dander

Operational upgrade so as far as I could tell coach was entirely full. Business going over had two empty seats (not countingthe crew rest seats) and on return it was no more than 50% full. We each had an empty seat next to us. As for the trip report, I'll try to post something next week. But let me say briefly that I was very pleased overall. I have flown CO business to HNL this year and AA to the UK as well as DL to Europe many times. I have flown on SQ to Singapore last year in Raffles Class. For me, this service on Delta was very competitive, especially the pleasant in flight crew which can make all the difference. They had smiles on for the entire 14 hours!

NoStressHere

Coach entirely full. they give you an operational upgrade.

And you just KNOW that some Medallion types were sitting in the back, that would have been glad to expend an upgrade cert. But, no.... that would be simply too good business sense.

dander

Well actually No Stree Here, I AM one of those medallion types and I was carrying a SWU "just in case". Luckily, I didn't have to make use of it

1Ksuperstar

I am a United 1k flyer, who recently received comped DL status to Gold Medallion, as I'm living in Atlanta for three months.

I have lots to comment on how horrible Delta treats its elite fliers, but was pleasantly surprised this morning.

I was confirmed in (U) on DL #1420 (767-400) from LAX to ATL this morning, Jul 5th... I logged on to Delta.Com to hope to change my seat to an aisle or something better than what I had coming out to LAX.

I noticed next to 1420 "Call Delta" and noticed another flight 2 hours later listed, #429 in confirmed in F class!

I called Delta just to see what was going on, because this seemed so unlike them, given how stingy they are about F class. The SMS agent seemed almost proud to point out, when he checked my reservation (I didn't mention that I saw the F class) that Delta took good care of me today.

Is this a rare thing? Or does DL frequently fill up F inventory when flights cancel?

-A

felis

Never happened to me on a cancelled segment,
but one time long time ago (3 years; I think) on a transatlantic, because they needed seats in coach.

[This message has been edited by felis (edited 07-07-2001).]

EyeFlyDoc

Operational upgrades are not Delta's strong suit although I have been lucky a few times. On the other hand, I've been so successful with 800 miles segment upgrades that it hasn't mattered much.

10kster

1ksuperstar....Delta uses a software program when flights cancel and it's an automated system that rebooks all passengers in the same class of service.....after all the coach seats have been occupied then a lucky few will be placed in F class. There's usually no human interaction in your case, but i'm glad you got something from the cancelled flight...

1Ksuperstar

Well, yes, I was pleased -- did receive the upgrade and even received the fare class bonus!?

I was very impressed by how organized LAX staff was, and the crown room.

However, the flight diverted to Savannah because of bad weather in ATL and lack of fuel...

Gotta love em'

-Adam

SLC2002

I was on flight 70 from ATL to FCO (ROME) this past Thursday when I was informed in SLC that the ATL-FCO flight was oversold by 49. I did not have a confirmed seat when I left SLC but by the time I arrived in ATL I had seat 38A assigned to me—I assume my PM status lead to that happening.

Upon arrival in Atlanta, I approached the check in counter and asked if there was a possibility for an operational upgrade? The agent smiled and laughed saying, “nice try”. However, about 20 minutes later, an announcement was made asking for four volunteers to bump to a later flight. At that point, I knew the agents were desperate and again I approached and asked about an operational upgrade, this time she said “let me see what I can do.” About five minutes later the agent asked me how I wanted to pay for the upgrade, miles or certificates—because I didn’t have any PMUs on me and not wanting to complain, I said miles. To my surprise, when I boarded and took my seat 4c, I was surrounded by (six) people who had confirmed-coach tickets but no seat assignments who had been upgraded to BE at no additional cost. The reason why I know that they were upgraded is because they were asking the FA how much the Champaign cost and how they had never been in “first class” before—even though it was BE.

