jhonnyc377

Hi, (this is my first post, please forgive any etiquette transgressions)

I'm planning to travel to Japan (either NRT or HND) on 8/20 or thereabouts. I can fly either ANA or Delta.

I'm Platinum Medallion on Delta and Premier Platinum on United. Which airline is more likely to give me the all-important upgrade? I can be flexible on dates, +/- a day or two, and I don't really care about time.

Am I better off booking on Delta because I'm Plat. Medallion, or is ANA a better choice even though I'm in United's program?

(I should mention that I'm Plat in both of these programs as part of a status matching program via my company, so I don't have a ton of miles/points to use).

Second question - If I don't get either upgrade, does anyone have a recommendation of which coach/economy class is better?

Thanks!

MSPeconomist

Route and aircraft type? What will be your fare class? If it's Y B M on DL, you can use miles to upgrade if upgrade inventory is available. I doubt that this is possible for ANA, although it might work with a FULL Y fare.

Would the ANA flight have Premium Economy as a compromise? DL doesn't but you can pay to reserve coach seats with extra legroom and a few perks, called Comfort Plus, formerly Economy Comfort, and abbreviated here as C+/EC.

jhonnyc377

Delta would be either DL 167 or DL 581, looks like both are 777. The ANA/United would be HS 177, 777-300ER.

Looking at my corporate travel tool, the fare code is L.

BenA

Delta's Comfort+ to Japan is a pretty nice experience, as far as coach seating goes, and free for you to select as Platinum.

In standard Economy for someone with no status, I'd recommend ANA. But I do think the additional legroom of the Economy Comfort seat would give Delta the edge in your case.

One other thing to consider: Most Delta flights to Japan are operated by 767 or A330 aircraft with 2-3-2 or 2-4-2 seating, which is great. The DL 777 is also fine, although with more middle seats (3-3-3).

In comparison, check the exact seat configuration on your ANA flight - they have a million different layouts. Some are great (2-4-2 on the 787, or 2-3-2 on the 767)... some are weird (2-4-3 on the 777), and some are cramped beyond belief (3-3-3 on the 787, 3-4-3 on the 777).

Don't expect an upgrade on DL, though - although you may get offered a buyup opportunity at checkin or get a better seat on an oversold flight, it's a total roll of the dice and not something you can depend on.

jhonnyc377

Do you recall what the average buyup cost is? Or what the batting average is for a comp. upgrade?

3Cforme

Close to zero. Op ups happen but unless you buy an eligible fare and use miles or an SWU to upgrade you need to plan on riding in coach.

VegasJosh

I have gotten upgraded 2 times from NRT - SEA as a DM in 5 years.....oh and I do the flight 8 - 10 times a year....

avidflyer

The buy-up is the difference between what you paid and J. You may as well just do it now if that is your plan...there is no consistent deal.

DL is one of the hardest airlines to upgrade on internationally. They "protect" the integrity of the paid product that way. I understand why they do it but other airlines do allow you to upgrade relatively easily. I fly AA and have a great track record of upgrading internationally. It is a $350 co-pay and miles or one of 8 certs you get for hitting 100K but I have only not got the UG on 2 of about 12 flights. YMMV.

Melodsal

ANA actually frequently op ups customers from coach. I usually fly SEA-NRT with them and always see upgraded customers in the business cabin taking pictures. I don't know how they prioritize op ups but I'm fairly sure as a United star alliance gold you would have a shot.

joejones

I would not expect an "op up" on ANA unless you have ANA status and coach is oversold.

bennos

I've taken plenty of pictures of J cabins on J (cash and award) tickets, so I wouldn't use that as a metric.

ANA appears to operate a 3-4-3 77W on this route. If flying Y (as you probably will be), I'd opt for DL as a PM with free access to C+ seating. More legroom (35" vs 31") and 9 across (3-3-3) instead of 10 across on the 772 (used for NRT). HND operates on a 763 which is even better... 7 across (2-3-2) in coach, so almost no middle seats.

If you can buy up to Premium Economy (W class, the difference is about $1k/rt) then I'd pick ANA over DL.

CPMaverick

It was 7 years ago now but I used to fly ANA regularly to Japan with UA status, and 90% of the time they gave me a free upgrade to Premium Economy (which is a LOT nicer than Delta's C+). It wasn't the day of travel either, after booking I was able to select Premium Economy on the ANA website. Not sure if this is still the case, maybe ask in the UA forum.

Delta's C+ is a good product and if the seat map shows availability, that is more of a sure bet. But ANA may be better if you are more of a gambler.

xliioper

To clarify previous responses, the Delta complimentary upgrade program does not cover long haul international flights like flights to Asia/Europe, etc. See below for covered routes --

http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_...-upgrades.html

In rare cases, you may get an operational upgrade ("op up") on these long haul flights when coach is oversold and they need to make more coach seats available. Just because there are open seats in business does not mean you will get it for free. They can and will fly with empty business seats.

joejones

I believe you are only supposed to get this automatic upgrade if flying on a Y (unrestricted economy) fare, or if you have ANA status.

Melodsal

It's not just taking pictures but their excited comments as they take them