There are few things in life I hate on the web more than pop-ups. I think they are universally hated by just about everyone. Most browsers offer some kind if built in pop-up blocker but they do not always work and I turn them off for some pages as they can, at times, limit functionality for things like shopping portals where I can score bonus points.
Well as you can see from the above shot Delta will, now and then, yell at you to BUY NOW or, get this, “don’t miss your trip”! I assume this is in response to the fact that so many times, when you are paying for your ticket, you get the nasty surprise that says something like “the price for this ticket has just gone up” and they can now tell you that they warned you that others were shopping for the few seats remaining at that same price fare class you were shopping for. I am not overly impressed. You?
If you have not yet got your monthly SkyMiles or some other types of AMEX points posted for the past few weeks (after your statement has closed), you are not the only one. For as long as I can remember my Delta AMEX points have posted a day, maybe at worst two days, after my statement has generated. It has been this way for years. But now it has been a week and no points. There is a thread on FlyerTalk about this and notice what has been posted:
“Delta just confirmed to me that AMEX is having data file corruption issues with the Skymiles posting file which is sent via Electronic Data Interchange to Delta from Amex.
Apparently the March file was corrupted, Amex tried several times to resend, and the issue is expected to cause a 1 – 2 week delay posting Skymiles and MQM Mileboosts for portions of March and April 2016.” – BumpMeVoucherMeATL
I ran into BumpMeVoucherMeATL on my Arizona Boneyard tour return and he is a really nice guy btw but I also reached out to AMEX on twitter about this situation for confirmation and was told what you see above. I guess we just have to wait for our points to post. Sorry if this impacts you for some trip you were wanting to book. Maybe you can call AMEX if it is an emergency and they can make some kind of point adjustment manually (not confirmed by me fyi).
I would, due to this situation, monitor ALL your AMEX points very closely for the next month or so just to make sure you get what you are due. The conspiracy theorist in me worries they are doing some kind of “enhancement” to block some kinds of spend – gosh I hope that is NOT the case and I have no facts whatsoever to back up this wild guess. More than likely it is just some IT mess up between AMEX and Delta IT (now that I can believe)!
We should all know the dreaded 16MAY16 is rapidly approaching when Delta will no longer allow even top Platinum (PM) and Diamond (DM) Medallion elites to choose C+ or Comfort Plus seats free anytime for themselves or for those with them on the same reservation. Then, you MUST be a PM or DM to even have a shot at an “upgrade” to these seats that just happen to be the EXACT SAME SEATS at the rest of coach (you just get a little more leg room and maybe some perks).
To me these seats are at best a “Side-Grade” and I will be picking exit row for most of my flights and hope I can still get my upgrade to 1st class (you can still get that – for now). I can tell you there is no way I want to risk being “upgraded” to a center seat in coach no matter how pretty the leather on the seat is and those responding to my poll on twitter seem to agree with me.
There is a hot discussion right now on a private Delta focus group page if Delta should “auto select” for you the chance to receive this upgrade or if you would have to manually select it. Delta, at this point, auto selects you to get a 1st class upgrade. No matter what Delta does this is going to be a total train wreck. Just wait, you will see. Folks are going to go nuts over this!
Lastly a bit of housekeeping here on the blog. I have had a number of readers mention to me how painfully slow the ASK RENE tab on the blog is. I really appreciate the input and needed to find a fix. I also wanted a fix that would be fast and be super friendly to use on mobile since well over 50% of you now read and interact with the blog on phones and tablets exclusively. I think I have found a good fix with category choices that should cover most topics (have I missed any?)! I will also limit how long a question and answer will remain in each tab so speed is not affected when you browse each topic. Again, thanks for all the reader input on this feature of the blog. – René
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Hi Rene, I have a slightly different view when it comes to C+ “upgrades”. But I understand that this has to do with my personal situation. I always travel with my +1. And until now it was that when we were upgraded then both of us were upgraded and we were assigned seats next to each other.
So I keep the box checked for an upgrade to C+.
And yes, of course I know that it is the same seat. Has always been (no matter if called EC or C+) and I understood it from the beginning.
Still we always enjoyed it when sitting on an EC or C+ seat instead of regular economy or now main cabin.
Oh, and since we’re two, there is always a middle seat for one of us when sitting in coach on a narrowbody. No matter if at the front or the back of the main cabin 😉
Except for smaller birds with 2+x seating 😉
For some other personal reasons we don’t like exit rows, so C+ is indeed better than regular main cabin (for us).
Granted, if I were traveling alone and had selected some aisle seat I wouldn’t really enjoy being ‘upgraded’ to a middle seat. But that’s not the case 😉
But since we are only Silvers this whole thing doesn’t matter really much. Our chances to get upgraded (slightly to C+ or preferably to first class) are just slim.
Though, on our last trip I was able to snag C+ seats for free on our TATL flight back home (within the 24 hours before departure). Didn’t think that would be possible months ahead when I had booked the flights.
Oh, and I agree with you that those popups are not really wonderful.
