MikeyZBT

That's just the JFK-West Coast service... I don't think SAN is getting BusinessElite seats, right?

AndyTLe

Correct. Just JFK-LAX, SFO. I wonder if DL is going to further differentiate their meals for this route.

Ryan8925

"Popular cradle-style seats with 150 degrees of recline and 55 inches of pitch in the BusinessElite cabin on all transcontinental flights between New York and San Francisco and Los Angeles. These seats are the same as Delta's business class offering on 757-200ER international flights and offer personal on-demand games, music and movies at every seat."


The wording of that last line implies that they are promoting the seat itself and not necessarily the BusinessElite Service. I think the domestic medallion upgrades will process as normal. However, I will be the first to admit that a bigger reclining seat and wider pitch between seats for extra leg room greatly enhances the comfort and enjoyment of a flight. Take for an example the LAX-ATL flight. Even with the same transcontinental services, sitting up front on the 767-300ER is miles apart in comfort then flying in First Class on the 767-300 Domestic configuration. ^^ two thumbs up for Delta!

aeolos

I agree! For me, the seat is 10x more important than the meal service.

RobOnLI

In the same email NW elites received that said we are losing AS upgrades as of October 1, 2009.

10/1/2009 - NW elites lose their elite membership and become DL elites (give or take a few days)
10/1/2009 - NW elites lose their upgrade privileges on AS flights
Sometime in 2010 - DL elites gain upgrade privileges on AS and vice versa. Date not set yet.

-RM

CDQ

Upgrades shoud be all but gone now. They have always sold at least 50% of the seats LAX-JFK-LAX. Cutting FC capacity by half is going to hurt if you're a regular on that route.

n7371f

I'm more interested on when Delta first backtracks from the all 75E (code for ex-TWA 757's) service. Since DL is simply making a good situation out of a bad - international service for the sub-fleet of 757's has dried up - the question is when does Delta begin to remove these 75E's and put them back on JFK-international runs. Next summer?

Delta wouldn't be doing this if it had the option. These 75E's were specifically leased from ILFC after American rejected them to run leaner trans Atlantic runs. Delta already had enough 757's and 737's to run transcons.

cerealmarketer

That's part of it -- but I think getting the LGA US Air deal done also helped make this more attractive. With good intl coverage and now superior LGA, transcon was what was missing to let them play against AA and UA for the bank / studio contracts.

Were it not for the lack of SFO-LAX runs DL has a good shot at poaching Disney's contract from United at a time when the studios are trying to control costs.

Offer the reduced fare vs PS first for transcons, have LAX-MCO nonstops to match for the parks operation, and superior overall route network with easy Asia access from LAX. Only thing missing is LAX/SFO for Pixar.

Spiff

"Wireless Internet access for both business- and economy-class customers on all flights between New York and Los Angeles and San Francisco by the end of the year..."

It would have been hysterical if they had tried to implement WiFi in one cabin but not the other!

ULDB65

I guess I'll find out soon enough- I am flying JFK-SFO on Sept. 1 on a T fare.
I've been 100% for upgrades so far this year, so we'll see what happens in a few days. Interesting to note that I cleared upgrade on a T fare at the 5 day window on another elite-heavy route, ATL-SFO, for next week.

FlyTheFriendlyMonkey

I did a quick analysis on how this will impact upgrades. Clearly, some of the numbers are just guesses. Please chime in if you have better information.

We are loosing 10 seats up front on the flights that currently use 757s. I looked at all the flights between JFK and SFO for the week of Sept 16-22nd. I only saw 4 flights that are using the ex-Song 757s. So, we loosing 40 of 600 seats/wk or 7% of premium capacity from JFK-SFO.

If DL currently sells 50% of the big seats, 300 are currently available for upgrades and 300 are sold.. If DL sells 50 extra seats/wk after the BE upgrade, 300 - 40 - 50 = 210 will be available for upgrades. We will loose about 1/3 of the total upgrade capacity. OUCH!

OTOH, I rarely see a ex-Song 757 on a Thursday or Friday evening flight.

Canarsie

I just sat in one of these seats on a flight from Philadelphia to Atlanta.

It was a rather nice surprise.

318i

Sort of OT, but what are the best times for upgrades for these routes when originating from the West Coast?

My guess is that most of the elites on this route are NYC-based -- so do elites have a fighting chance on LAX/SFO-JFK on a Sunday / Monday, or JFK-LAX/SFO on a Thursday evening?

monitor

They've been using these aircraft regularly on some of the transcons for the past year and it has been relatively easy to use them with the PMUs at only a small premium for K over LUT.

I have flown UA ps FC a couple of RTs and the service over there is so erratic as to be undependable. The seats are also frequently need of repair and the IFE machines that they give you are touch and go. And IMO the food ranges from OK to completely inedible. Like BlissWorld, I will now be staying with the DL product.

Probably the only things that UA has going for it with the ps first service are the lovely first class lounges but you're usually only talking about a 15-20 minute lounge stop on domestic flights.

AndyTLe

There are actually quite a few Elites from the West Coast end. Avoid the Redeyes, and the business periods that you mentioned. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday day and Saturday are best.