Delta Elites May Need the Reserve Amex Credit Card if They Want to Upgrade…

Jeff Robertson, who runs the Delta Skymiles program, made his latest Flyertalk post yesterday. I tend to think it’s his most useful to date, and for the most part devoid of the usual marketing-speak.

He confirms that Delta Reserve Amex cardholders receive priority within status and fare levels for upgrades.

Delta Reserve customers receive priority upgrade status within tier and fare class. In essence, this means that if two customers who are Platinum both booked an L fare, the Platinum with the Delta Reserve card bumps the Platinum who doesn’t have the card.

That’s a pretty strong reason for Delta elites to get the card.

Meanwhile, he commits to website award booking improvements and predicts easier-to-use international upgrades for top tier elites post-Northwest merger (I’ll be cautiously optimistic and won’t bank on anything major).

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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