I’ve shared my thoughts on the idea of “complimentary” upgrades for elite flyers on more than one occasion. A lot of what one “likes” about a frequent flyer program is based upon habit as much as functionality, so I want to fully acknowledge a few things.
- I”ve always preferred the way American AAdvantage does upgrades
- All things being equal, I have a respectable upgrade percentage as a Delta Platinum Medallion
- While we know what I prefer, I’m just one guy, and I’m admittedly biased
With that as background, let’s look at my Wednesday night flight from Washington, DC to Atlanta. Wednesday is not widely known as a peak travel day. That said, let’s face it that the day after an election in Washington, DC is probably a different kind of day than almost anywhere else in the country. But here’s the truth, I’m the second highest tier of elite at Delta but I’m nearly half-way down the upgrade list. Let me state that this way, I’m a Delta Platinum Medallion, the list is 55 names long, and I’m number 21. For sure, I’ll likely survive the 1.5 hour flight with my aisle seat in coach. But a 55 person upgrade list on a Wednesday night? Just one more data point on the folly of complimentary upgrades for all elites.
-MJ, November 5, 2014
Diamond is where the fun times start and i get upgrades most of the time with it !
The best is to get a seat in First out of DCA on election morning. Your chance of sitting next to a member of Congress flying home to do a vote photo op goes way up.
Unless you’re from Cleveland, because Dennis Kucinich used to rock it in coach.
I flew on DL from DCA in F the day after President Obama’s first inauguration! IIRC, I had booked an F award knowing it would an absolutely impossible upgrade!
In other political news, it looks lie the Ebola quarantine in Georgia worked last night! 😉
@Gene,
I spent 15K miles and $75 bucks to confirm an upgrade on AA from DFW-DCA on the Friday before President Obama’s inauguration. Likely for the same reason you did, but I don’t think I realized it was inauguration weekend when I did it. I just knew I was going to have a sucky week of work in Dallas and didn’t want to sit in coach on Friday night. 🙂 As far as Ebola quarantines in Georgia…..HA! 🙂 Politics is a fickle beast.
You are probably right. However, without that tie-breaker, you might well have been higher on the list.
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Personally, I do have a Reserve card, but my upgrade percentage on domestic tickets (before I got Diamond) was something like 11/12. Including on award tickets.
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I am wondering whether it is a case of “good luck” or a secret acknowledgement that I spend a pile of money (around $60K this year) with DL on long haul BC flights.
Which is a very good argument for making it tougher to qualify for elite status.
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When everybody has status, nobody has status.
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Also, get rid of the “Reserve cardholders get bumped to the front of the upgrade list” scam. I wonder how many Silvers were ahead of you just for that.
Well, I’m not 100 percent positive on this, but I think the Reserve card was just a tie breaker after elite status, and others. In other words, a Platinum, T fare…one with Reserve, one not – the one with the reserve clears first. But a silver with T fare would be below Platinum with T fare.
Agreed. Almost all of us (except the invite-onlys at the very top of the pyramid, who could be exempted anyway) would be happier being able to choose when we want to use our upgrade certificates. And it’d make the boarding process slightly easier and more predictable.
…uh how about #TheReason2BeDiamond and http://www.DeltaMileageRun.com