Delta nepotism over customer loyalty
 

Giving Business One seats to non ref staff members while status members were listed to be upgraded.

I arrived at the gate in AMS for my Delta metal flight to ATL, where I inquired on my chances for an upgrade using my Global upgrade certificate. I was told that I was the second on the list but that the flight had checked in full in Delta One. Due to KLM handling this flight, the upgrade standby list is not available until after departure (great for transparency!!!), After departure, I had to learn that two seats (2A and 1G) where given to Delta employees using PSUP (positive space/upgrade request) which ranks 28 on the Delta upgrade status list. My global upgrade request should have been UP2A which ranks 19 on the Delta list.

The fact that Delta/KLM would give preference to their own employees over paying status customers just reflects that all these marketing slogans "we care so much about you and your business" are just not true. In fact, the opposite is true! Delta will actively support nepotism over customer loyalty. While it is getting harder and harder to even use a Global upgrade certificate, with the deck stacked against you like this, why even bother...

I finally received a reply from Delta's "we care" department in which they offered me an apology and 9000 miles for my account, never ever trying to explain how this could have happened or even owning up to this clear violation of their own rules. My request NOT to orbit this complaint to management was taken literally, even though it was meant as a sarcastic remark since I have NEVER EVER received a response from Delta's management on issues where Delta was clearly in the wrong.

Am I wrong or was this a legitimate complaint?

The problem is, I don't think there is actually any airport upgrade 'list' in AMS for DL operated flights. They process on a first come first serve basis, and have to re-issue the ticket with the GUC number. At the gate you'd probably have to make the agent aware that you have a GUC and want to use it, and hang out there to make sure if a seat opens that they process it.

Unfortunately its a poor method there as there is no clear or visible upgrade list... so its however KLM handles it internally which is not customer friendly.

That was my point. I had made the KLM lead agent and the Delta PSA both aware and they just flat out lied to my face. The KLM agent even told me that I was on the list and they still upgraded their co-workers.

If the ability to use GUCs was transparent and reliable I would "buy" my way up to DM.

HELLO DELTA, YOU READING THIS. :-)

Well, having gone through this type of thing MANY times, I've found only one way to clear an GUC in AMS. Before you go to the airport (generally before the flight gets handed over to KLM, but it has worked later), I call Delta and beg them to process the upgrade. Delta has to clear the upgrade for KLM and them provide you the GUC certificate number and the activation number. Armed with these two items, I then approach the KLM counter and ask them to re-issue the ticket. It's worked 4 times this year !

Now, as bad as this process seems, it's significantly better than anything you'll find at CDG on Air France … I've never been able to get a GUC cleared there.

Great points. Thanks for sharing them with the forum. How about the fact that provenly Delta prioritized their own employees over paying customers. Nobody seems to have any opinion on that....

I think that sucks. And is unacceptable. Most other posters here would agree with that.

Others are giving tips to explain either why it happened, or how to avoid it in the future. I think that you are at the point where you agree it is wrong, but want to try to fix it at the root of the problem (DL/KL staff).

Some take the approach of - recognizing the way things actually are - what to do to get the UG, even if its more work. This may or may not be worth it to you versus other alternatives.

This complaint seems over-the-top. Things definitely happen weird at AMS, but it's not the policy and you're talking about ONE location where Delta's system is bypassed in favor of KLM's (because there are (essentially) no DL staff at the station).

Plenty of users have opinions on here about it. May I present to you the "Shena" thread:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/delt...ns-thread.html

Interesting how you call this "over the top" when I caught Delta with the hands in the cookie jar and the PSA (Delta red coat) was in on it.... and more importantly, I have prove with wait list status and assigned seats....

I'm not saying it didn't happen. I'm saying the way you've worded it makes it sound like this is their policy when in fact you know it's not (if it were, this wouldn't be a "hand in the cookie jar" situation).

this is what I'm talking about:

That's not what happened. Some particular people did things outside of policy. Saying "Delta gives preference to nonrevs" implies it's the company policy.

I'm not sure what you're looking for here. Your post is a complaint. You filed that complaint with Delta. Delta responded by offering you miles. I don't doubt that what happened occurred the way you're suggesting, and I can understand why it was frustrating, but nobody here is going to be able to go back in time and fix this for you, no matter how grumpy you are about the replies. There's a whole SHENA thread about how these things seem to happen. If you find that it's a repeated issue and Delta's solutions aren't to your satisfaction, your options are: 1) To move to a different airline or 2) WFBF.

I totally believe that the seats were given to employees instead of the OP. I once was on a paid J ticket AMS-JFK and my flight got delayed. I tried to move to another flight that had seats. KLM gate agent said flight full (but seats were being sold online). So I called Delta diamond line. They said one seat open and they would get me on. The KLM gate agent heard me, asked for my phone and literally yelled at the delta phone agent (Not kidding here). She said that KLM had control now and that the seat had been given to an employee and it was done. I told the delta agent to just put me on anther flight (because of delays two flights were leaving 1 hour apart). He did put me on (again last seat) and said go to the new gate to get boarding pas. The new gate agent was not happy (at all) but did give me the pass. I mean it is like pre internet days for KLM (they expect no transparency). The agents have WAY too much control and don’t follow Delta process. Why this is allowed or deemed good for business is beyond me. Aside from the none sense caused by the flight is under KLM control. I really like transiting in AMS and like KLM inflight staff.

Why did you give a stranger control of your personal property?

I would have loved to be ticketed on that flight by Delta. Easy EC261 downgrade claim at a minimum. Plus, that's how companies have attention drawn to problems - when they have to pay out. Imagine the gate agents defending themselves when the airline had to pay a 75% downgrade penalty, ha.

So let me get this straight. You had a coach ticket. You flew in coach. You got to your destination on time. You are upset a company took care of their own. I have no problem here. You were not paying delta any extra straight cash for the upgrade. The employee probably was paying delta cash as part of their benefit to fly in delta one.