Can You Get Upgraded On An Award Ticket Delta?

Upgrades on Delta Award Tickets: What Are Your Odds?

A general query that people have when traveling with Delta Airways and when looking to book an award is whether or not they can secure an upgrade to Delta Airlines One or first class. Upgrades are always desirable, particularly on lengthy flights, because they imply more area, comfort, and services. Therefore, what is your likelihood of success when it comes to requesting an upgrade using your miles? Here's a detailed look.

The Upgrade Hierarchy

First, let’s recall that Delta has an updated policy and upgrade hierarchy, which defines the order in which passengers can be upgraded. When there are vacancies in a premium cabin before a flight departs, the first in line for a free upgrade will be those passengers who paid for a full fare ticket or are part of the SkyMiles premium elite.

Generally, the priority goes:

• Diamond Medallion members
• Platinum Medallion members
• Gold Medallion members
• Silver Medallion members
• Passengers holding a full-fare economy ticket
• Passengers who still seek to purchase cheap economy-class tickets
• Award ticket holders

As illustrated in the previous sections, award ticket holders are considered the last in line when it comes to upgrades. That means even if you have Medallion status, it means you will only get upgraded after all passengers who booked a paid ticket, be it flexible or even basic economy fares.

Can I Be Offered a Promotion?

Though it is highly unlikely, award ticket upgrades are not impossible, especially if some specific conditions are met.  happen:

Here are some of the ways it can happen:

1. Buy an Upgradable Fare: You get a better chance to be upgraded for award trips if you pay for a higher economy class ticket such as W, S, T, or L instead of the cheap U fare. After that, you will at least be privileged over other types of economy fares.
2. Use Miles to Upgrade: Delta enables Medallion members and Amex Delta cardholders to upgrade reward tickets using additional miles. Thus, if you have additional miles, it could be easily used to request an upgrade but this will cost you a lot.
3. Operational Upgrades: If a flight is oversold or weight-restricted, Delta reserves the right to upgrade even more passengers, including the award travelers, on operational considerations. Yet, you can’t rely on ops upgrades for this purpose.
4. Last Minute Upgrades: Before the flight, if there are still some of the better classes available, people are upgraded if airlines want to avoid flying with empty better class seats. This means that last-second award tickets can still be upgraded when you are already checked in.
5. Partner Airline Upgrades: When flying some of the partner airlines, such as Air France-KLM, you can pre-clear upgrades even when traveling with award tickets due to different upgrade policies and inventory.

Ways to Get an Airline Upgrade to a Better Class

While paid ticket holders have priority, you can still boost your slim chances of getting a complimentary upgrade on an award Delta flight: While paid ticket holders have priority, you can still boost your slim chances of getting a complimentary upgrade on an award Delta flight:

• Book your flights in the premium cabins if possible when upgrades do not clear. It is better to have more choices when selecting a seat than wait for some people not to occupy it in the future. Use Expertflyer or similar tools to search segment by segment across various dates.
• Additionally, opt for flights that operate multiple times per day or larger planes with more business-class seats (A350 or 777).
• Prefer long-haul flights, as these have a higher chance of getting someone an upgrade at some point.
• Do not use specialty seating and bassinets, which can reduce operational enhancements.
• Finally, it is recommended that passengers check-in as early as 24 hours before the flight to be on the upgrade list.
• Gently inquire if there are any free upgrades available at the check-in counter, gate, or on the plane for operational purposes. It can never be guaranteed, but it pays sometimes.
• Utilize your miles to change one segment of a multi-segment award ticket to get a better position for other segments on the upgrade list.
• Always associate your reservation with your SkyMiles account number, even if you are flying on an award ticket so your status will be seen.

Approaches to the Application of the Award Ticket Upgrade

This is the only way you can make sure that you will get an upgrade on an award redemption with Delta.

Let's explore some of the ways you can spend additional miles to upgrade:

1. Instant Miles Upgrades: When you are selecting award flights on Delta’s website, usually there is an instant option to upgrade to Delta One, Premium Select, first class for a variable fee in miles. The fares quoted are for one-way travel only.
2. Same-Day Upgrades: Delta elites also have the option of purchasing same-day upgrades at the time of check-in using their miles. Pricing is different depending on each route but it is usually cheaper than instant upgrades. But your upgrade will not clear until the gate if there is an open seat at that time.
3. Upgrade Certificates: Diamond, Platinum, and Gold Medallion members are issued with annual choice benefit certificates that can be used to confirm an upgrade from the economy class. These cannot be bought outright with the help of a certain amount of accumulated miles but are one of the most frequently chosen bonuses.
4. Global Upgrade Certificates: Elite members may also obtain or purchase one-way or return international ticket vouchers to guarantee upgrades from the economy class. These were once much better value but have trended more to dynamic variable pricing in miles.

Is It Worth Paying Miles to Upgrade Award Tickets?

Whether it makes sense to spend your miles on an award ticket upgrade depends greatly on your priorities.

• In this case, you have chosen a Basic Economy ticket or a W fare, and if you have enough miles, it might be cheaper to upgrade.
• If you have accumulated a lot of miles, there is nothing wrong with using them to enjoy the luxury of business class for a specific trip, even if the redemption rates are higher.
• In very long-haul international flights, it is reasonable to use more points to be able to have a chance to fly in a flat seat and arrive feeling fresh.
• In short hauls of one to three hours, it is probably not beneficial to burn lots of miles. It may be cheaper and also use fewer miles to pay cash for the premium seat at once.
• Pass riders should not use their companion certificate or guest miles solely for upgrades because this offers far less value.

Delta does not offer a specific upgrade guarantee for award tickets.

Finally, the company does not promise passengers holding SkyMiles award tickets that they will be given an upgrade. Thus, although it is possible to upgrade when flying on the miles, don’t expect an upgrade clearing to happen. The odds remain very low until Delta fills all paid cabins and higher-tier elites and only changes to a much higher number as the flight is fully sold out. If putting a premium on comfort when flying is a priority for your trip, then start redeeming points for the better cabin whenever award availability is possible. Anticipating that a freebie upgrade will one day materialize is usually a pipe dream. The good news is that with the right planning and research, however, one can tilt the balance even further in their favor.

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