NardoSH

Flying to China with my father, wanted to book Delta One outbound with Premium Select return trip from IAH to PEK last night, but had to confirm something first and they bumped up the price by $1000 today.

Then we decided to go to with Premium Select round trip, IAH-DTW-PEK for outbound.

Right now the only upgrade option I see is through 'Change or Purchase Seats' and it allows me to purchase Delta One for about $2100 on DTW to PEK.

This is our first time flying Delta, are there any other ways to get a better upgrade deals for both of us? (Will be checking the website before departure, but I know some airlines offer bidding upgrades, upgrade at airport check-in, etc)

gitismatt

delta will continue to offer what you are seeing until they sell all the seats or they determine it's not economically viable to offer the upgrade price. the dollar amount may go up or down as you get closer to the travel date. there is a day-of-departure check-in option sometimes, but it will probably not be any significant value over what you see now (and you also have to factor in diamonds with upgrade certs)

as with any kind of paid upgrade, if you are ok with the price for what you get, you should just buy it. it might go down and you might kick yourself, but it may go up and you'll feel like a hero

NardoSH

Thanks! Due to the drop in straight buy ticket price, the upgrade is now $1300 for DTW to PEK segment. RT on Premium Select is about $2600, and D1+PS is about $4200.
Right now the FCM offer for DTW to PEK is pretty much the D1+PS price minus the RT PS ticket price we paid, minus the upgrade cost for IAH to DTW. As of now 6 D1s are open and only 3 PS left.

I think we will wait and see what happens in the next day or two, if there is a good offer to D1 that's great, is not PS is not bad at all.

Thanks again!

PHXflier

It is unlikely that the price will go down drastically, but unless travel is immediate, it is quite possible/likely that the ticket purchase price will drop by $1000 again, so it may pay to wait (or cancel while allowed without a fee, and rebook in the next few days). Prices all have to do with passenger loads in the various cabins, and you sometimes get much better deals on a different day or routing. So, check carefully and often. Also, it is my experience that prices for travel to Asia tend to be lowest Mondays or Tuesdays, and highest during the weekend, so it sometimes pays to not immediately book. For me personally the upgrade from Premium Select to Delta One is not worth $2K one way (a person?). Premium Select is like a domestic first-class seat. Not as comfy as Delta One (no flat bed, obviously), but certainly very much OK for a long flight.

NardoSH

The bad part is, we are pretty much limited to flying out on Saturday of this weekend. Needed to get to PEK on Monday morning or before, but won't be able to leave from IAH till late Friday at least. The PS fare is usually $800-1000 cheaper than we booked for RT, but due to our time constraint that's not possible.

I may check the D1 upgrade price again, since now it's lower to about $1300 per person for DTW-PEK, if we can get the upgrade for $2K for both of us we will probably just do it. (Not sure if Delta prefer to leave the 6 D1s empty or for non-rev, or sell the upgrade for $1K each person. Will report back later haha

crunchie

I've done this dance more than a few times for PVG and AMS flights. Day of departure upgrades are all but gone with D1. NW used to have them with almost every flight, I hear the announcements by GAs in SEA for NRT and AMS flights back then when I did my weekly commute to JFK. Haven't heard those in years, at least in SEA.

If the extra 600 is within your budget, I'd say just go for it. All my PVG and AMS flights in the past couple of years had full D1 cabins with at least a couple of Diamond cert upgrades. Premium select is definitely a decent seat for long hauls but for a ~12+ hr flight you will feel the different in D1. Perhaps upgrade your dad first? You can try your luck but he's assured of a "sorta" comfy bed and better food.