Diamond not really a Diamond?
 

I have been a Diamond for as long as Delta has had its Diamond level, and a Platinum before that, for a total of 19 years now. Have close to 4,000,000 MQMs during that time. I have generally been pleased with the program and have enjoyed its benefits over the years. But I retired from my former job (which required lots of travel) two years ago, and am no longer flying as much. I had so many MQM carryovers, though, that I am still a Diamond for the current year. Experience on my most recent trip leads me to think that there are Diamonds and then there are Diamonds, and I am wondering if others have experienced this.

Until the trip this week, I was generally #1 on any upgrade list (I still travel on business, at my new job, generally on refundable tickets -- don't know if they're Y or not -- as was the case this week). But for my trip this week, I was #6 out of 9 on my outbound leg, and today #9 out of 11 on my return leg. On the first leg, I nicely asked the gate agent whether there were five Diamonds in front of me (I was skeptical), and she said there were indeed that number of Diamonds that had a higher priority than I did. But on today's return leg, I was standing waiting to board and someone near me was lamenting that he had little chance of being upgraded because he was #7 and he was only a Gold. Now I innocently thought from Delta's webpage, which lists priority for upgrades, that Diamonds would have priority over Golds, but I guess not (or at least not any longer for me). What I'm suspecting is that Delta is ranking me lower than Golds (i.e., the equivalent of a silver), probably because I have had relatively few miles during 2014 and now during 2015. And of course I'd never be able to prove any of this, since I'm not going to ask today's Gold fellow traveler to complain on my behalf.

I am getting my booking time automatic upgrades to economy comfort, which is good, but it seems that I'm not getting what I thought I was entitled to on upgrades to first class.

Anyone else having experiences like this? Or was the experience on this trip just some sort of random screwup?

It's not that huge a deal, since I'm not flying that often, but if I'm getting this treatment when I am currently a Diamond, it does make me wonder how good our "lifetime" benefits are going to be if what's happening to me indicates that our priority level for upgrades is not really what we were told told "officially" it was going to be.

The Gold at #7 could have been on a Y ticket. Medallions on Y tickets, starting with Diamonds down thru Silvers have a higher priority than a Diamond on a none Y fare. As you said, you are not sure if you were on a Y fare or not. So this is one plausible explanation.

I highly doubt that your ranking of late has anything to do with your lack if BIS miles in 2014 and 2015, however in order to keep your DM status going, your going to need to meet the MQD requirement, so depending on much your flying now, you may have a tough time hitting the $15K MQD requirement. Your only other option is to get the Amex waiver for the $25K in annual spend on the card.

Not trying to be trite, but are you sure you are still a Diamond? Did you meet the Diamond MQD spend threshold last year or spend $25K+ plus on a DL AMEX card for the MQD waiver? Simply having 125K+ MQM rollover alone is not sufficient to requalify for Diamond.

Yes, I am still a Diamond. Well aware of the rules and more than met the $25K spend waiver level last year. When I log in it says I'm a Diamond thru January 2016. I guess it's possible everyone ahead of me was a Y and I was not.

If it's any consolation, you are a lifetime Platinum Medallion at 4MM++. IMO, that is an amazing accomplishment.

In addition to pax on Y fares, some of those ahead of you could have been using RUCs. They would also be above any complimentary medallion upgrades on the list.

And there are a lot of RUCs out there. Last week I was flying ATL-LAX and asked to use a RUC. When I got to the airport I was #9 for 9 seats. I asked at the SkyClub if my RUC had been applied correctly or if there were really 8 DM using RUCs ahead of me. The agent checked and said that everybody ahead of me looked legit. At the gate I was #10 for 9 seats and enjoyed the C+ seat I paid for :)

RUCs were first available just over a year ago and expire after a year. My guess is there are a bunch that are expiring soon so people are using them so as not to lose them...

360 > DM based on what I've read here, though you would assume 360 ranks are small.

^ ^ You ended up Number One for None! I've been there..... :)

David

Welcome to the new Delta! I'm DM + Reserve and upgrades are few are far between. Get used to it.

I'm 6 for 6 on my last 6 flights. The trick? Avoid ATL! (DTW-CVG, CVG-DFW, DFW-SLC, SLC-DTW, JFK-YYZ, YYZ-JFK).

Yeah, that doesn't help you ATL flyers and it can sometimes be difficult to avoid. But there really is more to DL's route network than just ATL.

YES YES YES. I wish I was a 4MM!!

I always avoid ATL when I can. I only use ATL going to certain Caribbean, Latin America and ski destinations.

Ok, none of the replies to OPs post are surprising, nor are they factually incorrect, but look at these numbers...

For all the DMs out there, while you may have been 9th, 7th, or worse on an upgrade list, when was the last time you were that far down as a percentage of the entire list?

If the GA on the outbound informed OP that he was the 6th diamond on the list while flying on a flexible fare, that's not a stretch. The stretch is that there were only 3 other upgrades requested.

I would recommend that OP call the diamond line and ask someone to look into it, because I would bet something is amiss.

This