Here's what I want to do:

Fly DL RT CLT to JFK -- pay for with cheap fare;
Fly DL JFK to LHR -- book Q but use miles to upgrade to BE

Can this be done? Can I get it on a single PNR? This is for tickets departing 8/30/10, so I have a few days before I can put it all together.

Advice?

You can do it, but they will make you buy a full-fare Y coach for that and THEN use your miles.

So basically what you're saying is I will need to book the two separately?

But I could purchase the Q fare JFK-LHR and do the 25,000 mile upgrade? I'm not thrilled with having to claim luggage at JFK and then go back through security to meet our international flight, but if I know that ahead of time, I'll just give us a hefty layover.

Now if I have to buy a full Y fare JFK-LHR, then there is no point in using the miles. On that particular route, it is an automatic upgrade to BE.

No, you cannot do this. Q is not an upgradeable fare internationally. The minimum fare you need is an M. Only M, B, and Y can be upgraded with miles. The previous posters point was that Delta will only sell one-way US-Europe tickets at full Y fare, which is almost as much (if not sometimes more) then a Full Business Ticket anyway. Further, you need to have upgrade availability to upgrade, which Delta will have confirm for you (or those with EF).

And no, US-Europe in full Y does not guarantee an upgrade to BE, that is only domestically. If you buy a coach ticket, and the flight is not oversold, you will be sitting in coach.

OK. So let's say I'll pay the one-way BE price (no problem as it is the same as what we were going to pay for PE on VS). Can I get the cheaper RT CLT-JFK added to the same ticket? I can't get two different fares, i.e. a mixed economy RT on the website, but can it be done by calling Delta or using a TA?

Ultimately what I would like to have is CLT-JFK-LHR and JFK-CLT on a single PNR but at a lower price than what I get if I try to multi-city it.

Just trying to do this the most cost effective way. It would also be nice to be able to check our luggage at CLT and not have to pick it up at JFK before the international portion (also get the higher luggage allowance at least one way).

You're unlikely to get a Y/B/M fare for JFK-LHR preceeded by a less-than-M fare CLT-JFK, unless you do this as multi-city with a qualifying layover at JFK.

This is one of those "pick up the phone and call...." moments.

Last year I called DL and booked MCO-ATL-CDG, CDG-ATL. Agent was able to book MCO-ATL in "cheap"fare and ATL-CDG in M, allowing me to use my PMU. Saved me money over booking everything in M and allowed it all to be on one ticket in case of "issues"

Yes, it costs you something but the savings were more then the "cost". Not to mention it was really nice when my ATL - MCO flight was running late to know that DL had everything on one record and would "hopefully" protect me on a later flight. (For the record, I sprinted through ATL and made my inital flight so didn't get to deal with the protection issues)

Thank you, Carol. That's what I was suspecting ... this will take a call to Delta to get it like I want it. I experienced the same thing two years ago when I booked our first trip to the UK ... had to call Virgin to get the routing I wanted at the fare I could handle.

It is encouraging that the representative at Delta can do this for me, especially as the RT to JFK is only $200 at the low fares available. Booking it online is over $3,000 total ... where doing it separately is running $1800. Big difference and definitely worth paying a Delta representative to work this out for me.

We're going on a TATL cruise, I have yet to check with the cruise line to see what they would charge to do the whole thing for me. Might not be much more (and could be less) than dealing directly with Delta. Just so I am prepared, what will Delta charge me for doing this?

I think the phone ticket fee is $25. (It's been a year since I did it so.....)

I have an agent that does this for me on a regular basis. I also have booked two separate tickets, then had the luggage tagged to final destination at my original boarding location.

I have a few more weeks before I can do this (waiting for time to pass so I have the return date open on the economy tickets). I belong to Sam's Club and AAA, so I may be able to find a travel agent willing to handle this for me without a fee. DH also has an AE and I think they do some travel things as well.

I know we'll have to pay the luggage fees on the return, but it would sure be nice to have the BE allowance on the outbound (especially for what you pay for BE)! Since we're flexible on the fly-out date, I think we'll be in good shape if we wait a bit before booking. I don't want to wait too long on the cheap economy, though.

Thank you everyone for your help!

I can book this flight (CLT-LHR) in B for $1221.60. If I understand correctly, 25,000 miles each will get us upgraded to BE. If I call Delta Skymiles, can they go ahead and confirm our upgrade to BE when I book the tickets? This is a bit less than paying for BE going through JFK, but a LOT less than if we were to travel through ATL and pay for BE.

Which brings me to my second question: If you had a choice ... would you transfer at JFK or ATL?

Also on the 767 400ER ... which side is better? A or D I'm planning to put DH in front or behind me on the window as we don't talk much inflight (and if I don't like my seat I can change with him).

Thanks for all the help. We have the 25,000 miles, so we don't have an issue doing this IF it can be done.

I would definitely call before you book the tickets. As others have said, even with the correct purchased fare class, there still has to be availability in the upgrade booking class in order for you to be cleared for the upgrade.

Called ... got booked in B (M wasn't available on this route) and was able to use 25,000 miles to upgrade ... a pretty good bargain as paying for the one way would have been over twice the price! $20 per ticket charge was well worth the money to get this over and done!!

Now that we're booked in BE ... have questions:

We'll have about 4 hours between flights to enjoy the lounge. Looks like this flight has been leaving from terminal E. What's the best BE lounge at ATL?

Also, booked seats 3D & 4D (wanted both window seats) on the 767-400ER. Is this side better than the A side, i.e. less traffic? Thought since it was away from the boarding door it might be quieter. We have over 10 months until we fly so I can make changes as necessary.

Thanks!

The former BE lounge is now a Skyclub. You can use any (or all!) of the Skyclubs at ATL. I like the one in T, the atrium in A, and the old BE lounge in E the best. You can also search for other opinions on ATL Skyclubs.