aero0729

Here is my stupid DL story of the week. I avoid these guys like the plague now. I have mostly enjoyed United 1K and never choose to fly DL unless I absolutely have to.

The other day I go stuck in Ann Arbor and had to get to OKC and when in DTW and its 5pm you have to get somewhere, its DL or make a stop and get in late.

The way Concur is setup with my company, 2 people traveling together have to book on their own. So its 2 reservations , each person on their own. I do this on United all the time then just call them and we get Economy Plus. Its no problem, no questions asked regardless of UA policies on being on the same reservation.

Here is where DL --- sucks! I called and said I did not want a 1st class upgrade and just to get into Comfort Plus with a companion. Each ticket was a $498 H fare for this short journey. There was 5 rows of 2x2 empty-10 seats in comfort plus and no one on the upgrade list. They would not upgrade my companion.. or me for that matter! They put me on a stupid upgrade list as Diamond with 10 open seats 6 hours from departure.

At the airport, the agents wanted to help but said they system required $49 for my companion. There were not 2 seats together in the back, only in Comfort plus so we ended up sitting apart. I gave him the comfort plus seat I got upgraded to and sat in the back.

Delta gets $1000 bucks for 2 seats on a short flight and do not have the common sense to seat Diamonds with their companions in an empty Comfort plus cabin. For all the times First class seats go out empty and how these guys operate.... who the heck out there really thinks Delta has good customer relations? I know I complain a lot but I have TRIED so hard not to hate this company... they just stink. Out of principle, we will just take the stop in ORD next time this happens.

I flew United from SFO-IAH on the dream liner in comfort plus me+2 companions the other day and it was just so easy! No worries a quick call the the 1K line and we are seated together.

Shame on Delta and their handling for comfort plus. the whole process sucks and is confusing.

Often1

This is a labor problem between you and your employer. It has chosen to set up its compliance software, Concur, to prevent you from doing what you want. Because your employer prohibits doing what you want, it is some other company's fault?

Why on earth would DL give away for free to your companion a C+ seat which it can sell? It is a for-profit company.

aero0729

defrosted

Excuse my ignorance, I fly almost exclusively Delta, but other domestic airlines upgrade more than 1 companion? As policy? If that is the case I agree Delta is not competitive in this area. I am looking at an almost empty C+ on my next flight, and with 3 companions on my reservation I am still stuck in the back.

I also agree that they should have been able to do something for you, like combining the reservations after the fact?

I am curious though, how are you Diamond if you avoid Delta like the plague?

Weekend Away

+1

pvn

Delta until recently would allow you to upgrade multiple companions to C+ (on the same reservation). I think they ended this at the same time they changed the companion F upgrade policy.

defrosted

Well that figures, by the time I need it they stop allowing it. Good info though, thanks.

aero0729

I achieved Diamond in 2017 therefore I have it through this year. I have 72,000 MQM, 50K are roll over. I fly 200,000+ miles for work each year. I switched to United but still fly DL when its the only option. I will go out of my way to fly UA though. They have massive E+ cabins for when your upgrades don't clear. And yes.. 1K's can upgrade up to 8.. yes 8 on the same flight. I have had no issues with people outside of my reservation getting E+. United also gives 1K's hot food free in coach / drinks and snacks free no matter where you sit.

Why I switched? Skyteam sucks... Skymiles are crap and terrible policies within DL Frequent Flyer program like the 72 hour rule and the Comfort Plus upgrade mess. UA is so easy.. .just click the seat you want. DL made it terrible. And NEW to DL.. this doesnt happen on United. If there are no shows to first Class... they are ALWAYS and i mean ALWAYS leaving those seats empty. UA is excellent and consistent coming onboard to find you.

Oh .. and those who say DL Operations are awesome... SAVE IT! I have had much better on-time % with United. YMMV with all the airlines.

gooselee

But if DL allowed 8 companions to upgrade, and two other elites before you had taken advantage of roughly half that allowance, then there wouldn't be any seats at all left even for you flying solo. And then I imagine the complaint would be that DL didn't hold back enough C+ space to allow late-booking elites.

You can't have it both ways. Also, H is expensive but nowhere close to a "full fare".

gooselee

I think this is a case of you seeing what you want to see and are therefore looking for. When I book DL tickets (out of ATL mostly), for the most part (at least 90% of the time) if there is an available C+ seat, I can just click on it and get upgraded to C+. Every now and then there is no upgrade inventory available and I settle for something further back, but whatever...not that big of a deal to me.

I can't remember the last time I saw a domestic FC seat fly empty. In fact, my last few flights I've noticed GAs coming on board to UG people into no-show seats at the end of boarding. I even benefited from this recently because the guy next to me was pulled up, and there were no standbys left so he got FC and my row-mate and I got an empty middle.

Gabdawg

Economy Plus on UA is not an upgrade, its just extra leg room. Isn't DL's C+ considered an upgrade as it has a few extra perks?

ethernal

How is E+ not an upgrade? Most of the time it's a better upgrade than DL since DL's pitch is 34" whereas United is often (though not always) 35". Unless you really think a free drink actually matters? Just because Delta calls C+ a different fare class and United does not does not mean that they are not effectively equivalent products.

I guess Delta's C+ marketing efforts are more successful than I would have thought.

Often1

No, I don't.

If you find better value in UA's E+ than DL's C+, you should fly UA.

This is all a zero sum game. If someone else had booked 3 of their buddies into C+ instead of just themselves and there were only 4 C+ seats left on the flight, you would be sitting in the back of the bus as well as your bud.

ethernal

It's true that it's a zero sum game, but the total prize at play on UA is much larger given that their fleet has more E+ seats on average than DL does.

aero0729

Delta Comfort+ is an upgrade for non-status members, a downgrade to me as a Delta Diamond against UA. On Delta Comfort + I get free drinks and a cheap snack. As a Diamond if I do not get upgraded, nothing is free. On United , doesn't matter where I sit, my drinks are free and so is the buy on board food. UA has UNO Pizza, Cheeseburgers, BBQ chicken sandwiches and more served hot available in coach . MUCH better than Luvo wraps. Also UA Econ+ seats feel like they have more legroom than Comfort +.