How to Upgrade Your Delta Airlines Flight

Delta Air Lines is known to provide a comfortable experience in every cabin. However, there’s no question that flying in a premium cabin is preferable to sitting in economy, especially when you can get upgraded for free.

In this article, we’re going to explain how to upgrade Delta Air Lines flights, including how certain SkyMiles members can upgrade for free and how to purchase upgrades with cash and miles.

How Does Delta’s Upgrade System Work?

If you’re looking to get a complimentary upgrade on a Delta Air Lines flight, there are only two ways to do so: by having Medallion elite status with the Delta SkyMiles program or by having a top-tier Delta SkyMiles credit card.

If you aren’t part of either of those groups, then the only ways you’ll be able to upgrade your Delta flight are by paying for an upgrade with cash, paying with SkyMiles or traveling as a companion with someone else who’s upgrading their flight.

What Are the Types of Delta Upgrades?

As mentioned above, there are several ways to get upgraded on a Delta Air Lines flight, both free and paid. Here are the different types of Delta upgrades:

• Complimentary Medallion Upgrades: All Delta SkyMiles members with Medallion elite status are eligible for complimentary upgrades to a higher seat class on flights within the U.S. (including flights to and from Hawaii).
• Complimentary Upgrades with Delta Reserve Credit Cards: Anyone with either the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card or Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card is also eligible for complimentary upgrades on flights within the U.S. (including flights to and from Hawaii). However, only after every Medallion member has been upgraded.
• Complimentary Upgrades with Delta Platinum Credit Cards: Anyone with either the Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card or Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card is eligible for complimentary upgrades on flights within the U.S. (including flights to and from Hawaii), only after Medallion members and Delta Reserve card members have been upgraded.
• Global and Regional Upgrade Certificates (Choice Benefits): Every year, Diamond Medallion members can choose 3 Choice Benefits and Platinum Medallion members can choose 1 Choice Benefit. One option for these Choice Benefits is to get Global and/or Regional Upgrade Certificates, which take priority over Complimentary Medallion Upgrades. Global Upgrade Certificates are exclusively available to Diamond Medallion members.
• Companion Upgrades: If you’re using a Complimentary Medallion Upgrade (or getting upgraded using your eligible SkyMiles Amex card) and you have a companion on your reservation, you can submit a request for a complimentary Companion Upgrade.
• Upgrade with Miles: You can choose to upgrade to a higher cabin class using your SkyMiles while making your booking or after you’ve made your booking.
• Paid Upgrades: After you’ve made your Delta flight booking, you typically have the option to upgrade your seat with cash.

To summarize, all SkyMiles members can purchase upgrades with miles, while only Medallion members are eligible for Complimentary Medallion Upgrades. Platinum Medallion members can choose to get four Regional Upgrade Certificates as their annual Choice Benefit and Diamond Medallion members may choose any of the following options as one of their three annual Choice Benefits:

• Four Global Upgrade Certificates
• Eight Regional Upgrade Certificates
• Two Global and four Regional Upgrade Certificates

The following table displays which SkyMiles members have access to each type of upgrade:

Of course, Paid Upgrades and Upgrades with Miles take priority over all other types of upgrades. If you pay for an upgrade (either with miles or cash), you’re guaranteed to receive that upgrade.

Delta has also implemented a revenue-maximizing model to maximize the number of first-class seats that are sold outright, often discounting these first-class spaces closer to the departure date. This means that there are fewer first-class seats available for complimentary upgrades through Medallion status or an eligible SkyMiles Amex credit card.

Unfortunately, joining the Delta standby list won’t ever result in a complimentary upgrade. When changing seats with this standby list, you can only change to the same fare class or lower.

How Does Medallion Status Affect Upgrade Priority?

Most Delta Air Lines flights will offer up a few first-class seats for Medallion Upgrades. Who is entitled to these Medallion Upgrades is determined by who has the highest Medallion status, as well as several other factors.

