Delta Slashes Prices: Long Haul Business Class Upgrades Now As Low As $299 – View from the Wing

Delta Slashes Prices: Long Haul Business Class Upgrades Now As Low As $299

by Gary Leff on July 1, 2024

Back in February I wrote about American Airlines offering the cheapest paid upgrades. They were regularly offering prices of $350 to move from coach to business class flying from Los Angeles to Sydney, and for places like Dallas to Seoul.

United’s upgrades were much more expensive for comparable routes. So were Delta’s – you really didn’t see Delta going lower than $599. At Delta $300 is about the lowest you’d expect for an upgrade to premium economy.

Things have changed. Perhaps the market for premium cabin transatlantic flights has softened a bit. I’ve certainly been hearing this. And Delta is now willing to sell upgrades for even less money than American. Not always, of course. But their floor is now lower it seems.

Here’s an upgrade offer from Paris to Seattle for $299.

Do i win?
byu/christianjackson indelta

Delta makes upgrade offers, and if you don’t take the offer there’s a good chance that the price you’re offered will change. There may be offers right after you book your ticket. The price might drop 30 days prior to departure. It might drop in an offer presented to you during online check-in. Some Delta customers have become used to checking for their upgrade offer once per day, even.

There are two ways to see what Delta is offering you:

• Website: Under my trips, click your itinerary ‘details’ and then go to “View/Upgrade Seats.” That pulls up a seat map with upgrade prices.
• Mobile app: Find your itinerary under my trips, pull up the flight details, and then go to “Seat selection” where the seat map has upgrade prices.

For years United Airlines has been known for selling cheap domestic upgrades. They were ahead of the curve in being willing to take almost any amount for a first class seat before awarding it as a complimentary upgrade on domestic flights. Their $59 upgrades are known as TODs or ‘Tens of Dollars’. The upgrades have even been marketed highlighting the number of people waiting for free upgrades you’d be jumping over.

But nobody has monetized their premium cabins the way Delta has. Twenty years ago front cabins domestically were about full with about 10% paid fares. Delta was first to drive sales of domestic first class up over 70% using a variety of pricing tactics including small dollar upgrades (squeezing out complimentary elite upgrades).

Now they have gotten very, very aggressive with pricing on certain flights – selling long haul business class for as little as $299 to customers buying cheap coach tickets. You won’t always get these offers. And if you don’t take more expensive buy up offers, other people might! Holding out for lower prices might mean losing out on the opportunity entirely. But if there are seats left, Delta wants something for them. And their price floor now appears to be even lower than American’s.

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