Delta Simplifies Clearance Priority for Comp Upgrades
 

Delta Simplifies Clearance Priority for Complimentary Medallion Upgrades
and Elevates Priority for Corporate Travelers
(April 29, 2016) For flights departing on or after April 30, 2016, Delta has simplified the clearance priority for Complimentary Medallion® Upgrades to First Class and Delta Comfort+™ as we strive to offer the best elite travel experience for our members.

Additionally, as part of the Delta Edge™ suite of services, Corporate Travelers who are SkyMiles® Medallion members will now have elevated priority for upgrade clearance.

As Delta continues to make investments in the corporate traveler experience, we are pleased to announce that Corporate Travelers traveling on Corporate Ticket Designators will now receive a higher prioritization, within their Medallion peer set, for a Complimentary Upgrade.

The enhancement is in addition to other enhancements available through the Delta Edge suite of services including Denied Boarding Protection, Involuntary Downgrade Protection, Priority Boarding and Preferred Seats for Corporate Travelers.

For information about Unlimited Complimentary Medallion Upgrades, please click here.

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So basically as a self-employed Diamond who fly's 200k+ miles per year, I'm going to see LESS upgrades now just because I don't have a job with a company that uses Delta Edge?

It would appear so. It also seems to impact those of us who fly weekly and do work for a company but buy tickets on our own and then turn in the expense for reimbursement. I'd have to assume that our groups represent a far greater population than the one this new policy addresses.

Hey Delta, do the corporate travel departments who purchase these tickets use the Amex Reserve card to do so? If not, you may want to review this policy with your partner.

I don't know what "Delta Edge" is, but, if they are elevating the priority for some, AND, eliminating the priority for "full Y" tix, doesn't that kind of balance out to a net zero?!?

Isn't this BS equate to another Medallion level that's exclusive to certain employer group.

Couldn't said it better!

I have always been a DL fan, but lately, a lot of idiotic decisions.

Anecdotal evidence on Flyertalk suggests that this was already occurring but not well publicized, plus the elimination of PM/GM/FO flyers on Y fares getting upgraded ahead of any DM is clearly an improvement for DM flyers.

If I'm reading the language correctly... do PWM tickets now clear at the priority for the fare class booked? It sure sounds like it...

What if those Y flyers are the same people that now get higher priority as a corporate account? Nevermind i see its within the peer set.

Can someone clarify what a "peer set" is?

If I'm a DM on a corporate V fare, would I clear above, for example, a DM on a Y fare?

Or is it that DM on Corp V clears before non-Corp V, but not before other DM on higher fare classes?

That is far from clear to me based on what they've published, but I believe it means the latter, but I am only about 80% confident in that answer.

I think the best evidence to support that is on this page where they state "Delta Reserve Credit Card Members will still have a higher prioritization within their Medallion peer set for upgrades." which is the same language used for the Corporate Accounts, so it appears that priority is similar to what Reserve members have received, which my understanding (and belief based on personal experience) is that it is just a tie-breaker if you have the same fare class, it doesn't put you above higher fare classes.

So let me make sure I'm following this correctly... Delta "simplifies" things by ending the Y prioritization, OK that makes things simpler.

But, we now have something called "fare class families" which aren't defined anywhere, there no longer appears to be a documented fare class hierarchy (just "higher fare classes among all ticket types holding higher priority", and I guess that does make things "simpler" in that there's no documentation as to what the fare classes are, though we all know them), corporate travelers now have higher priority (higher volume than an individual non-corporate Medallion but lower profitability for a given ticket, so I guess we know where Delta's "loyalty" is), Amex spend now counts as a tie breaker, and of course the C+ mess.

Sure, "simpler".

(That said, I don't actually care about the ordering because UGs no longer factor into my purchasing decision as they are few and far between these days...)

Using fare class for upgrade priority isn't new at all.

That has all existed for years, it is nothing new. I'm not sure they very explicitly document the fare class hierarchy, but it is published on the website indirectly on the reservation search functionality where you can select a minimum fare class.

http://www.delta.com/components/help/apps/booking/fare_class.jsp

Found it with Google, Delta fare class.