Priority Factors

Your likelihood of getting a complimentary upgrade on a Delta flight depends on where you fall in Delta’s upgrade priority order. Delta’s upgrade priority order is as follows:

1. Medallion status: The higher your Medallion status, the higher priority you are. So, Diamond Medallion status members would be the highest priority, Platinum Medallion members would be second-highest, etc.
2. Cabin fare purchased: If you’re currently ticketed in a higher fare class (whether that’s your original fare class or you already paid for an upgrade), you have priority over another member ticketed in a lower fare class. So, a Diamond Medallion member ticketed in Delta Premium Select Classic takes priority over a Diamond Medallion member ticketed in Delta Main Classic.
3. Million Miler status: Members with Million Miler status (which is earned by flying at least 1 million miles in select Delta fares over the course of a lifetime) have priority over those who don’t.
4. Travel Experience tier: Extra fares have increased tie-break upgrade priority over Classic and Refundable fares. (Basic is ineligible for complimentary upgrades.)
5. Premium Delta credit cardholders: Members who have either the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card or the Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card have priority over members who don’t.
6. Corporate tickets: If your ticket includes your employer’s corporate ticket designator, you’ll be prioritized over non-corporate travelers.
7. Medallion Qualifying Dollars (MQDs) balance in the current year: If all other factors are equal, the member who has earned more MQDs in the current year will be given priority.
8. Date and time of upgrade requests: Earlier requests take precedence over later requests.

If you don’t have Medallion status with the Delta SkyMiles program, having the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Amex card or Reserve Business Amex card will automatically add you to the upgrade list. However, any Medallion status members on your flight will have priority over you, and you’ll only get upgraded if all of these Medallion members have been upgraded and there are still first-class seats left over.

The upgrade priority order listed above also applies if there are several people with SkyMiles Reserve Amex cards who don’t have Medallion status who are competing for upgrades.

And following Medallion members and Delta Reserve cardholders, Delta Platinum Amex Card or Delta Platinum Business Amex Card members will be prioritized.

It’s also worth noting that Medallion members are eligible for Complimentary Medallion Upgrades on all Aeromexico flights within Mexico as well as Aeromexico flights between Mexico and the U.S., Central America, Caribbean, Colombia and Ecuador. You may need to contact Aeromexico to add your SkyMiles number after booking to be eligible for one of these upgrades.

Upgrade Clearance Windows

Your upgrade clearance window will depend on your Medallion status. Here are the upgrade clearance windows for each type of upgrade for each status tier:

These are simply the earliest times at which your upgrade may clear, depending on your elite status. In most cases, your upgrade will clear later than the stated times above. All upgrades are subject to availability.

Companion Policy

Delta Air Lines has a fairly generous policy when it comes to Companion Upgrades. A Medallion member and one travel companion may both receive a Complimentary Medallion Upgrade as long as they’re on the same reservation and the companion is either a SkyMiles member or a partner airline elite status member.

If you and your companion are both Medallion members, your upgrades will be cleared based on the status of the higher-tiered member.

If you’re traveling with two or more companions in the same reservation, everyone on the reservation must be a Medallion member or a partner airline elite status member for anyone on the reservation to be eligible for upgrades. If all passengers on the reservation do meet these requirements, they should all check in separately, and they’ll clear for upgrades at each’s respective clearance priorities.

Ineligible Tickets

Tickets booked in Delta Main Basic are ineligible for upgrades, regardless of which type of upgrade you want to use. So, if you plan on upgrading your booking, whether by using a complimentary upgrade or by paying with cash or miles, make sure not to make your original booking in Delta Main Basic.

How Do You Get on Delta’s Upgrade List?

Now that we’ve discussed the priority order of the Delta upgrade list, let’s look at how you can actually get on that list and potentially get upgraded.

Using the Delta App for Upgrades

The easiest way to get Complimentary Medallion Upgrades is to opt in for automatic upgrades in the “Preferences” section of your Delta SkyMiles account profile.

Once you opt in, you’ll automatically be added to the upgrade priority list anytime you book a Delta flight with your SkyMiles number attached. You’ll then be notified anytime that you receive a Complimentary Medallion Upgrade, at which point you’ll be automatically assigned a seat in the upgraded cabin. If you’re unsatisfied with the automatically assigned seat, you can go to the Delta app or the Delta website and select any available seat across the entire seat map within your upgrade cabin.

