CarmenOM

MSP-DTW-PVD on 2/15. PM/1MM
Upgraded to F on both flights on 2/10.

That is the earliest upgrade I’ve received in a few years. Alas, I had to reschedule to a different date, for reasons not relevant to this post.

lucycan

Maybe this is a different thread but how do I AVOID an upgrade? Current trip is SAN - JFK and the A321N has a nice exit row seat in 20. I have unchecked the "request upgrade to Comfort Plus" box but yet every few days I get the email "congrats you have been upgraded to comfort plus" and sure enough they put me right up by the lav which is exactly what I am trying to avoid. Any ideas?

andrewk829

Yesterday, when I checked in online about 12 hours before flight time, I was #3 on the upgrade list with 7 F seats remaining. I was watching this from time to time through the day, and it remained so. With this many seats available, it was kind of annoying that I was cleared at the gate 3 minutes prior to boarding time; a few days before I was upgraded to the last available F seat some 36 hours before flight time. So why such variance in how many upgrades they confirm prior to at the gate?

The annoying thing about being "in the running" is if there is a meal service in F, you have to make a decision about whether to eat before getting on the flight. Yesterday I did in fact eat at the airport, so I waived the in-flight meal and rather regretted it as my seat neighbor had what looked like a very nice dinner.

I suppose the savvy person might bring along nonperishable food; if there is an upgrade, then save it for some other time; if there is no upgrade, then it becomes your in-flight meal.

chipbennett

Based on my anecdotal experience, it appears that if DL thinks they can get revenue FC (even as late as during the check-in process), they will hold inventory and not process automatic upgrades. I'm guessing that there's some Machine Learning behind the algorithm to determine if inventory is released for complimentary upgrades (T120, T72, etc.), as well as the pricing for the revenue upgrades. The prices that I have seen, even as late as check-in, are kind of absurd.

flyerfirsts

It's starting to feel like they fraudulently market their status program now that they are holding back a full 50% of the entire first class cabin

chipbennett

I don't know about "fraudulent", but the current practices demonstrably dilute the stated benefits for DM/PM with respect to complimentary upgrades.

flyerfirsts

Sure, they footnoted it, but given that the chart where they say how many hours out upgrades clear at each level makes every single person the first time they have status say hey why didn't I upgrade, I don't think you could create so much confusion without knowing what you're doing. I'm going to finish out getting PM again this year since I had rollover for MQD, but after that I think I go free agent. My friend with United doesn't have to pay to get his travel companions on the same booking into the lounge, and if there is upgrades available when they are supposed to clear they actually clear, and for the last year or so my Delta experience is no longer any more reliable than his United experience.

chollie

I'm flying out again in a couple days. I booked C+, F is half empty. Twice in the last four times I've flown, I've already boarded before the upgrade list was processed. I generally carry-on, so if I'm in C+ and an upgrade hasn't cleared, I board to ensure overhead space.

Of course, last trip that meant that FC had boarded and filled up the overheads by the time the GA came onboard to give me my upgrade, so I had to swim upstream to C+ to retrieve my bag when we landed.

eta: maybe I should have posted sooner. I just got a 48-hour upgrade from C+ to F. F cabin was half empty.

Dracarys

Gold paid MC
3/9/24 RSW-JFK-LAX Upgraded to C+ on JFK-LAX
3/12/24 LAX-ATL-RSW Upgraded to C+ on LAX-ATL redeye

BigFlyer

Upgraded in advance or at the gate?

Dracarys

On both flights we were upgraded the day before to two C+ seats that were middle and separated me from my daughter. I put us back in our original seats and were upgraded at the gate 10 minutes before boarding.

***Edited to add we were at the top of the C+ upgrade for both of those flights so I fully expected to get the last 2 C+ seats together when they were released.

wanderingtheearth

Just jumped straight from MC to FC as a Gold, JFK-DTW. Never been upgraded so early. From the seat map, though maybe I'd get C+. Guess the real FFs aren't racing off to DTW on the weekend. Two hours of extra snacks, baby!

Frozenguy

I want to upgrade a seat to FC but this is for a consulting gig and while the dates are pretty solid, I suppose there is a small possibility of change and I'm not willing to risk the $.

It appears as though they aren't refundable but some people do get Ecredits sometime? but this isn't published policy right?

chewy3

Just cleared SJU-JFK at the 5 day mark as a diamond + reserve card + corporate designator on a cheap U fare, was J5 and J3 after upgrades, so me and one other person cleared it. I haven't cleared anything at the 5 day mark since before covid. The new upgrade ordering has been a huge boon for me and makes DL status significantly more valuable.

grapefarmer

Husband (no medallion status this year but platinum delta Amex ) and I (platinum medallion with platinum delta Amex). He used Delta credits to buy ticket to SAT, and I used a companion pass that he had.
BUF/DTW/SAT
SAT/ATL/BUF
Bought tickets in main and received upgrades to C+ right away.

Upgraded 4 days out to FC BUF/DTW. Upgraded at the gate to FC DTW/SAT
Upgraded five days out to FC. ATL/BUF. Upgraded at the gate to FC SAT to ATL.

so basically except for taxes on the companion ticket we had first class for free round trip. Pretty happy. 🙂. Even had dinner on the DTW SAT leg which I didn’t know we’d get since it was a late flight so we had eaten already.

I like Delta.