News and notes from around the interweb:
- Wow, $19 is the cheapest I’ve ever seen Delta (or any U.S. airline) offer an upgrade. A checked bag fee is twice as much, so if you check a bag you’re saving money. When they’re willing to sell upgrades that cheap, you can see why elites on Delta no longer get upgraded. According to the airline’s own data, they went from giving out more than half their first class seats a decade ago to now just about 12-13%.
I paid $19 on two occasions recently for 1st upgrade IND to DTW. Was Diamond last year, and Platinum this year. Don't yet see any difference with upgrades.
— steveo'no (@SteveM112) January 25, 2026
- Apparently.
Apparently they don’t clean planes anymore @AmericanAir pic.twitter.com/MrseePC8ic
— Sayjul18 (@sayjul18) January 24, 2026
- United is not, actually, that much more premium than American. They’ve just better than they used to be and grew their network in major cities.
Just paid for FIRST CLASS on @United and spent the entire flight sitting in someone else’s wet vomit. Crew knew. Did nothing.
This is what $3,000$ bought me. Still waiting for my refund and miles.
Unacceptable. Unsanitary. Unsafe. @UnitedAirlines why??? Flight number 2397 pic.twitter.com/3MrEhg28td— hannah bender (@hannahbend87688) January 24, 2026
How the mighty have fallen
byu/GibberingSloth inunitedairlines - Insane.
Ordered a pizza and now I’m being asked to tip the driver AND the people who made it separately
On a $25 order.
Bro I just wanted dinner not a guilt-powered funding round for everyone in the supply chain
— Ben Pouladian (@benitoz) January 25, 2026
- Ceiling collapses at the Embassy Suites in Norman, Oklahoma. I was once in the restaurant of the Westin City Center in DC, back when it was a Wyndham and something similar happened. That’s the old Vista hotel made famous by Marion Barry.
@itsmichelle1982 #fyp #embassysuites #disaster #Oklahoma #pipebusted ♬ original sound – itsmichelle1982 - The American Airlines free wifi rollout is largely complete.
Be ungovernable pic.twitter.com/WzKKu7HNFG
— Darth Powell (@VladTheInflator) January 25, 2026
I am surprised that there has not been class-action litigation challenging the marketing and administration of complimentary elite status upgrades. There appears to be a plausible, and potentially well-supported, argument that the representations made to consumers regarding such benefits could give rise to claims under state deceptive trade practices statutes.
Elite status members should be offered a discount on the first class upsell on a sliding percentage scale depending on your tier of the elite status program.
(Of course, they’re just as likely to charge elite status members more than non-status members because they know they’re marketing to folks that are engaged with their program.)
although I’m a diamond, I’d pay for it.
once again, this is a very short segment likely on a flight that had a pretty low load factor to begin with.
We have yet to see evidence that these kinds of fares are occurring in more than a few anecdotal markets.
Mike,
It’s all about the credit card. They are a well-run company that is profitable. This action is a follow-on to the Sky Pesos. Credit cards is the whip cream.
They found a lot of money in the seat cushions of their first-class cabins. And they thought, we are we not getting that money. Now they are.
Every successful business that I know of re-invents itself every so often. How can we grow our business and become more profitable?
If your upgrades came because of OPM, then the ride is over. One company’s success will lead to others doing the same thing. Face it, if they can sell a first class upgrade for $19, they don’t need you. What will you do? Go to another airline? They will all do the same things.
For the last six years I have become a free agent. And never looked back. I still have my United Lifetime Premier 1k card for entry in lounges around the world.
My first “frequent flyer” card was an Executive Traveler Card from Eastern. The only perk was free upgrades, which came fast and often. Then it was absorbed into CO. Upgrades still flowed like wine. And free trips in FC were frequent. (And in the 80’s it came with caviar as an appetizer.) Then it morphed into UA. Still got upgrades, just not as many. Free travel became less frequent. Got my Lifetime card and retired.
Now living in Europe, I use the card to go to some nice lounges. And I pay for my tickets. On any airline I choose. Feel great. No end of the year mileage runs.
Get used to it. In a few more years, no more frequent flyer programs.
Beating the I no longer get an upgrade drum isn’t going to change anything. Airlines are getting people to pay to be upfront. People forget that up until AA merged with USAir GLDs and PLTs had to apply stickers for an upgrade. Stickers could be earned, it was something like four, 500 mile upgrades for every 10K miles flown. In most cases stickers had to be purchased.
Airlines do not in any way guarantee complimentary upgrades. No more than a state lottery doesn’t guarantee you will win even though their advertising might seem to suggest otherwise.
IND/DTW is one really short flight.