So there I was sitting in BE feeling like I had been ripped off. Then I felt guilty because I should be happy that I had been upgraded from a non-upgradeable fare--but in the back of my mind was the issue that not only had I used 20k miles for the upgrade but also I was on an H fare, far more expensive than the LU fares that my seat opponents were on.

I guess my issue is this: I have flow 185k miles this year on DL, and my two flying companions who are sliver and gold medallion respectively did not receive as good of treatment as the standby non-seat assigned passengers. I was the only one upgraded in my party and I still had to pay for it. So, what is the logic used for operational upgrades?


[This message has been edited by SLC2002 (edited 11-05-2001).]

BizJet

Sure, it sucks. But that's the way of the game. It is far easier to just give the passengers without seat assignments boarding passes in BusinessElite, than it is to page (and try to find) elites in a specific order of status/fare, see if they are traveling with anyone (willing to upgrade), etc. If you were the overworked, haggard gate agent, would you search for your loyal passengers, or just take the easy road?

Hey, I'm not supporting this whatsoever, and in my airline the gate agents would do what ever it takes to get the elite customer. That's rewarding loyalty, and that's the right way to handle the situation. But reality is reality...

Sorry about your experience, and sorry you feel you got ripped. I would feel the same way. I'm not defending what happened, just saying that in the real world it is unlikely that the gate agents would go the extra mile.

B747-437B

I agree with BizJet and that's why I go out of my way to ensure that I DO NOT have any seat assignments for flights that are oversold. As a Medallion checking in without a seat assignment, and when they know they will need to make op upgrades, I have a pretty good chance of making it into the front cabin at the time of checkin itself.

LexPassenger

I don't know if Delta has rules for gate agents or gives them great leeway.

We were upgraded on L fares JFK-FCO last year in a strongly oversold situation (the previous night's flight had apparently cancelled due to weather).

The gate agents made a careful evaluation of the load and seem to have upgraded based on (a)Delta status and then (b) fare level. We got upgraded based on Silver status; the folks around us we talked to were either leaders of tour groups or higher fare. Maybe this was possible because they knew far in advance that they faced this situation.

I am very surprised to hear that gate agents do not attempt to reward either status or fare level in upgrading. It is not really that hard to do unless the plane is already running real late.

Count your blessings. We are in steerage to Athens Wednesday with little hope; but the fare was so good... maybe Tuesday will cancel? (slap my wrist; I should not wish so much disruption on strangers just to improve our chances for an operational upgrade....)




------------------
"Service" should be a noun, not a verb.
Delta Flyers' Guide

RobertS975

I am surprised at the way you were handled. I am a PM and have had three operational upgrades out of JFK trans-Atlantic this year, all on U fares, all an hour or more before boarding, simply based on the oversold situation in the back cabin. On one flight, my SM wife and non-status child were all moved to BE with me. Why? I think simply that the computer would allow it as an operational upgrade and thereby free up three coach seats for the oversell situation.
I have never been asked for certificates or for miles, although I have my certificates in my hand luggage at all times.

Occupationalhazard

SLC:

Seat opponents? Is this a contact sport?

Anyway, I find myself concurring with 747/Lex/Bizjet that you got hosed. You'd think DL would want to go out of its way to acommodate a Uranium Medallian, such as yourself, but, OTOH, if you have 185k Miles, then you also must have a million-billion skymiles, so it is barely a drop in the bucket.

Given my ordinarily not-so-great luck, I'd be pretty happy to plunk down 20K miles to get out of steerage on a long haul like that.

Regards,

O/H

Tango

I just flew back from FRA to ATL on a U fare. Coach was very full and we were waiting for the flight from BOM to arrive for connecting passengers (The flight had hit a bird on take off and they needed to check it out--hence the delay). I was snug in my coach seat, next to a mom and her overactive 1 year old lap child. A gate agent walked down the isle, asked if I was who he thought I was and gave me a new boarding pass--seat 4E. I do not fly Delta much and only made SM recently due to a trip to London I took in October.

Thank you Delta.