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We shared the news earlier that Delta now displays upgrade availability in the search results for Platinum and Diamond members on paid flights. Reader AG subsequently commented to advise that this feature is available on award flights too.
Update: The new feature isn’t just that you can view the availability online. In the past you could only redeem Upgrade Certificates on paid flights; Delta has now made it possible to redeem them for award and Miles + Cash flights.
The screenshot above is what was displayed when Greg did an award flight search for Detroit to Phoenix. As you can see beneath the route listing, it advises that ‘First available with Upgrade Certificate’.
That’s an example for domestic award flights; this same feature is showing for international award flights too.
In case the text is too small to read on the above screenshot, the first flight listed shows Delta One upgrade availability, while the later flight states that Upgrade Certificates aren’t available on that particular flight.
It’s not only paid and award flights which have this feature. When looking to book a Miles + Cash flight you can also see whether or not the flights you want to take have any kind of upgrade availability. Here’s an example of the search results for Diamond Medallion members when looking at use their Global Upgrade Certificates for international flights…
…while here’s an example of a similar thing when looking to use Regional Upgrade Certificates for domestic itineraries:
Once again, these are welcome enhancements that increase the value of having Delta elite status. Being able to redeem Upgrade Certificates on award flights and Miles + Cash flights could be huge, especially if you find a low-priced economy flight during a flash award sale.
It turns out that Delta made an official announcement about this new feature today, so you can find that announcement here. They confirm there that you can only redeem your Upgrade Certificates for award and Miles + Cash tickets when the flight is operated by Delta rather than with partner airlines.
Thanks again to AG for the heads up about this.
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[…] Image reproduced with the kind permission of Frequent Miler […]
That’s nice, but what about paying with Delta GCs? Then I’d really be impressed 🙂
You can use the certificates on paid flights, so wouldn’t flights paid for with gift cards incorporate that?
You’re right! I think i was mixing it up with the companion certs lol.
Ah, that makes sense.
Well, that’s going to change the value of Delta miles for people with GUCs!
RUCs too. I recently paid 17K Skymiles for a RT ticket to HNL, and it is operated with an A330. Getting to fly to Hawaii for 17K miles in lay flat seats is crazy!!