Which fare classes are eligible for miles upgrades?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Texas
Programs: UA, AA, DL, BA, Marriott, Hilton, Accor, Hyatt
Posts: 1,290
Which fare classes are eligible for miles upgrades?
Hi everyone,
I normally fly UA and AA and I am not at all familiar with the rules of DL's Skymiles program. I have some points with AMEX' membership rewards and I considering transferring them over to DL.
I see from DL's website that for 12,500 miles I can get a domestic first class upgrade "from select fares." The website does not mention what these fares are. Does anyone know which booking classes are eligible for domestic upgrades?
Thanks!
I normally fly UA and AA and I am not at all familiar with the rules of DL's Skymiles program. I have some points with AMEX' membership rewards and I considering transferring them over to DL.
I see from DL's website that for 12,500 miles I can get a domestic first class upgrade "from select fares." The website does not mention what these fares are. Does anyone know which booking classes are eligible for domestic upgrades?
Thanks!
#2
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: HKG
Programs: DL FO, UA, AA, AsiaMiles, SPG, HHonors
Posts: 7,982
Which fare classes are eligible for miles upgrades?
For domestic, must be K or higher. And upgrade inventory must be available, which is no guarantee. You can search for certain fare classes or higher on DL.com flight searches.
If you don't have a subscription to Expert Flyer, you can call in to find out of upgrade inventory is available. I suggest doing this and confirming availability before purchasing a ticket or converting MR points to DL miles. You could be stuck with a more expensive coach fare than necessary and miles you can't use.
If you're used to using miles to upgrade on AA/UA, you're in for a rude awakening with DL, particularly internationally. The upside is that domestically the medallion upgrades are unlimited--for now, and YMMV on whether you actually get an upgrade, depends on route and timing.
If you don't have a subscription to Expert Flyer, you can call in to find out of upgrade inventory is available. I suggest doing this and confirming availability before purchasing a ticket or converting MR points to DL miles. You could be stuck with a more expensive coach fare than necessary and miles you can't use.
If you're used to using miles to upgrade on AA/UA, you're in for a rude awakening with DL, particularly internationally. The upside is that domestically the medallion upgrades are unlimited--for now, and YMMV on whether you actually get an upgrade, depends on route and timing.
#3
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: ATL
Programs: Bonvoy Ambassador, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Gold, AA EXP, UA Silver, former DL DM
Posts: 2,001
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Texas
Programs: UA, AA, DL, BA, Marriott, Hilton, Accor, Hyatt
Posts: 1,290
For domestic, must be K or higher. And upgrade inventory must be available, which is no guarantee. You can search for certain fare classes or higher on DL.com flight searches.
If you don't have a subscription to Expert Flyer, you can call in to find out of upgrade inventory is available. I suggest doing this and confirming availability before purchasing a ticket or converting MR points to DL miles. You could be stuck with a more expensive coach fare than necessary and miles you can't use.
If you're used to using miles to upgrade on AA/UA, you're in for a rude awakening with DL, particularly internationally. The upside is that domestically the medallion upgrades are unlimited--for now, and YMMV on whether you actually get an upgrade, depends on route and timing.
If you don't have a subscription to Expert Flyer, you can call in to find out of upgrade inventory is available. I suggest doing this and confirming availability before purchasing a ticket or converting MR points to DL miles. You could be stuck with a more expensive coach fare than necessary and miles you can't use.
If you're used to using miles to upgrade on AA/UA, you're in for a rude awakening with DL, particularly internationally. The upside is that domestically the medallion upgrades are unlimited--for now, and YMMV on whether you actually get an upgrade, depends on route and timing.
Thanks very much, this is very useful. I did a bit of research and I now understand your point about the difference in upgrades between DL and UA/AA. Some of the K-class fares are not so bad, but often time you can find a discount first class fare for about the same price as the economy K fare. In that case it makes no sense to spend 12,500 miles for an upgrade. Only in some markets where competition is low the K-class fare is significantly lower than the discount first fare. SkyMiles are useful in that instance.
