SDQBound

If there was availability then I'm also curious to know what happened, as I also have jumped the line in a similar situation and again, due to irrops. I reported what happened on another thread several months ago, but to summarize, I was flying IAD-ATL-FLL and IAD-ATL was delayed several hours before departure time. I had been already upgraded to F in the PM window and was re-accommodated to DCA-ATL in C+. Minutes after, I noticed how I went from the UG list to cleared, jumping several people who were higher on the list. Up until now this remains a mistery.

ethernal

Yes, based on the responses it seems like there is no official window for when they occur. I tried to find something on the Delta site, and it is ambiguous. I've had gate agents tell me that they aren't supposed to clear until T-45 - but that is hearsay so who knows what is true or not. In my complaint I asked explicitly what the policy is.. I'll definitely report back if I get an answer (my guess is I won't - at least not to that part).

As far as the legitimacy of the de-upgrade question - I've been de-upgraded before, so clearly it is not outside the realm of what is possible and what Delta is willing to do. You can argue that it was an unreasonable ask - maybe it was - but I've been on the other side of it before and I accepted it (the gate agent explained clearly what had happened, apologized, and returned me to my original seat - and I was okay with that).

ethernal

That is weird. I have mixed emotions about this - appreciate Delta trying to "make things right" after IRROPS, but also annoyed by the lack of transparency.

If it was a few years ago I could explain it by you getting re-ticketed with Y after you got your reservation moved (which used to shoot you to the very top of the upgrade list - above everything else) but sounds like it was more recent than that.

azeckel

This. It has happened to me before. And the gate agent basically said "oops". I learned my lesson and remember to check-in before getting to security now. But if buying a last minute ticket - yeah, this is a hole in the process.

DiverDave

I don't think there are many here who would classify me as an apologist. I think we are trying to come up with a rational explanation for your experience.

Might be a platinum wanting to bump up the list for an upgrade. Could even be a former Plat such as myself who would have no shot at an upgrade, but has a few RUCs.

If this is the worst thing to happen to you this year you will have had a very good year. At the end of the day, you rode in the seat you purchased and you got where you were supposed to go. Customer service in ATL is not good, and we all know that. If Delta wanted it fixed, it would have been fixed.

In your complaint, what would you like for Delta to do? Do you want some miles, do you want a voucher, do you want an apology? My suggestion is to call Customer Care and maybe they will provide compensation. They have been good to me in the past, but I rarely call them. The only times I have called them about upgrades were when I had an RUC pulled for a broken FC seat (GA would not give me back my old coach seat), and when I had a gate upgrade/downgrade and the RUC was pulled anyway though I rode in coach.

I have had some luck twice with the SkyClub agents nabbing me a better seat even within a couple of hours of departure.

There are times when Delta's IT just ralphs and does something bad. For me it is typically the mishandling of an RUC.

Open question - does anybody know for sure if Comfort+ upgrades have the exact same priority as FC upgrades? Logically it would seem they should, but I'm sure we have all seen upgrade lists where FC and C+ passengers were listed in different orders.

David

MSPeconomist

ethernal

I wasn't talking about you specifically

I was repeatedly told that it was a Diamond medallion that cleared into F. They could still have been on a RUC of course, but I really don't think that was the case. A RUC would have cleared on this in advance, and given that they were in a C+ seat already (11D was the seat that they were upgraded from), so they were not a last minute booking. Of course, they could have applied it after check-in or a day before the flight, but I am playing probabilities here. Either way, I never asked for the F seat since I knew that was a question mark - I asked for the C+ seat.

I have a high tolerance for travel issues. Delays due to weather - or even MX - don't bother me. Running an airline is hard. Delta does a decent job of getting me from point A to point B mostly on time. What bothers me are things that shouldn't be a problem. This is one of those things. They irk me far more than legitimate IRROPS. Phantom equipment changes leading to seat swaps and me losing a C+ seat even though the plane configuration didn't change? Red flag. Moving my seat at the gate without my permission to accommodate a family traveling on a Basic Economy ticket? Annoying. Publishing an upgrade priority and then not adhering to that upgrade priority? Downright irksome.

