bgriff

The upgrade fare codes as described have long been the policy for upgrades on KLM using miles. For GUCs the terms & conditions at the bottom of this page haven't changed so hopefully the agent was misinformed, but who knows.

FWIW usually these upgrades are processed by international ticketing, not by a KLM liaison, so I wouldn't necessarily expect the person your agent spoke with to know what's going on. But the specific reference to there having been a change is concerning.

whooperatw

Grouchy

Confused here, that was the rule in the past (Y and Z inventory was enough. M, B and you needed O iirc)

bgriff

Those are the rules for upgrades using miles, using GUCs the rules are different (all economy fares except E book into Z on GUCs).

Travelomania

I just returned from a trip to Cape Town: LAX-SEA-AMS-CPT-AMS-ATL-LAX.
My GUC's for the Delta outbound legs cleared automatically without any issues a few days before departure.
I called in every day before departure to check on availability for the notoriously full - and often overbooked - legs AMS-CPT-AMS, but there was never availability. When I got to Lounge #52 at Schiphol airport on the outbound, I had approx. 65 minutes on the layover to find an agent who was willing to help me. Luck was with me and the very competent agent found the last available seat, called the designated desk for confirmation and was able to book for me. I had the Certificate number and Redemption code that was used for the prior legs ready and less than 45 minutes before departure I got the upgrade.
On the return leg CPT-AMS I was totally out of luck. While checking in early at CPT airport to check for availability, I was told that just minutes before the last two seats were sold. My seat thus stayed in Main cabin for CPT-AMS, since EC was already sold out months before departure. Oh well .....
The rest of the inbound itinerary on DL had been cleared well in advance before departure.

Grouchy

Talking about upgrading with GUC's on KLM operated and marketed flights since jboylan mentioned KL 651, not a DL marketed flight.

" For travel on KLM-operated, Delta-marketed flights this certificate may be used to upgrade on published fares booked in Y, B, M, H, Q, K, L, U, T, X or V class and all fare classes upgrade into Z class. For travel on KLM-operated flights marketed by either Delta or Air France, this certificate may be used to upgrade on published fares booked in Y, B, or M class. Fares booked in B or M are eligible to upgrade into O class, while fares booked in Y are eligible to upgrade into Z class. "

/me thinks they mispelled KLM

NC17376

The Diamond agent had originally said to me "the JV desk told me the KLM rules are now the same as the Air France rules."

I had to change the date of departure after booking though, so called back after all. The (new) Diamond agent was able to see the KLM Z-availability for the date I requested, and confirmed to me it was upgrade eligible, but couldn't price it, so transferred me to the international reissue desk, who ultimately booked me on KL 1572 / KL 651 (coded as KLM flights, not DL code shares) on a confirmed GUC. I didn't ask what the underlying fare code was but it definitely wasn't YBM at the price they charged. No mention of any policy change on Feb. 1 either.

So likely just another case of an agent not knowing the rules fully.

krypttohk

Been having some issues where Z inventory on expert flyer isn't matching what Delta agents can see. Tried both twitter and on the phone - they can also see the Z inventory, but over half a dozen people have now told me that Z inventory has two sub-buckets, one for revenue and one for upgrades. Did something change, or am I just getting unlucky? Most of these people have even gotten to the point of reaching out to the KLM desk, which told them the same thing. I'm even able to get to the payment screen for a Z fare on my route on KLM's page, so the revenue Z seats are definitely available.

Any help is appreciated - thanks!

btonkid12345

What route are you flying? Do you have more than 1 KLM segment, and is space available on the married itinerary?

krypttohk

SFO-AMS-JNB. Showing married Z2, but Z0/Z9 when done individually. Was previously showing individual but not married, which also didn't work. All in all quite odd.

krypttohk

(Both KLM to be clear)

btonkid12345

And both flights are Delta marketed (meaning they have Delta flight numbers)?

If both flights have Delta flight numbers and there is married availability of Z=2, it should be available and you just need to keep calling until you get a competent person (which is harder and harder at DL these days, even at the DM Desk)

krypttohk

Thanks, that's what I thought. Definitely married availability of Z=2 on the KL flight numbers, and currently on DL coded. Frustrating that the JV desk is feeding them misinformation about there being multiple Z buckets. Do you think asking for the international reissue desk might help?

flyerCO

Booked JFK-AMS and AMS-SLC. Both showed Z available. Went to book and agent got Z to confirm for JFK-AMS. However they said Z wouldn't confirm for AMS-SLC. Confirmed JFK-AMS, and then HUACA. Agent was able to confirm Z for AMS-SLC. Agent informed me this is common when switching from DL numbers to KLM . She said they have to do it as a multi step process. If they try and combibe two steps in one step, it can fail. Basically comes down to systems communicating information in certain order. Plus that KL coded flights need to be confirmed before any DL coded flights. Agent said even trying a long sell will fail if the steps aren't followed correctly, in order, and without combing steps.

HeadInTheClouds