As to international flights, the B fare is ridiculously expensive, typically over $3,000 for TATL. However, I can think of last-minute situations when the B fare on DL plus the upgrade miles would come in cheaper than paying a business class fare on other airlines, which could be as much as $6,000 at the last minute.
As an outsider to the SkyMiles program, it seems to me that the best yield one could get on one's miles is the discounted business class (or domestic first class) award tickets. I wish there was an easy way to search for those. Delta.com is not easy, and Expertflyer does not show award inventory. As someone else mentioned in another post, I would need to try the KVS tool.
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Texas
Programs: UA, AA, DL, BA, Marriott, Hilton, Accor, Hyatt
Posts: 1,290
#6
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 288
#7
Used to be 'flymanbeast'
Join Date: Jul 2011
Programs: Delta silver/marriot platinum
Posts: 2,795
Getting a miles upgrade last minute is close to impossible
#9
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: ATL
Programs: Bonvoy Ambassador, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Gold, AA EXP, UA Silver, former DL DM
Posts: 2,001
#10
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: HKG
Programs: DL FO, UA, AA, AsiaMiles, SPG, HHonors
Posts: 7,982
Quote:
Originally Posted by 122554
Does anyone on this site ever visit the Delta page for answers to simple questions? Or are they just too lazy to do this simple task?
OP was asking a fair question. Very little (if any) of the information in this thread is available on Delta's website.
Originally Posted by 122554
Does anyone on this site ever visit the Delta page for answers to simple questions? Or are they just too lazy to do this simple task?
OP was asking a fair question. Very little (if any) of the information in this thread is available on Delta's website.
#11
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: BOM-SIN-EWR
Programs: UA*G (1K again), Sixt Plat, *was*: SQ QPP01 & SK EBS/EBG, LH SEN, AA EXP, 9wPlat
Posts: 8,606
I just told the DL rep on the telephone I wouldn't go near DL based on this. (And their now 72 hour award cancellation policy!)
#13
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,413
Y B M can be upgraded with miles if the right inventory is available. M and most B fares require 25,000 one way, while most Y and a few B fares require fewer miles.
Last edited by MSPeconomist; Mar 25, 2014 at 9:35 pm Reason: typo
#14
Join Date: Dec 2004
Programs: Globalist, Marriott Plat, various sundry
Posts: 984
I'm looking at flying the following:
ORD-ATL-LAX (stopover)
LAX-OGG (destination)
OGG-LAX-MSP-ORD
I'm considering getting K fares for this flight, but only if I can confirm RP/OP availability on EF for the flights in order to upgrade (trying to burn 60K miles). Assuming that RP/OP is available for all six segments, would I be able to upgrade them at 15K per person each way?
ORD-ATL-LAX (stopover)
LAX-OGG (destination)
OGG-LAX-MSP-ORD
I'm considering getting K fares for this flight, but only if I can confirm RP/OP availability on EF for the flights in order to upgrade (trying to burn 60K miles). Assuming that RP/OP is available for all six segments, would I be able to upgrade them at 15K per person each way?
#15
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,413
I'm looking at flying the following:
ORD-ATL-LAX (stopover)
LAX-OGG (destination)
OGG-LAX-MSP-ORD
I'm considering getting K fares for this flight, but only if I can confirm RP/OP availability on EF for the flights in order to upgrade (trying to burn 60K miles). Assuming that RP/OP is available for all six segments, would I be able to upgrade them at 15K per person each way?
ORD-ATL-LAX (stopover)
LAX-OGG (destination)
OGG-LAX-MSP-ORD
I'm considering getting K fares for this flight, but only if I can confirm RP/OP availability on EF for the flights in order to upgrade (trying to burn 60K miles). Assuming that RP/OP is available for all six segments, would I be able to upgrade them at 15K per person each way?