You can also opt out of automatic upgrades, in which case you’ll be notified whenever you receive clearance for a Complimentary Medallion Upgrade. However, you won’t actually be upgraded until you manually select a seat in the upgraded cabin through the Delta app or website.

If you choose to opt out of automatic upgrades, you’ll also essentially receive lower upgrade priority than those who opt in for automatic upgrades (since your seat will be automatically assigned as soon as your eligibility window opens if you opt in for automatic upgrades). For this reason, we recommend opting in for automatic upgrades if you have Medallion status.

Requesting an Upgrade at Check-In or the Airport

If you haven’t received an upgrade by the time you arrive at the airport, you may still be able to get upgraded either at the self-service kiosk or at Delta’s check-in counter. If you’re using the self-service kiosk, you should look for a prompt to upgrade your flight after entering your flight details. If there are available upgrades, you should be able to purchase them with cash or miles.

The process is essentially the same at the check-in counter. In this case, you can simply ask the concierge if there are any available upgrades and then purchase them on the spot with cash or miles.

It’s worth noting, though, that there’s still a chance that you can receive a Complimentary Medallion Upgrade up until your flight takes off. So, if you’re eligible for a Complimentary Medallion Upgrade, you can either take the chance that you’ll get a complimentary upgrade or ensure that you’ll get upgraded by paying for it. Watching the upgrade list in the Delta app can help you make this decision.

Maximizing Your Upgrade Chances

Of course, if you want to maximize your chances of being upgraded on a Delta-operated flight, the best option is to pay for your upgrade with either cash or miles. You can also transfer American Express Membership Rewards points to the Delta SkyMiles and use them for upgrades. If you don’t know how to use points to upgrade flights, other resources on 10xTravel can help.

However, if you want to try to get a complimentary upgrade either with Medallion status or an Amex Delta Reserve credit card, you can increase your chances by taking off-the-beaten-path flights, flying on off-peak dates and flying on certain aircraft types.

When and Where Are Upgrades Most Likely?

You’re more likely to get a Complimentary Medallion Upgrade on certain route types and during certain times of the year. Logically, getting a Complimentary Medallion Upgrade tends to be more likely on flights that don’t tend to fill up. So, for instance, you’re more likely to get a Complimentary Medallion Upgrade on a flight to Dayton, Ohio (DAY), which is one of Delta’s destinations, than you are on a flight to Los Angeles (LAX).

You’re also more likely to get upgraded when traveling on off-peak dates. For example, you’re more likely to get upgraded on a flight to Hawaii in January, which is one of Hawaii’s least touristic months.

Flying around midday can also boost your chances of getting a Complimentary Medallion Upgrade because most professionals prefer to fly in the morning or the evening so that their flight doesn’t cut into their workday. Since business professionals tend to be a large portion of passengers in premium cabins, flying at midday means more of these seats will be free.

Being on a larger aircraft may increase your chances of getting a Complimentary Medallion Upgrade because these larger aircraft have more seats in their premium cabins. For example, Delta’s Boeing 767-400ER aircraft, which are used for transoceanic flights, have 34 seats in the Delta One cabin, compared to some short-haul domestic aircrafts that would have less than half that. Having more seats in a premium cabin sometimes means you’re more likely to get upgraded.

Finally, you’re more likely to clear an upgrade closer to the departure date. Delta will try to fill premium-cabin seats with paying customers up until the final days before departure and will then offer these seats up for Complimentary Medallion Upgrades just before the flight’s departure. So, if you don’t get an upgrade right away, you may still get one closer to the departure date.

Using SkyMiles or Cash to Secure Upgrades

If you want to maximize your chances of getting upgraded on a Delta flight, your best bet is to purchase an upgrade with cash or SkyMiles. These paid upgrades take priority over Complimentary Medallion Upgrades. So, if you want to ensure that you get an upgrade on a Delta flight, the best way to do so is to pay for it.

Upgrading with SkyMiles

If you want to upgrade a flight with SkyMiles, you can do so either when booking your flight or after you’ve already completed your booking.

