First class basic fare?

Old Feb 19, 2025 | 5:00 am
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First class basic fare?

Does delta have a first class basic fare? Flew a last minute flight to ORD last week and grabbed first class both ways directly from delta. Sat in 1A both ways.

The flights didn’t show up and when I did a missing search I think it’s telling me it’s an I fare and shows it warned 0 miles? Or will this update sometime in the future? Usually my flights show up pending but maybe cause it was a next morning fare it takes longer?

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Old Feb 19, 2025 | 5:32 am
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No, DL doesn't have Basic I fares.
-How did you purchase the ticket, and did you purchase first directly or was it a paid seat upgrade?
-How are you seeing the screen above? That isn't the current way it displays on the website on a desktop or an iPhone (when using Safari or the app)

I'm wondering if you are looking at a non-functional screen versus not actually getting your miles. The tip off for me is that MQMs ended 12/31/2023. Flights generally show up as soon as the plane lands, so if this is real and not some sort of IT glitch, something is up.
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Old Feb 19, 2025 | 9:56 am
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Originally Posted by emma dog
No, DL doesn't have Basic I fares.
-How did you purchase the ticket, and did you purchase first directly or was it a paid seat upgrade?
-How are you seeing the screen above? That isn't the current way it displays on the website on a desktop or an iPhone (when using Safari or the app)

I'm wondering if you are looking at a non-functional screen versus not actually getting your miles. The tip off for me is that MQMs ended 12/31/2023. Flights generally show up as soon as the plane lands, so if this is real and not some sort of IT glitch, something is up.
this is the missing miles request. I enter my sky miles # and ticket number and this comes up.

I purchased the tickets on the delta app directly into first about 12 hours before the flight.
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Old Feb 19, 2025 | 10:00 am
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Originally Posted by jp12687
this is the missing miles request. I enter my sky miles # and ticket number and this comes up.

I purchased the tickets on the delta app directly into first about 12 hours before the flight.
what does your recent activity look like?
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Old Feb 19, 2025 | 11:30 am
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Yeah does the flight appear in your recent miles/mqd activity in your account?
As mentioned above, that view is outdated for requesting credit that didn't post.

If nothing is in your recent miles/mqd activity for this flight then you'll have to contact DL and request credit.
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Old Feb 19, 2025 | 2:29 pm
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Do you know the exact fare code for the ticket you purchased? If it's a basic fare, this can be verified easily by glancing at the code (not just the fare class).

Finding a cheap last minute FC fare on a business oriented route seems surprising unless you were traveling at a (very) off peak day of week and time of day. I would be the second lowest FC fare class, just above Z and below D/C/J.
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Old Feb 19, 2025 | 2:55 pm
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Do you know the exact fare code for the ticket you purchased? If it's a basic fare, this can be verified easily by glancing at the code (not just the fare class).
There are no basic first class fares. OP verified they purchased first class.
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Old Feb 19, 2025 | 3:47 pm
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Originally Posted by emma dog
There are no basic first class fares. OP verified they purchased first class.
Correct. Domestic FC fares are almost all dual-inventory fares (except for full J) which start with a Main cabin coach class in fare basis code - Y/B/M/H/Q/K/L/U/T/X/V. Even though they start with Main cabin class codes, they are still fully First Class fares (the second to last character in the fare basis code will always be an 'F' to designate that). There are none that start with the letter 'E' which is reserved for Basic Economy fares. In order to book a particular FC fare, there must be both inventory in the Main class that starts the fare basis code, and the FC booking class of the fare (J/C/D/I/Z). Hence the name "dual-inventory".

BE and C+ fares are also dual-inventory fares that start with Main cabin classes in their fare basis codes. BE fares always book into 'E' booking class, while C+ fares now have two booking classes (S and W). PS fares are a mixed bag with domestic, Asia, and South America PS fares being dual-inventory, while EU PS fares are not (first letter of fare basis codes will be the same as the PS booking class -- P/A/G).
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Old Feb 19, 2025 | 4:23 pm
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Originally Posted by emma dog
what does your recent activity look like?
it doesn’t show up. But a more recent flight I booked showed up as pending
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Old Feb 19, 2025 | 4:25 pm
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Do you know the exact fare code for the ticket you purchased? If it's a basic fare, this can be verified easily by glancing at the code (not just the fare class).

Finding a cheap last minute FC fare on a business oriented route seems surprising unless you were traveling at a (very) off peak day of week and time of day. I would be the second lowest FC fare class
, just above Z and below D/C/J.
righr but even the lowest fare business isn’t “basic” it looks like an I class fare.

it was a Tuesday at 6am flight
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Old Feb 19, 2025 | 5:56 pm
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Originally Posted by xliioper
Correct. Domestic FC fares are almost all dual-inventory fares (except for full J) which start with a Main cabin coach class in fare basis code - Y/B/M/H/Q/K/L/U/T/X/V. Even though they start with Main cabin class codes, they are still fully First Class fares (the second to last character in the fare basis code will always be an 'F' to designate that). There are none that start with the letter 'E' which is reserved for Basic Economy fares. In order to book a particular FC fare, there must be both inventory in the Main class that starts the fare basis code, and the FC booking class of the fare (J/C/D/I/Z). Hence the name "dual-inventory".

BE and C+ fares are also dual-inventory fares that start with Main cabin classes in their fare basis codes. BE fares always book into 'E' booking class, while C+ fares now have two booking classes (S and W). PS fares are a mixed bag with domestic, Asia, and South America PS fares being dual-inventory, while EU PS fares are not (first letter of fare basis codes will be the same as the PS booking class -- P/A/G).
Where does one see any of this? I just looked at a few DL confirmation e-mails and they just show whatever FC booking class.
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Old Feb 19, 2025 | 7:42 pm
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Originally Posted by WantFunBuyFun
Where does one see any of this? I just looked at a few DL confirmation e-mails and they just show whatever FC booking class.
The fares rules can be found in the booking process.



On mobile, tap "changeable"

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Old Feb 19, 2025 | 7:47 pm
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And what about after the fact when a lot of these questions come up?
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Old Feb 19, 2025 | 8:36 pm
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OP: did you navigate to the miles request page from a search engine result? If so, I wonder if you were linked to an old, now dormant miles request page that should have been removed and is no longer in use or no longer properly functions.

If you navigated from clicking through the various “bread crumb” links on delta.com or from the correct delta.com URL, then the mystery continues.
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Old Feb 19, 2025 | 8:43 pm
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Originally Posted by WantFunBuyFun
Where does one see any of this? I just looked at a few DL confirmation e-mails and they just show whatever FC booking class.
It's in small print in e-mail receipts. The fare construction line starts with the words "Fare Details:". If you didn't save your e-mail receipt, you can click the email link on website receipt listing to trigger a new e-mail receipt to be sent which will also have Fare Details: line (as long as flights have not been flown). This is an example for DTW-MSP-HRL outbound and HRL-AUS-DTW return. Both outbound and return fares were V class VAVNA0ML Main fares (second to last letter in basis code is an 'M') with base fare price of $138.60. If you know booking date and route, you can look fare basis codes up on ExpertFlyer to get fare rules. As noted above, you can also find fare rules at booking time on delta.com.

https://pro.delta.com/content/agency...structure.html

Fare Details: DTT DL X/MSP DL HRL Q0.17 138.60VAVNA0ML DL X/AUS DL DTT Q0.17 138.60VAVNA0ML USD277.54END ZP MSPDTWAUSHRL XF MSP4.5DTW4.5AUS4.5HRL4.5
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Last edited by xliioper; Feb 19, 2025 at 11:08 pm
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