Zorak

This has been much-discussed in the A350/suites threads.

At least for now:

https://www.delta.com/content/www/en...tificates.html

"Certificates are flexible — they can be used to upgrade directly from Main Cabin to either Delta Comfort+, First Class, Delta Premium Select or Delta One. Or they can be used to upgrade from Delta Comfort+ to either First Class, or Delta One. Or they can be used to upgrade from Delta Premium Select to Delta One."

but there's also this clause, which may be what you were thinking of:

"Once an upgrade clears however, the certificate is considered used and a different certificate would be required to upgrade again, even to move to a different cabin on the same flight."

So you *can*, again at least for now, go directly from main cabin to suites. But if you decide to burn a GUC to go from main cabin to PS and it clears, you would have to spend a second one to waitlist/upgrade to suites.

rylan

I'd be wary of the GUC actually clearing on the 350. There aren'y many D1 seats compared to the total plane capacity. Its more likely you'd be stuck in the back, and no C+ either.

hockeyinsider

I would encourage everyone to write Delta and ask them to allow you to upgrade into premium-economy and waitlist for business-class with a global upgrade certificate.

hockeyinsider

You could always fly in/out of Nagoya, which may have better upgrade availability. Then you could take one of those amazing Japanese trains to/from Tokyo.

Grun68

I thought about the two GUC thing on the A350 too. Because of this, I booked a MR YUL-DTW-NRT-SIN in premium select for C$1328. Towards the high side for a MR but wanted to try the A350 in both new cabins and use one GUC. Currently waitlisted for the suite.

rucksack

In anticipation of a possible change? Because as others have pointed out, only one GUC is required to upgrade from Main Cabin to Delta One suites.

Grun68

Have done this SIN run a few times and wanted to mix it up a little by positioning in Montreal and I had one GUC left. PS on the way out and waitlisted for D1 on the way back but will be in PS should it not clear. Main cabin on the A350 looks a little tight.

hockeyinsider

Premium-economy is a little tight, too. Most airlines do 2x3x2. Delta is doing 2x4x2 with almost no space or privacy between the four center seats.

Also, the aircraft has fewer lavatories per passenger than the 747.

stencil

This exactly. I bought reward tickets in J for NYC-HND a few months ago for an upcoming trip. The 350 inventory was slammed - almost twice as much in terms of miles and UG inventory was nonexistent.

k2

Very true - unless you're flying on a Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday I wouldn't bet on the GUC clearing at all, and that's with the 744 - the 350 will be much worse.

Great suggestion, it's worth checking - this route can be wide open mid-week, and according to a DL pilot/friend, is a non-rev favorite for that reason. That should bode well for GUC inventory.

My anecdotal opinion, GUCs are relatively useless TPAC to/from DTW for business travel. Recently I switched to a company that doesn't pay for D1 () and have yet to successfully upgrade TPAC (~8 attempts). TATL is not a problem. The good news? Now that I'm flying "with the people" again I can honestly say coach (C+) really isn't that bad.

hockeyinsider

I have never not had a global upgrade certificate clear. I've used them four times a year for three years. So 12 certificates, 10 of which were to/from Asia. All but one cleared before departure day. Then again, I have always made sure I was very flexible on flight to/from Asia as to routing and days. I think the problem is many people aren't flexible.

stencil

Asia's a MASSIVE place. We're talking specifically about Japan here.

hockeyinsider

Yeah, but I'm always flying through Tokyo-Narita.

mnredfox

Agree, but the only better D1 seat was the 747 on the UD. Same as A330 but more space due to side bins.

rucksack

Yes, but I could also see this working to the benefit of someone using GUCs. Delta clearly is pushing the "premium-ness" of the A350 Delta One suite -- Delta's flight search has a "new flagship" indicator for the A350 along with the longstanding "fastest" and "lowest fare" indictors. I could see scenario where Delta pursuing a really protective RM strategy for Delta One Suites means the load factors are lower and therefore there's more room for upgrades to clear at the gate. I agree it's very unlikely for upgrades to clear ahead of time.

Albeit I've never tried using GUCs on trips to Asia, but I've had very good luck getting my upgrades to clear. In fact, a couple of my GUCs cleared twice