MSPeconomist

That shouldn't be a problem.

flyerCO

As long as the fare is eligible you can pay for a portion with the certificate and use the GUC. Just make sure you don't book an E fare when booking with DL.

Teamstone

Thanks MSP,

You helped me not to lose it!

MSPeconomist

BUMP.

Two days left.

javabytes

I chose mine earlier today. With the sporadic issues reported in the last week or so, wanted to do it during business hours in case something went wrong...

tanglin

I believe I am good for another year to select these, but I'm nervous and can I ask the experts here to confirm please??

(I hope this upload works )

matthew64832

Yeah, if they say 2016 you have until the end of the 2016 program year to select them: January 31, 2017

I assume you know that for your 2015 you could have gotten that same $200 cert as a plat benefit and then gifted GM instead of FO...

tanglin

Thanks!

Arrggghhh! No I did not realise that! I will do that when the FO runs out and my daughter needs a renewal!

Thanks again!

matthew64832

You can see the full matrix here: https://www.delta.com/choicebenefits/

It's actually rather strange, for some benefits the PM vs DM choice are identical (i.e. a single $200 gift card) but others there is a big difference (4 RUC vs 8 RUC, FO gift vs GM gift)

MSPeconomist

Arbitrage opportunities. For example, if you're selecting a gift card, do it as a PM choice. For RDMs, GUCs/RUCs, gifted status, the DM options are better.

However, not everyone is able to select their PM and DM choice benefits at the same time, nor is everyone certain when making the PM choice that there will be DM choices later for the same program year. So in some cases, it can be hard to coordinate optimally.

kaw753

Can I ask an obvious question? What benefit is there in delaying making the selection other than the obvious being that you might change your mind? If I am selecting RUCs, wouldn't I want them now or is there some benefit to pushing out the expiry so that I can use them the following year (when I might have lesser status)? Just curious.

MSPeconomist

RUCs/GUCs and DL voucher gift cards expire one year after they're chosen. If you're not going to use them right away, it's better to pick them later and get the latere expiration date for flexibility, especially if it turns out that the upgrades cannot be confirmed on the flights where you had planned/hoped to use the RUCs/GUCs. This is especially true since they tend to appear in your account within a few hours of being selected, certainly less than 24 hours IME.

OTOH, if you're at the airport and decide that applying a RUC/GUC would be helpful, I wouldn't count on getting them fast enough for a gate upgrade on that flight.

green79

Yep just did this yesterday

flyerCO

Note the 2015 gifted FO status expires tomorrow. The 2016 choice benefit FO/GOLD gifted status runs out Jan 31, 2017. Therefore you only gave her status for a couple of days.

SpinzCity

I sat next to someone today in row 3 who said she had done a mileage run last month to make Plat. I said it was really worth it, and that I really appreciated the Plat choice benefits, and have been getting the RUCS.

She had never heard of RUCs, and didn't know there was such a thing as choice benefits - - so hadn't claimed them for 2015 or 2016. I told her she had one day to claim them for 2015, so she immediately got on the Delta app and claimed herself some RUCs.

I then explained to her the ins and outs of using RUCs (how you can use them in advance but some wait till close to fiight time; to apply them to a long segment but not a short one unless the long segment clears), and she said she had a flight to LAX tomorrow and could really use the upgrade since it was part of a 3-segment connection.

As we were leaving the plane she thanked me - - but I told her it was all thanks to Flyertalk. She took a note of that too.