You got lucky, if you have a main cabin ticket you should’ve only been eligible for a RUC upgrade to Premium Select, and then day of departure waitlisted for D1.

I look for flights with PS sold out then agent (rightly or wrongly) upgrades me right to D1.

First time trying to use an RUC on domestic D1, and I’m a bit unclear on RUC availability on MSP-HNL flights for next year. Some of the non-stop flights display “Delta One available with Global Upgrade Certificate” but then if you click through it says that D1 is available with RUC or GUC. These flights appear to have PS but they aren’t selling the seats yet so could you potentially move up automatically to D1 with an RUC?

Why don't you give it a try? Worst case you just cancel and get the RUC back.

I tried checking out but it says you can’t apply upgrade certificates online for this market and need to call in, so I may just do that. The other factor is that I have a companion pass that will be coming in about a month, so I was considering waiting for that and trying to combine the 2, but my guess is that if I wait for that to arrive there will likely be no RUC availability for sure (if there’s even any at all now).

Back to the question as old as time... for a distant trip (December) where 2 out of 4 segments show Z is available, is there any point in waitlisting? I personally have never seen a waitlisted RUC automatically work, it's always required a phone call from me. So I'm wondering if it's really worth the phone call, and the multiple follow-up phone calls to keep it babysat.

I’ve only seen a waitlisted RUC work if it was applied by an agent “the old way” where you see duplicate segments and a pseudo seatmap for the waitlisted segment(s). And then if it clears, you’ll see everything go view-only and pnr.sh will show something other than HK for the status. If it’s the “new way” where the agent essentially clicks the same option the customer would at checkout, I’ve never seen that actually work. My spouse has one for June in which we are “testing.”

I bit the bullet and called. An hour later, I ended up with 8 (!) segments in my itinerary, which seems odd since 2 out of 4 had immediate OL availability. I thought I would end up with 6 not 8.

Can't access any of them now ("read only") so I can't choose seats for the ones that do have OL availability.

Ticket was not re-issued.

I know, I asked for this headache...

I booked a Delta Vacation from LGA-ATL-LAX and back. Delta Vacations applied the RUC. I called Delta Vacations to ask to change the LGA-ATL leg to an earlier flight so I can have a longer layover. They told me that they would have to take off the RUC and charge me the fare difference. They then told me I would lose the RUC forever/it's nonrefundable. However, DL customer service told me that it would just go back into my wallet. I am assuming DL is right, but I am not sure what to say to Delta Vacations and am nervous to risk losing the RUC. Who is right and any advice how to proceed?

A headache, indeed! Sounds like to me the agent didn’t finish things. I would call back and ask another agent to please “clean things up” and they should be able to get rid of the extra seat maps on the segments that did instantly clear with OL, and then the “view only” seatmaps should go away letting you choose F seats on the cleared segments and also modify any seats on the non-cleared ones as well.

I always have buyer’s remorse to some extent when doing anything with RUCs.

You can 100% get the RUC back. Before having delta vacations modify the itinerary, ask which certificate number RUC is attached. Make a note of that and have then have them make whatever changes you want. Then, if the RUC shows “closed” in your account, call Delta back and request to have it reopened. Some agents can instantly reopen them, and some will ask for some info (certificate number, PNR it was attached to, etc) and will submit a request to have it reopened. They say it can take 72 hours, but a week or two ago I requested one to be reopened and it took less than 24 hours.

Data point: using redeposited RUCs from previously cancelled award trip:

1. Original trip booked Nov-Dec 2023 for award travel Jan 2024 (2 segments each way, upgraded to FC on all segments outbound and returning; i.e., one RUC per 2 segments each way.)
2. Cancelled on-line early Jan 2024.
3. Noted RUCs has not reappeared in "Certificates and eCredits"
4. Called diamond desk and was advised to cancel by calling in when RUCs have been applied to an award trip.
5. Certificates showed as OPEN approx 7-10 days later, wasn't checking every day.
6. While my desktop page was showing 3 available certificates (I only rarely book on the app) even after the redeposited RUCs,when I went to check out it has only shown 1 RUC available to be applied at checkout even though the "Certificates and eCredits" shows 3 certificates.
7. Booked travel today for early July. Both directions (2 segments each way) had RUC availability for all segments. At checkout only 1 RUC showing as available. Checked out without applying the (allegedly last) RUC.
8. Called Diamond desk immediately after booking. Briefly explained I wanted to apply RUCs both directions and that only 1 of 3 was showing at checkout and that I had been told it was due to redeposit from an award trip. The agent initially said only 1 was available, but then a few seconds later was easily able to see the 2 redeposited certificates and apply those certificates to my upcoming flights. It was very streamlined all in all.

I always wonder about when to apply certificates, but the segments are asymmetrical with a 4 hour (west to east) and 4.5 hour (east to west) segment and the paid difference for the RT was $750, so I figured I wouldn't chance the upgrade game.

Just called Delta Vacations again and they said that they have different policies and procedures from Delta, resulting in the loss of the RUC (non-refundable) if I were to make any changes. This is frustrating because Delta is saying something different.

Delta Vacations is 100% wrong. They have no control/ownership over the RUC, delta does. You’re just getting an agent that is making things up. Have them do whatever it is you need to do to the reservation, then call Delta to get the RUC reinstated if needed.

Could use some feedback. The RUC/GUC rules change game is exhausting.

Booked 3 cabin ATL-HNL flight in MC with miles and immediately called to apply RUCs for confirmed DPS space. I asked agent about reissue and she says, "oh we got a new 'button' a few months ago and all we have to do is push that now". Hmm. Ok. I get my DPS seat assignments and "my trips" shows me in RX, but my receipt still shows NT.

1) Am I going to need to call for re-issue if this doesn't change before OLCI?

2) Do RUC's waitlist T-24 for D1? (presumably ahead of medallion upgrades)

3) If I was using a GUC, would it possibly clear into D1 further out (even before I get the re-issue problem in #1 fixed or does that issue even matter). Thank you.