sethb

50% more than C-? That's more than FCM.

thesaints

It has never been very clear to me what happens in such a case. Assuming that there are no Medallions checking the seatmap until the last minute and in any case when the upgrade happens during boarding, how are the GA's allocating those suddenly empty C+ seats ?
And what happens if flight is not full and they stay empty after doors close; can I go to the FA, show my Skymiles card and ask to move there ?

cmd320

That means it's time to turn F into a true regional J product.

sethb

Now that FAs can sell C+ on board, who knows?

luek096

Is Delta switching back to three cabins? Feels like every cabin is downgraded from old times.

thesaints

Just like the Medallion benefits have already been.

jdrtravel

I don't think there was ever 3 cabin service on domestic routes, except maybe for transcon or Hawaii service, right?

thesaints

IIRC only the 1011 and the 777 had 3 cabins, by the end of the 90's.

cmd320

International Tristar 250s and 500s were definitely three class in the early 90s. By the late 90s they were in the process of being converted to two class domestic aircraft.

dldmfll

Also, MD 11s had three classes of service for a while. They flew A domestic segment from Los Angeles to Orlando and back to Los Angeles after coming in from Tokyo.

MSPeconomist

PMNW 747s had a FC cabin until sometime in the late 1990s, shortly after the experiment with the International Platinum Elite status level, before PE was introduced.

ND76

My first "business class" trip to Europe was in 1989 aboard an L-1011, ATL-HAM (with an intermediate stop at LGW). My recollectcion was that Medallion class was sold out (it was a Saturday afternoon departure). I flew back on the MUC-ATL non-stop, and there were only 5 or 6 people beside myself in Medallion Class. Both flights were really excellent, despite the fact that there was no catering between LGW and HAM (maybe 55 minutes in the air).

First class was 2 rows of 2 x 2 x 2 plush leather recliners. I think they served caviar, shrimp and Dom Perignon up there.

Medallion Class was something like 6 or 7 rows of 2 x 4 x 2 seating using the seat modules used in F on domestic 767s at the time. It vaguely resembled the premium economy product on VS, except that the food was really excellent, plated at your seat, and they poured Taittinger Brut champagne.

Y was 2 x 5 x 2 on the L-1011.

I think the international capacity on the L-1011 was around 280 pax (it was 302 on the domestic version).

I don't think the 160 degree cradle seats appeared until the mid 90s.

I also flew on the domestic portion of a through flight TXL-JFK-LAX on an A310 that Delta acquired from Pan Am; this would have been around 1992 or so. That was in the days when for 10,000 miles and $60.00, you could buy an upgrade at the airport counter (you could avoid the $60 fee if you sent away for the coupon and waited a couple of weeks to arrive). As there was no upgrade to Medallion Class, I got a seat in F, which on the A310 was 2 x 1 x 2 (I can't remember whether F was two or three rows). My routing was BWI-JFK-LAX-LAS.

Medallion class on the A310 was 2 x 3 x 2 (as I recall); coach was 2 x 4 x 2. On the flight I was on, Medallion class flew empty; I remember going back there so that I could sit in a window seat and stare out at a beautiful sunset.

F was pretty darn special on that trip, as Delta had a host of foreign beers to sample, and the FAs made cappuccino after dinner and served strawberries dipped in both white and dark chocolate, seemingly all you wanted. The inflight entertainment was interesting, as DL had taped the ABC Evening News with Peter Jennings which had just ended a few minutes before push back and loaded the tape on the plane which they started playing immediately after takeoff before they started playing movies.

TomMM

This is getting as complicated as buying a mobile data plan..

OneHourPhoto

I just saw this occur on my LAS>JFK tonight. During beverage service the FA noticed someone sitting in a C+ seat that was empty at take off. The PAX was offered the option to stay in the seat but pay for the upgrade or move back. She paid

Felixishim

as they should have, in one of my international flight FA comes on board and checks with everyone in the manifest and put a small post it to mark down who is "Real" C+ so that she can move them back if they invade it was SEA-PVG i believe as "Chinese" pax does do more typically

and by the way with the new fare class what they really should do is block the middle seat of 2-3-2 like Europe business class does and charge a good premium