TN award availability Expert Flyer vs Delta?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: WI
Programs: DL DM, UA Gold, IHG Plat, Hilton Gold, Marriott/SPG gold
Posts: 29
TN award availability Expert Flyer vs Delta?
Hi all,
I have searched and searched and cannot find the answer so I'm going to ask here.
We have a round trip award ticket LAX-PPT booked on TN using sky miles. I am attempting to book the return in business class. Expert flyer now suddenly shows 3 available seats in 'I' class. I assumed that this meant I could book the business award from DL, but they are not able to see the inventory. Does anyone know if there is a different class of inventory other than 'I' that I should be looking for? I really don't feel up to calling DL agents every day for months in a row to score a business class ticket, so will probably sit in coach if there's no way to see inventory on expert flyer. Thanks all
I have searched and searched and cannot find the answer so I'm going to ask here.
We have a round trip award ticket LAX-PPT booked on TN using sky miles. I am attempting to book the return in business class. Expert flyer now suddenly shows 3 available seats in 'I' class. I assumed that this meant I could book the business award from DL, but they are not able to see the inventory. Does anyone know if there is a different class of inventory other than 'I' that I should be looking for? I really don't feel up to calling DL agents every day for months in a row to score a business class ticket, so will probably sit in coach if there's no way to see inventory on expert flyer. Thanks all
#2
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: MSP
Posts: 164
Hi all,
I have searched and searched and cannot find the answer so I'm going to ask here.
We have a round trip award ticket LAX-PPT booked on TN using sky miles. I am attempting to book the return in business class. Expert flyer now suddenly shows 3 available seats in 'I' class. I assumed that this meant I could book the business award from DL, but they are not able to see the inventory. Does anyone know if there is a different class of inventory other than 'I' that I should be looking for? I really don't feel up to calling DL agents every day for months in a row to score a business class ticket, so will probably sit in coach if there's no way to see inventory on expert flyer. Thanks all
I have searched and searched and cannot find the answer so I'm going to ask here.
We have a round trip award ticket LAX-PPT booked on TN using sky miles. I am attempting to book the return in business class. Expert flyer now suddenly shows 3 available seats in 'I' class. I assumed that this meant I could book the business award from DL, but they are not able to see the inventory. Does anyone know if there is a different class of inventory other than 'I' that I should be looking for? I really don't feel up to calling DL agents every day for months in a row to score a business class ticket, so will probably sit in coach if there's no way to see inventory on expert flyer. Thanks all
Second. I believe that I class is what you're looking for with TN flights on DL.
I wonder if the data is cached in EF and by the time you get to DL it's gone, or was never really there.
#4
#5
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fort Lauderdale
Programs: UA: 1K 1.5MM, DL: LTDM 3.5MM, JB: Mosaic4, LH: exSEN 1MM, Bonvoy LT Titanium Elite, Hertz PresC
Posts: 266
Hi all,
I have searched and searched and cannot find the answer so I'm going to ask here.
We have a round trip award ticket LAX-PPT booked on TN using sky miles. I am attempting to book the return in business class. Expert flyer now suddenly shows 3 available seats in 'I' class. I assumed that this meant I could book the business award from DL, but they are not able to see the inventory. Does anyone know if there is a different class of inventory other than 'I' that I should be looking for? I really don't feel up to calling DL agents every day for months in a row to score a business class ticket, so will probably sit in coach if there's no way to see inventory on expert flyer. Thanks all
I have searched and searched and cannot find the answer so I'm going to ask here.
We have a round trip award ticket LAX-PPT booked on TN using sky miles. I am attempting to book the return in business class. Expert flyer now suddenly shows 3 available seats in 'I' class. I assumed that this meant I could book the business award from DL, but they are not able to see the inventory. Does anyone know if there is a different class of inventory other than 'I' that I should be looking for? I really don't feel up to calling DL agents every day for months in a row to score a business class ticket, so will probably sit in coach if there's no way to see inventory on expert flyer. Thanks all
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2001
Programs: DL 1 million, AA 1 mil, HH lapsed Diamond, Marriott Plat
Posts: 28,190
TN's booking code for business award inventory is I. It can be handy to use ExpertFlyer's award alert service for the operating carrier instead of checking delta.com multiple times a day hoping award inventory has been added.
