fixed that for you ... :p

It is quite possible that DL made a mistake. That, by itself, isn't useful information.

Is there any way that a passenger (high-status medallion) can observe that the mistake was made in advance of the upgrade window? How can it be fixed, if observed?

Answers to those would be actually useful information.

Thus, we're trying to drill down into exactly what the mistake was, what caused it, what the situation surrounding it was, etc.

I will post an additional replay IF Delta provides me a meaningful explanation from the rather detailed (moreso than this thread) submission sent them.

As for earlier posts, it does appear that a bunch of folks are in denial that DL screwed up. Not sure why it's so difficult to accept other than, as noted, you now wonder if your own UGs are really working as designed. Difficult to know without this sort of situation.

Had this been less interesting I would have refrained from posting, but it's clearly an issue. Alaska has well documented issues with their automated UG processes (perhaps rectified last Fall, but still at times indiscriminate). This seems in a similar vein, albeit nobody has been able to put a finger on the DL problem.

Let me assure all the observers of this thread that yes, everything that matters was the same and the noted differences (notably elite level) were as described and you don't need to read between the lines to assume something important was omitted from the message. DL's automated upgrade system is not infallible. Seems reasonable to think that a system designed by humans is capable of making mistakes like this. If DL tells me why this happened I'll gladly post their reply verbatim (minus any identifying information of course).

Don't question that mistakes can happen, but certainly don't see the harm in asking for additional details. Perhaps there were some changes in the ticket which might help explain how something could have happened in the upgrade process. It seems poster would rather attack those who simply ask for additional details (for example, what does "mostly in sync" mean??).

LBJ,

I don't attack other folks' threads and will not stand for attacks on my thread (claims that it is 'worthless'). Had I been asking for help, etc. it may have warranted asking for additional detail. The point is that I have no need to prove that everything was the same. I'm telling you, the audience, there is a problem that I was able to absolutely confirm. If you choose to doubt me just move on. This back and forth wastes time.

The reason this thread has seen so much traffic is due to the fact that people are interested when there's a glitch of this nature. It's important to many elites that their upgrade priority is accurately maintained during the upgrade process.

And what difference does it make anyway that everything be the same? You said you were a higher medallion level than your friend. What other details are relevant? Ticketed or not, I suppose but why on earth would you be writing about not getting an upgrade on a flight before it was ticketed? Time of upgrade request is irrelevant, fare class is irrelevant, except that full Y fare for your friend would have elevated him, but everybody knows that. So what on earth are these "missing details"?

I think part of the problem is that not everybody understands what "confirmed" means. They think it has to mean confirmation by some outside entity - that "confirmation" means Delta confirmed it. What you meant (which I don't think everybody understood) is that you have confirmed (through observation of a specific case) the possibility that upgrades are sometimes done out of order through an IT error.

Yes.

The only thing confirmed is that there was an error that meant op wasnt next to get upgraded. From the little posted it sounds like the error that DL confirmed, was an error in ticketing, not an upgrade list error. In that case the upgrades processed exactly how they're supposed to. In that case the next upgrade correctly went to the co-worker. A ticketing error doesn't equal upgrade list automation error. If the ticket was correctly issued then the next upgrade would have gone to the OP. DL fixed their error in ticketing, and once done, the upgrade processed.

This is the problem with most the threads about being skipped for upgrade. There was no problem with the upgrade system. Instead the person was correctly not upgraded. Either because they weren't next anymore or because something else is in error and the system thus correctly views the person as not being eligible.

This is why people ask follow-up questions, to determine if there was a reason, and if not what to lookout for in caae it happens to someone else. Simply saying DL said there's an error provides no useful information. An error could be anything.

In this case, it looks like its confirmed that the upgrade list is working correctly. However there's ticketing errors going on which will mean you're not eligible for upgrade till it's fixed.

Holy broken record batman.

Wow this whole thread is pretty silly beyond what the OP posted.

Its quite clear... two pax booked in coach (non-full Y) and the PM was upgraded before the DM. Should not've happened, and glad the OP was paying attention or would've likely gotten to the gate and be stuck in back. The problem was on DL's end, and not the first report we've heard of upgrades going out of order.

Several of us have expressed concern about not being able to verify how the system is working on the back end since they changed the coding from the UP3/UP3D/UP4 etc to a general UPGR and made the rankings hidden. Obviously things are not working properly... just like how the 'standby' list for RUC/GUC doesn't clear automatically often.

Possible. But back to my troubles in fall 2014, it was several different flights over a space of a few months, and every one booked a month or more in advance in Delta.com. The IT guy seemed to imply my personal info on Delta's back-end was corrupted, even though it appeared fine to me on Delta.com

I don't expect Delta.com to give me a forensic report, just fix it, which they eventually did. I could give a similar story about VA giving my wife (on the same PNR as me) a hand-written boarding pass because their system would not print it -- because her name record had an un-typeable and not screen visible character in a blank space before/after/ or between her names.

It's just as likely Delta's computers can inhibit an otherwise eligible medallion from being upgraded in advance. Gate upgrades still work because they are done manually. It won't be a "one-of" thing, but every flight until the problem is fixed for a medallion that has the problem.

This has happened to me & ACCDraw.2. Upgrade box is checked, yet the App & upgrade list doesn't show we're on. We called platinum line & they said "we see you've checked upgrade but system doesn't recognize it." They said something about a bad router(?). Now we call each time to make sure the system has us on the list.

I think most of us are aware that there are IT glitches in the DL system (I had a situation in CVG a few months back where my name wasn't showing up on the list, and after a discussion with the gate agents, they sorted out the issue and upgraded me). But we're also aware that many people don't understand the upgrade policies and incorrectly assume that a glitch happened when there is actually a valid reason they weren't upgraded. I think it's perfectly reasonable to ask for more information when an OP writes something as vague as "glitch -- confirmed."

And then you have FT classics like this -- http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delta...ies-delta.html

Always some sort of slight, wrong, or injustice that demands compensation. Didn't get your upgrade at the window even though there are still seats open? Must be some sort DL IT screw-up again. What other possible explanation could there be? Have to call to get you upgrade pushed though. Complain loudly and longly enough and you can often get your way with an agent just to placate you. Injustice confirmed!

That link is highly, highly, highly relevant to this thread. Too many people in this forum just care about themselves. You and your upgrades! Sure, maybe getting an upgrade will make you feel good, but have you ever given a single thought to how Delta feels about it? An upgrade is a gift - you should appreciate it if it comes, and shouldn't complain if it doesn't. Just take your seat.

Delta giveth, and Delta taketh away. Blessed be the name of Delta.

OP, what were you wearing when you booked the ticket, and when the upgrade cleared? I don't see that information anywhere in the thread. Why did you even post if you weren't going to include that highly relevant and important information?