Hi everyone,

I am new to the forum and new to flying just on DL. I fly a decent amount and would always just go for the cheapest or fastest tickets. About halfway through the year I started focusing all my flights on DL. I just passed into gold and will easily make it to platinum next year. (assuming no major changes)

There doesn't appear to be an easy to read simple guide on the best way to do things.

I read through a lot of threads and see a lot of talk about fare class being 2nd most important to medallion status. Is there an explanation of what exactly each fare means and how important it really is. When you don't do the advanced search on delta and just book standard economy what fare class is that?


Any tips on how to upgrade the fastest? I now have the delta platinum card and will easily charge $50k, through my business, which should get me 20k MQM as well as the spending wavier.

I have 1 flight booked already for 2018 and need to book at least 15 more. When I am on cross country flights for business I sometimes just book the comfort plus or FC ticket anyway. Looking to try to minimize the upgrades purchased and maximize dollars/time spent.

Thanks in advance

HR

Out of Portland you should get some pretty good upgrades on West Coast flights, even as a Gold. On flights involving Atlanta expect very little in the way of upgrades.

Upgrade priority is based on the Medallion level and the fare class. You can see the fare class when you book a ticket right above the price.

Welcome to FT!

There really isn't. Prepare to do a lot of reading That, and asking questions, or searching past threads (and depending what you're looking for, FT search sucks -- often you can get better results by doing a Google search for "site:flyertalk.com" plus your search terms).

There is a hierarchy of fare classes within each cabin. If you just search for flights on the Delta site you could theoretically end up with any of the fare classes, depending what flights you select. If you are generally booking the cheapest flights, nothing wrong with that, but will likely be one of the lower fare classes so will put you lower down the priority list for complimentary upgrades.

Here by "upgrade" I assume you mean, achieving higher status. Status is earned by MQMs (and MQDs, but you will have the AMEX $25k waiver). Earning status faster means earning MQMs faster. Earning MQMs faster means flying more, and/or spending more on DL-branded AMEXes. If you will max out one card you could consider getting the Reserve card, and also business versions of the cards. Some people have all 4 and max out the MQM bonuses.

About two years worth of reading to do.

Elite status doesn't mean that you earn additional MQMs, only RDMs.

When I said "X means Y" I meant "in order to X, you need to Y." I thought that would follow from context, but in case anyone else was confused, here you go

Thank you for your comments.

In a way everyone on this forum is "competing" on how to upgrade and beat each other out of the seats. That kind of explains why there isn't a simple how to guide. It seems the airlines are always changing so that makes it more difficult as well.


Is there a link or thread that breaks down each fare class level. One that explains if A is better then B and so on. I have always just done the normal search and then booked the main cabin selection. I never do the basic economy because I always want to chose my seat. It sounds like there is a better way to do things though?



As far as the ranking up the medallion status it seems like the simple answer is just fly more and max out the CC bonus.

I am going to be flying to Vegas in December and its silly but it seems like its a tough choice to fly DL and have 2 flights and cost $40 more or take a direct with Alaska and save 4 hours of time and $40. On the other hand that is more miles that could lead to better upgrades on longer flights.

That's not just defeatist, it's naive. Delta publishes its 'domestic' upgrade priority, and has for years. Get a higher elite status. Buy into a higher fare class via the advanced search page. Done.

https://www.delta.com/content/www/en...-upgrades.html

The main "sticky" thread has a long link of link to various sources of info and how-to's. See the Wiki section at the top.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delt...les-forum.html

Things to keep in mind --

Flights with Delta One business section are not complimentary upgrade eligible. These are primarily long-haul international, but also JFK-SFO/LAX,BOS-SFO, and DCA-LAX flights.

Medallion qualification period is 1/1 - 12/31. This is different from the Medallion status program year which runs until 1/31. Make sure you fly by 12/31 to earn MQM's required for qualification for a particular level. MQM's are credited based on the date when you fly, not when you purchase the ticket. No credit will be given for flights that are not flown. The same is true for MQD's.

Welcome.
The good news is that at least for the time being, Delta is very competitive on the N-S routes along the west coast.
I have found these sights to be very helpful for a relative newby:
All things Delta, http://renespoints.boardingarea.com/essentials/
The different fare classes, http://destinationsunknown.com/2017/...-fare-classes/
This is a better description of the fare classes, but the order is annoying (though it can be cnaged), http://www.cwsi.net/delta.htm
This is probably the best of the fare class charts, http://destinationsunknown.com/2017/...-fare-classes/

When you are booking on Delta, you can choose the fare class near the bottom of the booking page, thus you can somewhat easily check the different prices.

It does seem silly to do that. I would fly AS unless you absolutely need those miles for the next tier or something. 4 hours and $40 is worth more to me. YMMV.

That was extremely helpful! Thank you.