It would also be nice if it didn’t say “upgrade available” when there is only 1 seat left in upgrade inventory, and the search one is doing is for more than 1 passenger.

When searching for 2 passengers and there’s only one revenue fare bucket available, the web site certainly doesn’t have an issue pricing both tickets out at the higher fare bucket.

I always search by individual leg, after I find a route with a connection to make sure there is indeed RUC availability.

Sadly refusal to honor a posted price is not illegal in many states including Florida.

i was checking for RUC availability, and delta website is showing "First available with Upgrade Certificate"... however, when i chatted with delta agent, they're saying upgrade is only available on one leg.... so i am confused why website is showing both legs are available, but agent is telling me only one of the two legs is available for immediate RUC confirmation????

Happens all the time, unfortunately. I've had this occur on multiple occasions. Just watch availability closely and call back.

This! As someone that usually travels with a significant other, this is absolutely maddening.

Thanks! Had to talk to 2 agents but one had to manually submit a request to get the RUC reopened.

I don't understand why Delta is showing inconsistent result on the website vs what agents see? Why even have the tool to show upgrade certificate availability at all if the result is absolutely unreliable? if i end up getting waitlisted but website shows availability, the certificate is nearly worthless.

When a RUC clears the waitlist, do they notify/email me? I'm waitlisted on a flight in 4 weeks where there's 5 F seats left. If there's a good chance that I won't clear, I might want to change to an earlier flight that has RUC availability (I booked this one to fly with a friend, but we're both seasoned travelers where if we need to split up for the purpose of an upgrade or something, we'd both understand and will meet back up at the destination. PNR is just me, as my friend booked separately)

No, they will not notify or email you. They will claim they will, but in reality it won’t happen. However you can tell you’ve cleared a segment when all of a sudden every seatmap on your PNR will go to “view only.” That’s a good indicator a waitlisted segment has cleared in the background. You’ll have to call in and have an agent process it. Then at that point you’ll be able to choose a seat for the flight in question as well as all other flights on the PNR.

I got another Delta chat agent telling me RUC can confirm immediate upgrade after booking if there are open seats in first class.... is this true?

I am confused cuz another agent told me 4 RUC available for immediate upgrade for BUF-ATL, but only 3 available on RUC for ATL-LAX..... (it's a one=way from BUF-LAX connecing in ATL)....

i am confused, cuz I dont want to select RUC choice benefits only to be stuck in wait list..

No, GUCs have last seat availability for domestic first class. RUCs generally require “Z” revenue inventory to be confirmed but sometimes I’ll still see it if Z0 but “I” is >0.
They're generally not that difficult to confirm if you buy well in advance.

I see D fare for BUF-LAX first class , but still see "First available with Upgrade Certificate" ..... this is really confusing.

It may only be available on one leg.
Also, there may not be a valid I or Z fare on that route/time even if there’s inventory.

It's showing this after you click the "First Available with Upgrade Certificate" hyperlink:

Upgrade Certificate Availability
https://content.delta.com/content/da...oltipWhite.svg
First available (BUF-ATL)
https://content.delta.com/content/da...oltipWhite.svg
First available (ATL-LAX)