Would an upgrade to first class make an extended delay a little more bearable?
Rene’s Points shares of a story that will make you smile that took place on Delta flight 1013 from Atlanta to Orlando on Wednesday. Due to bad weather, the flight was delayed…by nearly eight hours. Originally set to depart at 7:50AM, the Boeing 757-200 did not end up departing until 3:11PM.
By that point, most passenger had bailed. Atlanta to Orlando is a common Delta frequency and nearly all passengers were re-accommodated on other flights instead of being forced to wait.
One passenger had missed his own 1:00PM flight and noticed the delayed flight. He asked to get on it and was not only obliged, but immediately upgraded. For a time, he was the only passenger onboard.
@Delta @thepointsguy @RenesPoints I’m on this flight economy and delta comfort are completely empty. pic.twitter.com/NdH3ll7ha4
— 🇩🇴 (@Coining203) October 16, 2019
Eventually, a trickle of other passengers boarded. When boarding was complete, nine passengers were onboard. All were upgraded to first class; Economy Comfort and economy class remained empty.
And what did the passenger do when upgraded to first class? Downgrade himself.
At one point, I grabbed an entire economy row and took a 15-minute power nap.
I love the irony.
CONCLUSION
The passenger above or any non-rev standby who scored a first class seat at the last-minute were the true beneficiaries, but it was a nice touch to upgrade every passenger. Delta does not cancel flights unless absolutely unavoidable, so keep an eye out for greatly-delayed Delta flights.
I once flew an early morning flight from Burbank to San Francsico on United. It was operated by an Airbus A320 and for whatever reason, there was only 10 passengers onboard (it was not delayed). Everyone could have been upgraded to first class, but instead I sat there…alone. Oh well, maybe that was better. 😉
Have you ever been upgraded due to low loads on your flight?
I love how frequent these Delta “giving back generously” stories are becoming. Must be to make other elites defect, and “once a year” travelers think of delta before any other airline!
I have to say, given the choice, I think I’d rather have poor man’s First Class over a domestic recliner…
Yes, I was one of two passengers on a US Airways 757 flight CLT-MCO around late 2001. The flight was not delayed, just poor load factor. Both passengers were upgraded and boarded by name.
“By that point, most passenger had bailed. Atlanta to Orlando is a common Delta frequency and nearly all passengers were re-accommodated on other flights instead of being forced to wait.”
So if passengers could be re-accommodated on other flights before this one, why did this flight need to be delayed eight hours due to “bad weather”?
It’s nice some airlines do cute stuff like this, but really, I’d rather have an EU261 check for €600 and/or a mandatory hotel room during an overnight weather delay/cancellation.
Mechanical delay.