Unicorn or Real Enhancement: Self Downgrade Option From Delta Comfort Plus to Coach in Fly Delta App 5.1? Need Reader Input Please!

I love so many things Delta does because they simply do so much right when it comes to a consistent product across all aircraft, on-time flights (they do pad schedules and I am fine with that), Gogo Wifi (not a mix of wifi providers) on almost all jets including regional partners, amazing Delta people who like working for Delta and on and on.

…but there are a few things I do not like.

One of the things I have griped about for YEARS are the simply horrid CRJ200s. If you love a good rant you should review my post on what it is like to fly these jets. Not only the entire experience, but there is no Gogo wifi on them and Delta has no plans to ever install it on these aging aircraft. But the single worst part of the CRJ200 is this:

Delta’s flabbergasting idea to make the bulkhead row 1 “Comfort Plus” or C+ seats. Why?

Again, look at my rant post to see for yourself, it is the worst row of seats on the jet. Not just that but the overhead (that is mega tiny), is filled with an Oxygen bottle so you do not even get storage. And that ties in to another thing that pains me:

You can not self downgrade away from C+ without help from Delta reps like live chat or calling or Tweeting to @Delta.

But now “maybe” we can self downgrade with the latest enhancement to the Fly Delta App 5.1. The move from 5 to 5.1, as Chris covered here, added the ability to pre-select meals. I have done this now on a number of flights with mixed results and will cover that in a later post. I was strongly resisting moving from Android version 4.2 (you can still use that and older versions fyi) because there seemed to be so many bugs in the version 5. But ability to pre-order meals pushed me to try 5.1 and it came with an added bit of joy. Look at the screen shot at the top of this post.

I was able to “self downgrade” from C+ on my CRJ200 to main cabin!

Waaahooo 100x! Well, maybe wahooo I should add. While I was able to do this for this one flight I have not been able to recreate my success on other flights I currently have booked. On those, as it has been for years now, Delta “grays out” the rest of the seat map so we can not even see what seats are left open let alone manually change our seat choice (other than the ones open in row 1 C+ on the CRJ200).

Thus with today’s post I am reaching out for help my dear readers. Can you share any data points with me with your experiences? Have you been able to manually downgrade from C+ to say an exit row or main cabin in the Fly Delta App 5.1 or even with another version?

My one time ability to change may have been a unicorn, but personally I am excited to have even done this once and hope Delta is finally going to fix one of my biggest gripes as a Delta frequent flyer! – René