So it is not enough that the result page already marked some flights with a text like ‘2 tickets available at this price” or something like that …
Mostly when I see ‘1 person is shopping this trip’ I know it is me that just searched it on my phone.
an amex rep told me it started in dec with problems as my last points summary said we wer minus 4million points
there are some terrific pop up blockers in cyber-space. I use one and get maybe one pop up and when i do it’s really rare. It also works as an ad blocker so no more “unsubscribe me” effort.
My question is: what happens if I “spend” the extra miles to select a C+ seat but there is an equipment change and I get down-graded to a regular seat because there are no C+ seats open on the new bird? Is delta going to refund the miles or just say sorry we had an equipment change? I’ve hesitated even making reservations because the “cost” of the C+ seat is 55000 and a “regular” seat is 45000. And, yes, delta, it really makes me angry that that seat used to be only 25000! But, as delta is hoping, I have miles to burn and might as well get rid of them.
@Chris – I would guess they will give you the Delta points back but maybe not. We will see. Keep in mind C+ is just an “experience” not a better seat so… 🙁
Comfort plus is not an upgrade in most cases…. Overhead at a premium and roll the dice on center seat. No thanks, I’ll take 36a on the md90 all day long!
Doesn’t matter. I spent an hour and a half trying to book a flight Atl-den for my son and his wife this July. I was willing to use 150000 miles to book them first class even though it should have been 90000 in the old days. But, if the site crashed once, it crashed every single time I put in a different parameter. In frustration, I gave up and booked them on southwest for $380 and they don’t have to pay for bags, which they would have done on delta because they don’t have American Express credit cards. (My son only has one credit card because he believes in cash only purchases and the card is for emergencies only; so, no, he doesn’t play the travel game because he doesn’t have to travel for business. Didn’t realize there even were such jobs anymore . . .)
With Amex being slow to give me my points, I’m finding hard to not reach for my Chase cards. I’ve always had great luck with points posting immediately when my statement hits. It’s very frustrating to have to wait for those hard earned points.
I was under the impression that Comfort+ are still free for DM and PM, as the “upgrade” clears upon ticketing:
AS A DIAMOND OR PLATINUM MEDALLION MEMBER, HOW CAN I TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MY COMPLIMENTARY ACCESS TO DELTA COMFORT+ FOR FLIGHTS WITHIN THE U.S. 50 AND CANADA DEPARTING ON OR AFTER MAY 16, 2016?
In order to take advantage of complimentary access to Delta Comfort+ for flights within the U.S. 50 and Canada, select a Main Cabin ticket and make sure to check the Delta Comfort+ box in the Request Upgrade section of the Passenger Information page. Your upgrade will be based on availability at time of ticketing or anytime thereafter. For your convenience, you can update your Complimentary Upgrade request at any time prior to departure in My Trips on delta.com, by contacting Delta Reservations or by requesting at check-in.
@Marc – Thanks for both YELLING and posting PR crud from Delta. If you read linked posts, you will see real risk for middle seats as an upgrade. You enjoy that all you want – not me. 😉
“We should all know the dreaded 16MAY16 is rapidly approaching when Delta will no longer allow even top Platinum (PM) and Diamond (DM) Medallion elites to choose C+ or Comfort Plus seats free anytime for themselves”
This is not correct Rene – “Diamond and Platinum Medallion members are eligible for Delta Comfort+ upgrades shortly after ticketing.”
from here: https://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/skymiles/news-and-updates.html
They way it’s been working for me, as a PM is right after I book I can go in and change to the C+ seat of my choice.
@JSW – Thanks for your comment and I love how wrong you are and how Delta has “snowed” you. Notice the BOLDED words in your linked comment. You are not allowed, pre booking, to select C+ seats for yourself as I STATED clearly. You are ELIGIBLE for and “UPGRADE” if it is open and not just an open seat as it could be capitally and REV MGT sales controlled. In other words, I am 100% correct and I expect you will soon see LOTS of open C+ seats and your “upgrade” will not clear. See? 🙁
So, I have just got to tell you the story of my plight trying to book 4 people to go to Denver last night. I try to do what I can on-line, so I attempted the following: the first person I used miles on, separate reservation – not sure if I might need to change or not. Picked a random seat for this one. Then, I booked the three of us under my account, Platinum status. I had some certificates to apply and that worked fine. I decided to pay totally for one of the tickets. I could not get the Economy Plus, but figured I would call in later to straighten that out. All done – until I call in and find out that the magical date for my travel is now into the “new era” of where only I can get the C+ seat, and if I want, I can wait list one of the remaining two for it, but only 24 hours in advance, and then the seat might not be next to mine.
So – I could end up with me in C+, my wife maybe in C+ somewhere else on the plane, my daughter in a premium seat, and her fiancé in the back of the plane. Really? Terrible for a Platinum flyer. Plus the premium I am paying to fly Delta.
What did I do when I figured all this out? I opened up a Sun Country Credit card, booked all four of us to Denver at less money as well as sitting together. A better way to start and finish a vacation I would say.
Your new rules are fine for one business traveler, but really alienates the family business traveler. I will never sit apart from anyone I travel with. I would always take a premium seat over a C+ alone. This is going to be very interesting going forward. I really did not realize how big of a deal it would be, but I just found out!