jelliott04

Hi all. I apologize in advance for my naivety. I'm curious how this works. I see on the Delta site that I would need 5k to upgrade one class from a full coach fare and 10k to upgrade from select fares when travelling between US cities. Then it just says to check with Delta for those select fares.

Is there a way to find this on the website or would I have to call them? I've read the "redemption options" and the "Award & Upgrade Milage" pages but none list the select fares that are able to upgrade. I see the different fare classes and they say "limited, more, and most" upgrade opportunities. But that doesn't really tell me which one I can get away with.

For discussion sake lets say I do get a select fare that is upgradable. How then do I go about applying my skymiles for an upgrade? Is this something that I would be on a waitlist for or is it something done at the time of booking? Is this done online or through the website? I see in "my itineries" it asks if I'm on a waitlist for an upgrade. So I would buy the "most upgrade opportunity" ticket and then just hope to get the upgrade?

Jelliott

norcaltransplant

I have a similar question, but more importantly, I'm wondering if there is a good informational website or .PDF that can introduce a newbie to the world of frequent-flying, reservation codes, and tricks. Any links would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

ThisDJ

I believe you can only upgrade with miles from a Y B or M fare and the award inventory for these upgrades seem to be very limited.

indufan

What do you base this on?

longing4piedmont

You are correct

jpdx

You need to buy an upgradeable fare, in M, B, or Y class, on a flight that has availabitity in an upgrade fare bucket (e.g., Z for international Business Class). You can not book this on your own, but you will have to call the award desk. Do not just buy a MBY fare on any random flight hoping for an upgrade, but make sure you can be booked right into the class of service you desire. I have always found the availability of upgrade awards to be good, if you are a bit flexible. The 5,000 miles upgrade from unrestricted coach, Y, is a sucker bet. Y class is frequently almost as expensive as (and sometimes more expensive than) cheap Business and First fares. I use upgrades frequently for international trips, but I am not sure that I would "spend" 10,000 miles (on top of a fairly expensive M or often even B fare) on upgrades to domestic First.

CelticFlyer

Everything is relative. Upgrade awards use G inventory on domestic. Medallion upgrades use V. G inventory is typically harder to come by than V. I have upgraded numerous international tickets in recent months and often the domestic segments can be upgraded in V but not in G.

javajunkie

If you are Medallion (FO, GM, or PM) on a Y, B, or M fare, u/g should clear automatically for domestic flights
1) if you've requested it and,
2) if there is u/g availability.
You should be able to make your request for any given flt segment/itin via the DL web site.