Only 13% of Delta Air Lines domestic first class passengers are sitting there on upgrades. That includes flights on lightly-traveled routes where there aren’t many premium passengers, so on popular business and hub-to-hub routes the percentage is even much lower.
The airline has gotten very good about merchandising premium seats – and is willing to sell them very cheap, especially as upsells to infrequent flyers. They want to take a few tens of dollars from a once a year customer rather than upgrading a very frequent flyer who spends tens of thousands of dollars. Their President made this clear at last month’s investor day.
Delta is also most likely to skip processing upgrade lists at the gate of the major airlines.
Frequently gate agents won’t bother to do upgrades at the very last minute at all. If a first class passenger doesn’t show up for the flight (maybe they are connecting, and their inbound aircraft is late or they get waylaid in the bathroom in the terminal) they would be doing the work to print a new boarding pass and come on board the aircraft to move up a coach passenger – right before they’re supposed to be closing the doors. And this extra work could wind up delaying the flight a minute or two, which would get them yelled at by a manager.
Here’s one story from Sunday:
1st class seats sitting empty despite my husband putting in a regional certificate?
byu/a-a-a-ronica indelta
Just an hour later, another flyer wrote:
As if upgrades aren’t terrible enough this year, the flight I’m currently on I was number 1 on upgrade list, 2 open seats available in first and they boarded everyone and did no upgrades…
It’s from Miami to Atlanta so it’s not that long… but what’s even the point of this status if it’s so junk. Decided I’m just fully canceling my reserve card at the end of the year.
I recently pointed to one Delta gate agent who confesses that they won’t bother to check if passengers traveling together want to be split up when there’s just one first class seat available – and just skips over them instead.
From the perspective of the customer, this lament about airlines also applies to hotels: “*based on availability” means “we list it, but you won’t get it.” I think the criticism of Delta’s business strategy is a fair one — maximizing revenue by monetizing the first class cabin may, over the long term, cause a reduction in loyalty behavior. The problem is that nobody knows for sure just how bad a loyalty scheme can get before customers change behavior. But Delta and Marriott are willing to find out for the entire industry. Co-branded airline cards are, for the most part, not a good value proposition for the consumer for everyday spending. They may be worth holding for certain perks, but putting even one dollar of non-airline spend on those things is basically like setting money on fire compared to the rewards and flexibility you can get with a bank’s own card (or suite of cards). Will people move away from them because of upgrade issues? I doubt it, as the regular user of the co-branded card is not a frequent flyer. And the frequent flyers are often hub captive in an industry with few competitors. Maybe they won’t hold the Delta Reserve for the (restricted) lounge access, but there will be a pile of people with a Delta Gold card getting 1x on that card and cashing those miles out for overpriced tickets to Toledo for the whole family during the holidays. Our only hope is that these people discover the wonders of the bank travel portal and prefer the flexibility of that option instead. The dynamic pricing schemes and last seat availability options are really appealing to regular people. So, I understand the criticism, but even as I type this, I’m convinced Delta, Marriott, United, or any other loyalty program will not experience significant blow back from these anti-consumer decisions. It is mostly because the people they most want to market to don’t expect much and don’t actually calculate the value proposition most of the time — they focus mostly on lower hassle. And redeeming miles for bad value has never been easier than today.
How common is it for first class passengers to be waylaid in the bathroom in US airports?
Yes, curious minds want to know the lowdown on the waylaid situation. Seems 1st class might be entitled to getting laid on the way, but in the bathroom?
Why the hell would anyone care to get upgraded on such a minimal flight…reality check you fools
The same thing happened to me when the gate agent refused to upgrade even though I saw available seats shown in the Delta app. Luckily, a red-vest agent happened to overhear me, did some magic on the computer and upgraded me into one of the available seats!
LOL welcome to the realities of elite airline status European style! Nobody gets upgraded here unless Y is oversold. I’m BA gold travelling every other week, and my employer won’t pay for J on intra European flights. I’ve had ONE upgrade since COVID. Loving all the DYKWIA’s on this post.
#firstworldproblems
Delta really has the worst rewards program in the industry.
Well, a card holder should not expect that upgrade, but entitlement plagues us.
The gate agents of late are lazy to obnoxious so speak to their busses. I travel every week and I don’t put up with this behavior from the airlines. Hotels or rental cars
So glad I quit my Amex Delta Reserve card in July after 10 years of getting value for it. Definitely not worth it now.
Then go out of buisness sooner.
By not giving
the CUSTOMERS.
YOUR, bosses!!!!!
What, they want.
Get with the program.
The customers are the bosses of the company.
Because the customers are what keeps the business open.
If the customers aren’t satisfied with the products
& or services. That the company is offering.
Then the customers go elsewhere & the company shuts down faster.
Or, the customers give the buisness a chance to change and listen to them. Doing as the customers suggest in making them satisfied.
Then the buisness if they do as the customers want. They stay in buisness longer.
But the customers give the companies their paychecks to pay the workers. To, keep making products or affording to provide the customers with their offered services.
Companies
buisnesses whatever they call themselves. They need to get this very important truth & care. Before they go out of buisness sooner.
It’s simple! Do as the customer wants.
Sounds like a stupid decision made by the CF-NO. Delta used to be all about customer service; there’s no excuse for empty seats in First.
This is absurd. Most posters here do not pay for their tickets, their companies do when they send them on their merry way. Hence, the “loyalty” argument falls apart right away. They will be sent on their next Delta flight when company wants it anyway.
Secondly, you want an upgrade because someone paid for your seat? Please, be realistic about your value to an airline that can track your flight history.
The issue is that eventually This falls apart. If your loyalty does not get you an upgrade you will not be loyal. I’m close to that point. Not quite there because I’m in a small market where I do still get quite a few upgrades
@Robert: Not sure what you expected from a blog that writes about the airline industry. Perhaps you’re better off reading the curing cancer and sustainable pencil shaving blogs that might not be as triggering.
I noticed the seat map, at least the version customers have access too, seems to be less flexible than before too. My flight over a week away indicated every seat sold;!I moved to a later flight, as the seat map for the later flight was 70% open/unoccupied seats. I booked it, then went back to the seat map, and boom, it indicated now only 5 or six seats were open to choose from. Also, the price for purchasing and upgrade with $ or miles now increases as the flight date nears. United is looking better every day.
Maybe I’m just one of the lucky few but my last flight I’m a DM and I was number 2 with one last first class seat available on CVG-SEA. I boarded into Comfort+ but before gate departure the gate agent approached me to let me know First Class seat was available if I would like to accept it. Obviously YMMV but gate agent chivalry isn’t totally dead.
I wish the airlines would stop the upgrades all together, if it’s a premium item it should be sold at a reasonable markup within the hour or two before boarding. I wouldnt mind having an empty seat as it would make trips to the bathroom less cumbersome. I’m of the opinion if you desire a first/business class seat….book it. I also hate that they give away a seat on a late or delayed connection.