Delta Free Upgrades Killing the Premium Class

[John the Attorney]

As a Platinum Medallion on Delta, I have watched the service go down ever since they started allowing any passenger to be added to the upgrade list with no additional charge. Premium or First Class should be a higher price. The boarding process has slowed.  Upgrades are not as special.  I have been paying for First Class for many years. My business partners and I have decided to fly on other carriers when possible.  

 

[Dog Wonder]

Good for you.  More seats for non-revs.

 

[robbedagain]

john   can you give us comparsion btwn DL UA and AA

 

[jimntx]

Don't know about UA, but at AA there is a charge to upgrade except for Executive Platinums  (our top tier AAdvantage members who fly 100,000 or more miles a year on AA)--assuming you are flying on a ticket that allows for upgrades.  I overheard one guy demanding that the gate agent upgrade him for free.  "I have NEVER been charged for upgrades."  (He wasn't even an AAdvantage member.)  Agent tried her best to explain to him that should a seat become available (highly unlikely since F/C had already checked in Full.  There would be a charge for the difference in the ticket prices as well as a change fee--$75 if I remember correctly.  Man was incensed.  Said he would never fly AA again.  Oh well.

 

[robbedagain]

thx jim  

 

[USFlyer]

To clarify, there isn't a "charge" for Gold and Platinum members on AA.  They just need to use 500-mile upgrade e-certs, which they earn for every 10,000 mi. flown.  And, if the segment is <= 500 mi, you don't need to use e-certs at all.  If you fly often, one almost never needs to buy extra e-certs.
 
That being said, I've also been a DL Medallion member over the years.  I'm not sure what the poster is referring to.  He seems to imply "since they started", but all Medallion members have always been upgraded if there's a seat available (at least for the last 15+ years).  He might be referring to an average coach passenger being offered the chance to buy an upgrade at the gate.  This happens so rarely though I hardly see how it's ruining domestic First class.

 

[topDawg]

As a Platinum Medallion on Delta, I have watched the service go down ever since they started allowing any passenger to be added to the upgrade list with no additional charge. Premium or First Class should be a higher price. The boarding process has slowed.  Upgrades are not as special.  I have been paying for First Class for many years. My business partners and I have decided to fly on other carriers when possible.  

So 20 years or so then?
and I assume you also don't fly UA and AA? 

 

[jimntx]

Whether the increase in upgrade availability is the cause or not, and whether service has really deteriorated or not is not the issue.  There is no point in arguing or implying that the OP is wrong.  Perception is the key.  If he perceives a reduction in service levels it doesn't matter what you or I or anyone else thinks.  To this particular customer there has been a reduction in the service levels.  He may be wrong about that, and he may very well be wrong about the cause of that reduction, but his perception is how he views DL.
 
You may be able to prove to yourself and the rest of us that he is wrong, but that is not going to get the customer to fly DL more frequently.  In the service industry (I know.  I know.  We prefer to think of ourselves as being in the transportation industry, which we are.  But, to the customer, service is a more important judgement factor in deciding which airline to fly since we all tend to serve the same "money-making" destinations.)
 
What we all must be careful about is permanently alienating the customer--particularly if he is what AA calls a Key customer, a corporate employee who has a great deal of influence over the decision as to which airlines the rest of the company's employees fly.