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The hand writing seems to have been on the wall with the announcement of the OFCMB seat
refresh that came out last month that the UBER elite service that was once planned for SEA is being shelved (or at least the full-flat “DELTA ONE” seats that is). Delta.com still says:
2014 Medallion Complimentary Upgrade Routes
Medallion Complimentary Upgrades are now available on flights between Hawaii and Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, or Seattle. But in light of significant investments in our coast-to-coast BusinessElite® experience, which include premium amenities like fully flat-bed seats, Westin Heavenly® In-Flight Bedding, on-demand entertainment, and premium dining, we no longer offer Medallion Complimentary Upgrades on flights between New York-JFK and Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Seattle.
Now here is the real deal with this. We know that even though Delta.com does not publish it that Diamonds and Platinum’s CAN upgrade on this no longer upgradeable route, at least as far as LAX & SFO go. Now it would seem, logged in as a GOLD under my wife’s account as you can see from the opening screen shot, that she DOES have a shot at a complimentary upgrade from New York to Seattle, that is, Delta.com now shows “upgrade eligible” ! I had a friend check with his SILVER Skymiles account and it showed the exact same thing even for the flights with full-flat seats (and just maybe on a weekend a silver medallion could score that upgrade on this route).
I have reached out to Delta for confirmation on this switch, but have, as of today, not had any kind of answer back so it could just be an IT bug but I doubt it after the December seat announcements.
What does this mean for us? We have seen Delta has been very slow to implement ALL full flat direct flights from JFK to SEA compared to JFK to SFO/LAX. Many flyers have complained that often the seats are VERY old or a standard domestic 1st class seat. I had booked this route specifically to try the brand new full flat 757-200 seats, but the bird had the really ancient old recliner 1st class seats (and they were REALLY old and beat up – a big disappointment). So with this move to allow upgrades for ALL medallions again I expect that the seats will sometimes be nice but that will be the exception rather than the rule. The enhanced service? We shall see what happens with that.
I rarely fly this route so you tell me readers – how has the JFK-SEA-JFK route been. Have you noticed more full flats or any service change? Have you checked if Gold or Silver if you can put in the request for an upgrade? – René
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Yes, my wife (also a Gold) is Upgrade Eligible on this route. I travel this route a lot, and still very upset that DELTA lied to us about the flat-bed seat upgrades coming to the SEA-JFK route. I have done this perhaps 14 times in the past year and only ONCE had a flat-bed seat in the First Class cabin!
Here was their press release where they promised “All flights between New York-JFK and Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle will feature flat-bed seats on Boeing 757 and 767 aircraft by summer 2015.”
http://news.delta.com/2014-06-16-Delta-Offers-Full-Flat-Bed-Seats-in-BusinessElite-On-All-Flights-Between-New-York-JFK-and-Los-Angeles
I actually just booked a JFK-SEA-JFK flight. On “My Trips” screen it says “Medallion Upgrade Requested” and I’m just a lowly FO with a Reserve & Platinum Delta card. Maybe I’ll get lucky? We’re on a 757-800. I’m practically flying middle of day on the route back on a Tuesday, so maybe there’s some potential.
I actually broke the news that Delta was dumping Business Elite service to Seattle back on Dec 9th. Sad day for Seattle, but not overly surprised either.
http://upgrd.com/blogs/doublewidesfly/delta-rebrands-cabin-classes-devalues-skymiles-elite-perks-and-ends-seattle-jfk-businesselite-service.html
@Dublewides Fly – well we all talked about the fact that SEA was missing from the OFCMB seat list but at the time SEA was still showing as NON-UPGRADE on Delta.com 😉
Experience tells me that even though Delta says that this is available does not mean that anyone will get the upgrade …
Hey all…
I have been reaching out to Delta since December regarding this route. Coincidentally, today they have finally responded (after terminating their earlier discussions with me.)
The news may surprise you, I know it did me!
An excerpt from their response:
“Reviewing your flight history I see that you travel frequently between
New York-JFK and Seattle. The operating schedule for our flights between New York-JFK and Seattle shows that the 757-200 aircraft will offer flat-bed seating around March 2, 2015. Until that date, we offer many convenient connecting flights from Seattle through San Francisco and Los Angeles to New York-JFK.”
“…All flights between New York-JFK and Seattle [… ] will feature flat-bed seats by summer 2015.”