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: San Antonio
Programs: DL DM, Former AA EXP now AY Plat, AC 75K, NW Plat, Former CO Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 27,042
Not sure why you are looking at "I" class for award classes on Delta. Delta's lowest level award classes are R O N (F/C/Y) which EF will show you. As soon as you need more miles EF will no longer be able to show availability. The easiest way to check for award inventory is on delta.com which will also show you the required miles.
#8
Left Expert Flyer 4/23
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,741
We know the TN award inventory is accurate because AA can see the same inventory that TN publishes.
#9
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 159
TN is the last partner airline that Res Agents have to long sell. Agents cannot see real time availability and must long sell and wait for a response from TN.
Long Sell is done so infrequently that many agents may not think to do it unless the term is specifically mentioned to them.
Long Sell is done so infrequently that many agents may not think to do it unless the term is specifically mentioned to them.
#10
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: San Antonio
Programs: DL DM, Former AA EXP now AY Plat, AC 75K, NW Plat, Former CO Gold, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 27,042
TN is the last partner airline that Res Agents have to long sell. Agents cannot see real time availability and must long sell and wait for a response from TN.
Long Sell is done so infrequently that many agents may not think to do it unless the term is specifically mentioned to them.
Long Sell is done so infrequently that many agents may not think to do it unless the term is specifically mentioned to them.
#11
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 159
KQ, OK, and UX need to be booked via what's called Direct Access. It's not a separate program, but the booking process is different compared to long selling.
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: WI
Programs: DL DM, UA Gold, IHG Plat, Hilton Gold, Marriott/SPG gold
Posts: 29
Thanks for all the responses. I am not aware of any way to see TN award flights on delta.com, please correct me if I'm missing something on that.
I believe the availability was there but the 3 DL agents I tried were not able to book it. Anyway, the seats are no longer showing on expert flyer so looks like someone was able to get them. Will keep my monitoring and update if I find something that may help others in the future. Thanks again. What I hear from this thread is to request a long sell or direct access.
I believe the availability was there but the 3 DL agents I tried were not able to book it. Anyway, the seats are no longer showing on expert flyer so looks like someone was able to get them. Will keep my monitoring and update if I find something that may help others in the future. Thanks again. What I hear from this thread is to request a long sell or direct access.
Last edited by Flyfish81; May 14, 2017 at 7:11 am
#13
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2001
Programs: DL 1 million, AA 1 mil, HH lapsed Diamond, Marriott Plat
Posts: 28,190
Airlines included in SkyMiles Award Travel: Delta Air Lines, Delta Connection carriers Compass Airlines, Endeavor Air, Inc. ExpressJet Airlines, Inc., GoJet Airlines, Shuttle America, and SkyWest, Aeroflot, Aerolineas Argentinas, Aeromexico, AirEuropa, Air France, Air Tahiti Nui*, Alitalia, China Airlines, China Eastern, China Southern, Czech Airlines*, Garuda Indonesia, GOL, Great Lakes, Hawaiian Airlines*, Jet Airways, Kenya Airways, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Korean Air, Mandarin Airlines, Middle East Airlines, Saudia Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Tarom Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia, WestJet and Xiamen Airlines
Sufficient miles within your SkyMiles account are required to redeem miles toward Award Travel. To shop for Award Travel on delta.com select ‘Book SkyMiles Award Ticket’ when initiating your flight search. Once you’ve selected your itinerary and logged into your SkyMiles account, you’ll be asked to pay for the flights you selected.
*To book, contact your local office. Hawaiian Airlines Awards are limited to inter-Hawaiian Islands itineraries
https://www.delta.com/content/www/en...rd-travel.html
#14
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: WI
Programs: DL DM, UA Gold, IHG Plat, Hilton Gold, Marriott/SPG gold
Posts: 29
Just to update....I called the diamond line another 10 times or so over the next few weeks. Expert flyer continued to show business class availability and DL agents continued to say there was none. I asked one employee how she was searching and if there were any other ways to check, to which she responded that she's been working there many years and if there was a way to do it she would know. Finally found an agent that knew the process and she was able to get the seats. She said they just have to manually request from TN. My takeaway, expert flyer has the correct info, be persistent in calling DL when you see space open up because the seat should be able to be booked using miles.