I'm well aware of the hierarchy of how upgrades are assigned for medallions.

My purpose for post is asking DM's their experience in how much fare class purchased makes the difference between getting an upgrade and not in moderately competitive routes.

Qualifications:

For the purposes of this post, I'm referring to those who purchase regular economy fares: M, S, H, Q, K, L, U, T, X, V, E.

As for 'moderately competitive routes' I'm referring to any route that's not super DM heavy - where anything less than a M fare with a reserve card would put you 10 (or further) back on the upgrade list.
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Reason I ask is that since becoming a PM in October of last year, the only routes I can hope to have a decent of getting an upgrade on are ones where I have a L or higher fare.

I'm trying to decide if it makes sense to try for DM this year, and it would be helpful to know how much fare class helps ensure you get an upgrade.

I usually get fares in the U, X range and if DM's flying on those fares don't do much better than I do on higher fares as a PM - it might not be worth it for me.

Thanks for any help you guys can give me. Thanks -

I have been crazy lucky on upgrades for the last year...but as I often travel on lower fares (LUT), have had to use RUCs on heavy DM or FCM routes, e.g. ATL-LAX/LAS. I am typically still high on those, like 2 or 3, but perhaps with 1 (or 0) FC left. When I have higher fares, the problem is less. Occasionally I am 7 on the list with a LUT fare.

So yes, it makes a difference, but the flight characteristics itself seems to be much more important...how "heavy" is the demand.

Day of week can have as much, or more, impact on upgrades as routes. Sunday (from late morning onward), Monday, Thursday, and Friday tend to be heavy travel days for consultants and business folks and are hence difficult for upgrades. You can generally do quite a bit better on upgrades with Tue, Wed, and Sat travel. I've done pretty well as a DM, but I often find myself travelling on the off days which I'm certain helps out a lot.

longtime PM, longtime traveler to/from DCA/IAD/BWI

until late 2011 most of my travel was company-paid, so I didn't really pay attention to inventory ... since then, as LBJ says, flying on non-consultant-heavy days increases UG odds significantly; by checking the fare difference for one or two higher buckets, and comparing airports as well, I've occasionally paid maybe $30 more than a T fare from DCA to get a K fare from BWI ... can't state authoritatively whether that always meant I got the UG, but I have to think it helped when the GIDS showed me at #2 of 25 for 3 seats (or when I got the email at T-48 hrs and the GIDS showed 38 for 1 seat)

There is no fare class that will "ensure you get an upgrade". I had many flights at B and Y as a DM where I sat in the back of the bus. FCM makes it more difficult to get comp UGs and DL has made it more than clear that their intention is to grow the % of F seats that they sell. The number of comp UGs gets smaller every day. I'm not complaining, I'm just stating facts.