkyMiles has been around for over 30 years - the core of the program is earning miles in return for loyalty. That is being gutted starting next year. Free upgrades have been around for perhaps 15 years and they started out as I noted above requiring a certain fare basis.

One can dream =-). That would be the BIGGEST positive for SkyMiles in years.

E was the trial balloon. X, V and maybe LUT are next.

And you had to earn/cash in 800-mile segment upgrade certificates or whatever they were called (similar to AA stickers I guess). This was how it worked when I was first FO in the late 90s. I definitely remember comparing prices and buying up for longer flights to be eligible for an upgrade if the price difference was reasonable...back when FO upgrades weren't so elusive. Rewards for higher spend, imagine that. :)

There was a period - from the mid90s into early 2000s - where the lowest coach fare wasn't eligible for upgrade at any point, in contrast to the next higher fare which could get an upgrade confirmed to F at time of booking for Plats. Yes, I remember the 800-mile paper upgrade certs.

It was a K fare with LUT below it at the time. You left out V fares -- the new order is actually LUTXVE. Will they go back to K+? I doubt it as FCM has conditioned a significant number of flyers to buy F if they want it (last quarter had 44% paid F).

Mbwmbw is entertaining.

With the domestic airline industry less competitive, it's not unrealistic for DL to begin restricting access to the First Class cabin (but no changes to EC).

DL could, for example, restrict select fare buckets based on status (for example, Diamonds would be eligible on any fare excluding E but Silver would be eligible only with MBY). Any remaining seats would be offered for purchase, with the amount variable based on status -- e.g. ATL-LAX could run $50 for a Platinum to $200 for non-status. Upgrades would be offered based on status & fare class ticketed in.

Ultimately, where would FF like Gold go? To be #67 on the upgrade list on UA or AA? Especially since many DL FF are captive to the hub market they reside in, due to work contracts.

Don't worry. The "Cutting Free Alcohol from FC" thread will appear in a week or so.

;)

This, except they don't need to "save face" but "continue advertising a benefit that lots of people like but fewer people will see".

fishy like the clam soup I had for lunch today.