Assuming the 6 segment thing works, my girlfriend and I will be Silver Medallions at the end of Thanksgiving weekend. How do upgrades work? I realize it is difficult to get upgrades as a Silver, but I don't want to miss one if possible. How do I go about requesting upgrades? I have a trip planned for Christmastime where we are flying on K fares, so I'd like to try then, just to learn the process. I would appreciate your help.

PS I will actually have 29 segments thi syear, more than I've ever had in a year, so I'll ALMOST make it legitimately.

SRQ Guy,

Are both of you Silvers now? If yes, AND you have enough upgrade points in your Skymiles account AND you book some K fares or above for this Turkey Day weekend, you probably won't have too much trouble upgrading. (providing you call in exactly 24 hours before the flight) I'm not sure if you could request the upgrade in advance; yes the website has that option, but it doesn't work for my itinerary (even though it was booked in K).

When you call DL that 24 hr before the flight, ask for an upgrade to all segments, depending on how many upgrade points you want to spend (1 upgrade point is good for 800 miles; and it's by segment only, so a minimum of 1 point per segment)

Now, if you're not yet a Silver, I wouldn't know how you would be able to upgrade except for using miles from your account. (i.e the above won't work for you)

After you make Silver, you could do the same thing for your Christmastime travel.

I'm not sure if that's what you're asking, or if you need more specific answers, please let us know.

Hope it helps!
Jamester

We are not yet Silvers. Thi strip to OKC will qualify us, assuming the 6 segment thing works. I wa sthinking ahead for Christmas travel. Will we get upgrade points for making silver? And how do you earn more? Thanks... Plus I thought it was very difficult for Silvers to upgrade?

You receive 4 points for every 10k base miles flown. It's not impossible for SM to upgrade (except out of hubs during business hours), just be sure to call or use the web site to upgrade your first segment 24 hours in advance.



------------------
Time..... is on my side.

SRQ Guy,

You automatically get 4 segment upgrades in your account once you make Silver. Now, there were discussions over how long it actually take them to appear in your acct but assume no more than a week, since DL is usually quick in doing these things (unlike UA).

Which means for yout Turkey Day weekend you will have to upgrade using your miles (if you do want to upgrade at all); and do it now if you haven't. Be aware that you can only miles-upgrade Y, B or M fares. (yes they are pricey, it sucks, I know)

For your Christmastime trip, just do what everyone else would tell you...call them exactly 24 hours in advance and cross your fingers. Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday flights are usually the easiest, short distance routes too. And, like Spiff mentioned, out of hubs may be tricky, since the hubs are usually where the elite level people mostly travel to and from. But you never know sometimes tis holiday season. Get on the list if they can't clear you on the phone, and check in early.

Thx
Jamester

Thanks for the help! We are travelling on L fares for Turkey Day trip, so no go there. However, we are on K fare for Christmastime, so will be trying to upgrade there. We are flying out of TPA on the way to DCA, and then the return will be from LGA to TPA (there is a DL Shuttle flight DCA-LGA in there, but no first class on those). We will try to get the upgrades on those flights.

The points will show up in your account over the weekend after the flight that qualifies you Silver. Once there (check on the web site) you can use them. IF you have a flight that you booked before you were Silver, you can now go back and change your seat assignments to the better seats, too. When you check in for your first post-Silver flight, make sure your boarding pass reflects your status, for early boarding. Most of all this happens without a glitch!

Like everyone has said... Call EXACTLY 24 hours before your flight to request your upgrade, for best chance of getting it. I had great success on almost all of my attempts when I was Silver. Good luck!

BTW, when do the points after flying 10000 base miles post? Got over another 10000 base miles yesterday, but no additional points yet.

Herr rcs85551, there's your answer.

SRQ Guy, the notation on your boarding pass would be something like 'FO' next to your Skymiles number. (not 'Silver Medallion').

Happy trails!
Jamester

Jamester,
sorry, did not notice this line in the previous posts.

*

Concerning the boarding passes, they show "SILVER/ELITE".

If you bought your ticket directly from Delta, it shows "Symiles FO DL1234567890". If it does not show that, your status is not in this PNR and you will have to call the Medallion Desk after achieving status to fix this.