These issues may be trivial, but if Delta wants to charge $1400 for a one way Y ticket I expect them to be on point with their processes and procedures. And for the record, I walked from the flight. I had to get work done last night, and I couldn't risk not being able to work by being sandwiched in a middle seat. While challenging, at least in an aisle seat I can pivot my laptop out even if the person next to me is a person of size. As there were no aisle seats available I walked. I will just be virtual this week as the thing I didn't want to miss is happening this morning and I would have missed it if I flew today.

I don't want compensation. I have never asked for, nor received, compensation from Delta (other than 2500 SkyPesos for a catering incident that was offered proactively). I want the issue to be fixed - either publish the earliest time that gate upgrades are supposed to clear, or clear them consistently at T-45 or whatever time their internal policy says they should clear.

RUCs and GUCs don't impact C+ upgrade position - so C+ is a truer "pecking order" than the F upgrade list. I fly a lot of busy routes so it is easy to see when RUCs are applied and when they're not (e.g., I may be #1 or #2 on the C+ upgrade list, someone is #1 on the F upgrade list, but they may be #7 on the C+ upgrade list).

ethernal

I would have been much more amenable to being told "oops" than being looked at like I was crazy and didn't know what I was talking about.

azeckel

One other thing I'm not sure you have considered. It was ex-ATL on Monday after the superbowl. I am making a bold assumption that every single seat (or at least a very great number versus other days) to every destination was booked as Y-fare. That isn't to say that all tickets were the same price, but it's the fare class that defines the upgrade priority, not the actual ticket price. When Indy hosted, they had 747s flying in and out and the only fares available months in advance were Y or F. No discounted tickets at all.

I switched to a connection in ATL yesterday to avoid weather in MSP. It was re-booked as Y fare with fare difference and everything. As a DM on Y fare I was #4 on the upgrade list on a regional jet to Des Moines. At first I was shocked - then I realized that if every seat on the plane was sold as Y, then yeah ... I booked it later than other diamonds, so I would be lower in priority.

It may not have mattered in your case, but the use of RUCs is probably of no materiality to this discussion.

ethernal

Delta responded to my complaint and I received the following response (in addition to 9000 SkyMiles - which I did not ask for - and the first time I've ever gotten SkyMiles in response to a complaint, so at least someone thought it was a big deal). It was also the first time I've received a response from someone tagged as a Supervisor (probably doesn't mean much, but still, looks like the complaint got escalated for research).

Here's the relevant part of the response:

So there's your official answer. Kudos to Delta for actually responding with their policy rather than an ambiguous "I'm sorry, but we clear upgrades any time we want" and also providing the compensation.

SDFreqFlyer

I had a somewhat similar experience on SAN-MSP-DCA flight with upgrades assigned way earlier than T-45. Work trip, so Main Cabin tickets bought through Concur. I am DM, so I got upgraded to C+ right after ticketing. Unfortunately, on the MSP-DCA section, only C+ available were middle seats.

Day of travel - while I am on my SAN-MSP flight, I notice App was showing 2 seats available on C+ list for MSP-DCA, but seat maps were greyed out. Thought I'd try to get to the gate agent and see if the 2 seats in C+ are window/aisle and if I can change to one of them before they process the upgrades. As I am making my way to the gate at MSP, my App tells me upgrades have processed - both C+ to window seats! This is at ~T -75! (yes, I obsessively check my app )

I was bummed - if they had waited for the usual ~T-45 upgrade, there was a chance for me to get a window. I guess it was a lucky day for whoever did get the C+ upgrade. It was a short flight, so I didn't mind that much, but the inconsistency in sticking to a time in processing upgrades was irritating.
I sent feedback via Twitter DM - got an apology but no miles.

Wimsta

Ok, so what happens to the $1,400 you paid for the ticket?

PS. 9,000 may be their current magic number. When I was on the phone and commented about my IFE experience not working for a trip the CSR said "I can give you 9000 [pesos] for that" without me asking, and no questions asked.

KevinDTW

deleted

ethernal

It was refundable so I just took the money back (it was also within 24 hours of ticketing so technically it just got voided - I was never actually charged).

Re: the 9K - I bet anything under 10K can be done without any escalated approval, and so 9K is just a nice round number to use (rather than 9500 or 9999 or something).

Wimsta

I guess that should have been self explanatory, but I've never had fully refundable before. Thanks for being patient, so much snark today.

Seems like a good guess on the 9k, status and comp history may play into it, but it's just miles.