NW/DL is really Goofy
 

I had a GE upgraded at the gate in IAH before I was upgraded at a PE a year or so ago. It was a fellow FT'er. We were both flying standby on this flight. Once he was upgraded, I asked where I was in line and why I hadn't been upgraded. Long story short, I got upgraded eventually but it was interesting to see how the "automated" process really is not always so automated after all.

1. Are you a DL GE or a NW GE? How about your traveling companion?
2. Were there any other ticketing or reservation differences (e.g. your ticket was on 012 stock versus 006, or your companion's reservation had the actual DL flight number versus you having a NW codeshare)?

If I pull up a current itinerary on DL.com, I am still listed as a Gold Elite, even though I have Platinum Elite status on NW. I'm not sure whether or not this hurts my u/g chances. I didn't clear at the 5 day window on my most recent trip, only at 3 days which makes me think that DL isn't processing my status correctly.

The ticket was purchased from NWA.co and we are both NWA elite not DL

What was the reason why you were not upgraded first?

Are you on the same PNR?

If no, I tend to think that the Silver booked just a tad before the Gold did, there was 1 seat left in V, and it went to the Silver since they were confirmed first (even if by mere seconds). If that's what happened (the Silver hit purchase before the Gold), then the Silver would be entitled to the F seat over the Gold since they were ticketed first and were within the upgrade window.

Yes.

In Sept. 2006 my wife (Silver at the time) mysteriously received an upgrade two weeks out. I (Plat) flew in coach. :mad:

Sometimes they just don't have your number. :confused:

Except that the gold window is 2 days earlier.

This smells like a codeshare problem to me. DL flight booked on nwa.com. Also NW has a V class but not a U class (that you can purchase), while DL is just the opposite. Unless, of course, you're looking at your companion's reservation after the upgrade, in which case whatever class they bought gets replaced with DL's V class (F upgrade). You need to look at the ticket receipt to see what fare class your companion purchased.

It sounds like you're talking about an upgrade that occurs right at purchase. I don't (yet) know the intricacies of the DL upgrade system but that sounds impossible on a DL U fare, even within the 3 day upgrade window with V space available.

I have no idea. I did mention to the GA that a lower-tier elite had just been upgraded. To his credit, the other guy was ready to give me his UG but I said that was not the way it should be done. I did get UG'd as well, as I said.

I've done it several times before - never as a Gold, but several times at Silver and Platinum.

Once within the window on Delta - you confirm right into F - when you go through the purchase screens, you choose a seat assignment in F and you're confirmed right away - you never see Y.

Good on all fares, even down to a T.

Does this still happen?

I'm a NW Plat who booked a ticket the morning of departure (SEA-SLC-xxx). SEA-SLC was a CRJ but SLC-xxx was an MD-90. In fact, it was purchased as a "Y" fare. No upgrade until after ticketing though I did get it pretty quickly - I'd say about 5 minutes later.

-RM

While I haven't booked any Y fares lately, I've booked two trips on 006 stock and DL metal in the past month that were within my upgrade window and I chose F seats at seat assignment time (before I finalized the reservation and hit purchase) and was confirmed in F the entire time.

Thanks, Mersk. That tells me that DL is keeping us NW elites as second class <g> (Here come the posts about how DL sucks).

BTW, the return flights were also within the Plat elite upgrade window and while they didn't upgrade when I was choosing seats, they did upgrade at the same time the outbound did (about 5 minutes after the ticket was purchased).

Personally, I don't mind if I get upgraded when I'm choosing seats or 5 minutes later, just as long as the upgrades come if V/X class is available.

-RM