Upgrading of DL employee non-revs from LHR-JFK
 

I recently travelled from LHR-JFK and was seated in Comfort +, and therefore not expecting an upgrade as the flight was only about 50% full. Prior to boarding, a contact of mine at LHR informed me that 5 DL employees who were non-revs had been upgraded to Delta One. Is this normal practice that non-revs would be offered upgrades ahead of a revenue paying DM? I certainly didn't mind where I was sitting, but was certainly surprised to hear that this happened.

It's a non-rev perk. Not a diamond perk.

This is an employee benefit. Space available upgrades to long-haul J are not a Diamond benefit. Sorry.

[QUOTE=audidudi;24993116]Prior to boarding, a contact of mine at LHR informed me that 5 DL employees who were non-revs had been upgraded to Delta One.[/QUOTE]I am not sure why your contact would be sharing this information with you. Pretty sure that this is information that a DL employee should not be giving out to another passenger.

Having said that Non-Revs are entitled to seats on an space available basis. It's an employee perk.

Non revs look for these flights....

HERE'S the problem - - - Employees, please correct me if I'm wrong . . . .

In order to be UPGRADED, first, you have to be confirmed in coach. Non-revs, within a certain internal pecking order (seniority and other priority criteria) are cleared DIRECTLY into J if space is available - supposedly AFTER all paying pax who are ELIGIBLE to be upgraded have received upgrades.

Paying DMs and lower, NEVER even come into the UG picture, unless using some type of instrument to UG, or unless the flight is overbooked, and even then, there's no official policy. The GA can UG whoever it's more convenient to UG, but, it usually goes thru the Medallion ranks in order.

Is there a better way to explain it?

Your thread title is wrong & your contact needs to change his/her wording to reflect that nonrevs are cleared into the highest class of service to which they are eligible. If they are eligible for Delta One they clear as such and are not upgraded. Semantics, but your contact's wording is incorrect. Hate the policy, not the messenger. :)

ETA: Dual postings think alike davetravels...and yours without a single emoticon! :-)

+1 to what PRWeezer & Davetravels said.

Not out of LHR, have you seen their taxes/fees? :rolleyes:

But yeah, to your point, the 2-dozen airline employees I know are constantly refreshing every possible itinerary on TravelNet to find every flight w seats open in J. (OK only 2 are doing that and one isn't even an employee, just along for the ride...but damn they have great weekends. :D)

An employee acquaintance of mine, someone I met a coupl'a times at mini-DOs - - One time in Atlanta, commented to me:

Employee: We're goin' to the Caribbean tomorrow.

Me: Where ya' goin'?

Employee: We haven't decided yet.

Me: What?!?

Employee: We'll see what flights look open in J, and then we'll decide!

It's an amazing situation they have. I wonder if DMs getting GUCs have put a crimp in this employee perk, at all?

:)

All it takes is a very flexible schedule, and the ability to chill out at the airport while waiting to see where you can get on a flight.

Traveling non-rev has it's own unique stress, especially when traveling back to the US with 1 flight a day from the departure city. If you don't clear on that flight, you're coming back the next day to try it again. And you're having to find a hotel to overnight as well.

I think that it would be hard to say. So many variables involved (destination, destination & time of year the non-rev may be trying to fly), etc.

There are always escape routes to/from the US, and sometimes the best option is not a direct flight to your intended destination (i.e. jumping off points).

Also, the GUC's are still capacity controlled right? Or do they go the airport waitlist? In other words, could a DM not be upgraded even if there are open seats and a non-rev clear into J on that same flight?

Yup. Saw a high school classmate post on FB about getting from NRT>MSP as a DL non-rev. His final routing ended up being NRT>PDX>LAX>SAN; overnight in SAN, then SAN>JFK>MSP.

GUCs go into open seats, as did old SWUs, a change made some years ago. Inventory not required.