W hile in the process of booking a trip from Atlanta to Phoenix on Delta Air Lines for November 26, 2014, the additional option to upgrade using SkyMiles was noticed for the first time by FlyerTalk member ajwright.
In this case, there was a choice of upgrading to a seat in the first class cabin for either $268.95 or 26,895 SkyMiles per person.
“It’s an interesting option”, posted ajwright, “but in this case I think I’ll take my chances at a normal upgrade. But I am curious if you’d get the 150% MQM if you went with the option.”
I doubt it.
Considering that a “saver” award within the domestic United States is only supposed to cost 25,000 SkyMiles for a round-trip flight, the 26,895 SkyMiles needed for the “upgrade” is not worth it to me — especially on those domestic flights in the United States where being a passenger seated in the first class cabin is not substantially better than being a passenger seated in the economy class cabin.
The terms and conditions of upgrading with Delta Air Lines SkyMiles — as opposed to using mileage upgrade awards, where you may use as many as 12,500 SkyMiles to upgrade from select fares on one-way domestic flights within the United States — are found here.
Would you use the option of upgrading with SkyMiles? If so, under what circumstances?