While booking your flight, you’ll be given the option to Upgrade with Miles on the “Trip Summary” page before completing your purchase. Here you’ll be able to see the required miles to upgrade to each available cabin class, and you can also upgrade several people on the same itinerary.

If you’ve already purchased your flight, you can still upgrade that flight with miles by finding your reservation in the “My Trips” section of Delta’s website or the Delta app. If an upgrade is available, you’ll see an option to “Select Seats” and the price in money as well as miles. Then, you can simply select the seat you want and complete your purchase.

If you aren’t able to upgrade your flight using miles online or through the Delta app, it may be worth contacting SkyMiles customer service. Sometimes, there are available mileage upgrades that don’t appear online.

Upgrading with Cash

If you want to upgrade with cash, you’ll need to have an existing Delta flight reservation. Then, as described above, you’ll need to visit the “My Trips” section of the Delta website or app and select the flight you want to upgrade. Then, if there are any available seats in upgraded cabins, you’ll be able to see the price of each upgrade in cash and miles.

Finally, you can select the seat you want to upgrade to and then complete the payment.

Expert Strategies for Delta Upgrade Success

To really give yourself the best chance of getting upgraded on a Delta flight, we recommend doing everything you can to move yourself up the upgrade priority list, including leveling up your Medallion status, signing up for an Amex Delta Reserve credit card, using a corporate ticket designator if you have one and opting in for automatic upgrade requests.

Aside from that, you can use third-party tools like ExpertFlyer to track upgrade inventory on Delta flights, which could help you increase your chances of getting a complimentary upgrade. For instance, if you were deciding between two separate flights between your origin and destination, you could check ExpertFlyer to see if one has upgrade inventory. This could help you choose the flight on which you’re more likely to get an upgrade.

Navigating Corporate Travel Policies for Upgrades

As previously mentioned, passengers who have a “corporate ticket designator” attached to their booking will be given upgrade priority over passengers who do not. For this reason, we recommend always utilizing your corporate ticket designator if you have one.

This designator is a unique code that will appear on your ticket as long as your company has a travel arrangement with Delta and you booked your flight through authorized company channels.

Making the Most of Your Delta Medallion Status

Aside from potential Complimentary Medallion Upgrades, having Medallion status with the Delta SkyMiles program comes with a lot of other perks. If you’re already a Medallion member or thinking of becoming one, it’s important to familiarize yourself with these benefits so that you can maximize the value you can extract from your status.

The following table summarizes the benefits that you’ll receive at each Medallion status tier (except for upgrade benefits, which have already been described in this article):

The following table includes the options for Choice Benefits for both Platinum Medallion and Diamond Medallion members:

*Delta SkyMiles® Platinum American Express Card, Delta SkyMiles® Platinum Business American Express Card, Delta SkyMiles® Reserve American Express Card and Delta SkyMiles® Reserve Business American Express Card are eligible for these statement credits.

By paying attention to all of the benefits listed above, you can extract a ton of value out of your Medallion status perks annually.

Smart Traveler’s Guide: Key Takeaways for Delta Upgrades

Getting upgraded on a Delta flight can significantly improve your travel experience, giving you access to a better seat and other perks like complimentary beverages.

Medallion status members are eligible to receive complimentary upgrades on all Delta-operated flights, subject to route and availability. And, as mentioned above, there is an upgrade priority list that determines which Medallion members get upgraded first. Non-Medallion members who have an Amex Delta Reserve or Reserve Business card can also receive complimentary upgrades, but only once all Medallion members on the flight have been upgraded. And following the priority of Medallion members and Delta Reserve cardholders, those with an Amex Delta Platinum or Platinum Business card can receive complimentary upgrades.

Of course, if you want to ensure that you get upgraded on your next Delta flight, the best way to do so is to simply purchase and upgrade with either cash or miles. Using a Global or Regional Upgrade Certificate (a Choice Benefit available with either Platinum or Diamond Medallion status) can also help you jump the line and ensure you get the best chance of getting an upgrade (so long as there is availability on your flight).