fredvig

So, I discovered today that I am 2,520 MQMs from maintaining my Platinum status (lot going on and it just slipped my mind).
Spoke to a Delta agent today on the phone, who told me that there was a way to purchase an Economy ticket that may not be quite enough miles, but if you upgraded your fare with miles through an agent on the phone, the system would see it as if you paid for the upgrade, thus giving you the MQMs for a First Class fare. I told the agent I wanted to think about it and would call back. Of course, when I called back, the new agent I got on the phone had no idea what I was talking about. I was hoping I could book an Economy flight to BOS from ATL, and upgrade with miles, and it would put me over the top.

Has anyone ever heard of this scheme of upgrading with miles and getting the milage credit?

Apart from that, does anyone know of a last minute fare from ATL the day after Xmas that would get me my 2520 miles. I'm kicking myself for letting this go and have booked a flight from ATL-SNA, but it's $540 and I would love something cheaper that I could do in one day.

Thanks!
Fred

DiscoPapa

xliioper

Upgrade with Miles is just based on the cash upgrade price from coach to first, but exchanging your miles at the rate of 1 cent per mile. Many people value their miles at more than that and would likely just choose the cash option to upgrade instead. Roundtrip ATL-BOS in First is available for $571 on 12/31 and earns around 3000 MQM's. This will likely be about the cheapest option. Could do SEA-ATL on 12/30 or 12/31 for $530, but that's Basic Economy.

fredvig

Thanks for the response. Upgrading after purchasing the ticket is a bit dangerous if it turns out no upgrades are available. Looks like I'll have to stick with my $540 ATL-SNA. It's my penance for dropping the ball.

fredvig

Unfortunately, I can only travel on 12/26 or 27th. I guess my ATL-SNA is the best deal available.

Thanks!

xliioper

Don't think you understand. Wasn't suggesting upgrading after purchase, just purchase F outright. There's no real benefit or point to waiting after purchase to upgrade (it is often more expensive than doing it at time of purchase). ATL-BOS in F would be $665 on 12/26 or 12/27. Somewhat more expensive than SNA, but you wouldn't have to fly in coach and on a red-eye. Also, if agent was suggesting a Mileage Upgrade Award (vs. Upgrade with Miles), those do not earn any bonus MQM's. These are two different programs. Best strategy is to check here rather asking advise from agents as they are frequently wrong.

flyerCO

You earn MQM based on purchased ticket when upgrading with mileage awards. There's some exceptions involving upgrading flights on partners due to how they must be processed .

I think what is being confused is the ability to upgrade your ticket via a FCM offer. These can be paid in either dollars or miles and result in you getting the bonus MQM as ticket is reissued as a F ticket.

fredvig

tkelsay

First class monetization

xliioper

These are the offers you see on the website post-purchase to upgrade your flight. They do not require an agent to process them. They recently added the ability to use miles (in addition to the cash option which has been there for some time) with these offers. The mileage amount is simply based on the cash amount at the rate of 1 cent per mile. The cash amount includes the 7.5% US Excise tax which is why it is somewhat higher (the base upgrade dollar amount below is $69).



Either of these options will qualify your flight to earn 150% MQM's as long as it's not an award flight. Note, there's no guarantee that these offers will be cheaper than simply purchasing a First Class fare at initial purchase (in fact, the upgrade cost plus your original coach fare price is often higher than simply purchasing FC at the outset). Purchasing First Class at initial booking also qualifies for 150% MQM earning (you don't need to use an upgrade offer to get the 150%). Finally, there is another program called Mileage Upgrade Awards which can only be processed by an agent and requires upgrade inventory availability. These require a T or higher coach class on domestic flights and may have been what the agent was referring to. These are available at fixed mileage amounts depending on coach booking class. The important thing to note about Mileage Upgrade Awards is that they do NOT qualify for 150% MQM earning.

fredvig

Thanks for the clarification. I have my ATL-SNA flight booked. I still have about 8 hours to cancel if I find something else better (cheaper), that will cover my 2520 mile deficit. I suppose I could book the ATL-BOS flight (which is $150 cheaper) and then see if the FCM offer comes up, and then cancel it if it doesn't, and if it does, use miles to do the upgrade, then cancel my ATL-SNA run. I believe that scenario could work.Is there a way, short of actually purchasing the ticket, to see if the FCM is available for the ATL-BOS run? Without the 150% MQM I'm better off sticking with my ATL-SNA run.

The Mileage Upgrade Award deal wouldn't work for me if I can't get the 150%, but that sounds like what the agent on the phone was trying to do.

Thanks!

NoStressHere

In this situation, I would still use cash unless I was at least 100% sure it would count.

I can not imagine the angst once you found out that somebody decided miles have zero cash value and therefore do not count.

(not saying they do or do not... just making sure)

xliioper

You can use miles to upgrade at time of purchase if you really want to use miles. You don't have to wait until post purchase and FCM offers. You just have to be logged into your account and it will show you the mileage amount which will simply be the fare difference between coach and First with your miles redeemed at 1 cent per mile. The cheapest coach fare on 12/27 for ATL-BOS is a K class fare for $386.80 roundtrip. FC on these flights (A fare) is $664.80 roundtrip for a fare difference of $278. So the price to upgrade will be $139 or 13,900 miles each way as you can see below.

sydneyracquelle

xliioper

OP is limited to travel on 12/26 and 12/27.