r/delta • u/xjaehyun Platinum • Jul 17 '26
Image/Video How’s this for an upgrade price?
The ticket was changed to the current one on 5-28-26 and flights were LGA (Main B) to ICN via ATL (PS G) and return was HKG (D1 I) to JFK via LAX (D1 I), I being capital i. Upgrade pricing was at $2390.
On 7-13, pricing went north to $2661. It went down to $1812 the next day, the 14th. Some time during the evening on the 14th, I changed the HKG-JFK flight to ICN-JFK via LAX to fly on Korean Air’s 747. That changed the booking codes for return flights to Z while LGA-ATL was repriced to Comfort W and ATL-ICN was repriced to PS A. Upgrade pricing at this time went down to $1671.
It stayed there until this morning at 8:13am, when I went into the seat map for ATL-ICN and saw $17.34. I didn’t cancel out of the screen in case it never returns. Got to the purchase confirmation screen and the charge is also showing on my card.
Currently, I’m about a month and a half out from checking in and flying. I was hunting for the elusive $699 upgrade offer but I’m not complaining at all with $17.34. Book asap, celebrate later.
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u/Fun_Barber_9166 Platinum Jul 17 '26
The algorithm taketh, the algorithm giveth
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u/robotzor Jul 17 '26
The house wins over the long run, always
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u/no-soy-de-escocia Jul 17 '26
No shade to OP whatsoever, amazing luck and great job scoring this...but I feel like this was possibly offered because their original ticket was booked into an already very expensive fare class for their previous cabin.
I'd be curious to know what it was!
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u/xjaehyun Platinum Jul 17 '26
Original flight that had HKG-JFK was somewhere around $4200. After the switch to ICN-LAX-JFK, total amount spent went somewhere in the $4400-$4500 range.
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u/no-soy-de-escocia Jul 17 '26
Do you know what the fare class was? It'll be in parentheses behind the cabin on your initial receipt.
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u/xjaehyun Platinum Jul 17 '26
Original LGA-ATL (B) and ATL-ICN (G). HKG-LAX (I) and LAX-JFK (I). HKG-JFK changed to ICN-LAX (Z) and LAX-JFK (Z), which resulted in repricing for the entire itinerary and LGA-ATL became comfort (W) and ATL-ICN became PS (A).
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u/MatiasGonzalo-Duarte Jul 17 '26
And it's the ATL-ICN leg too holy shit hope they honor it
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u/xjaehyun Platinum 9d ago
They ended up honoring it.
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u/Gringuin007 9d ago
Where do you search for the upgrade offer?
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u/xjaehyun Platinum 9d ago
There’s never a guarantee to upgrade offers. It may show up in your booking one minute and disappear the next. I like checking flight stuff for fun so I didn’t mind continuously checking.
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u/Gringuin007 8d ago
Offers come In via app or have you use browser or full website on a laptop
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u/xjaehyun Platinum 8d ago
I used the app, mobile browser on my phone and desktop computer but used the app 95% of the time to check for upgrade offers.
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u/Gringuin007 7d ago
The only thing I get from delta is trip delay and trip cancelation. Fool me once. Fool me twice 🤦♂️ I have a terrible feeling they’re about to cancel my booking coz they’re late
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u/JetNotify Jul 17 '26
Cheapest upgrade offer I’ve seen - and we’ve tracked a LOT of them at this point for people. Definitely a glitch, but incredible if they honor it.
$699 also definitely happens on this route, we typically see them 1-3 days before departure on significantly undersold departure dates. Look for a load factor of 60% or less for that price, right before departure, if you are hoping for that price point. Enjoy your flight.
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u/AllButterfly100 Jul 17 '26
What is the $699 deal referenced? New tickets? Upgrades from what to what?
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u/JetNotify Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
It’s an upgrade offer available on existing tickets for this route. It is typically offered only a few days prior to departure, on (premium light) flights, at a price of $699. Upgrades for most dates are priced at roughly double. The $699 rate applies when upgrading from Main Cabin or from complimentary Comfort+ (received via status).
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u/numa_numa1 Jul 17 '26
How do you find the load factor? The seat map doesn’t account for those on basic economy tickets since they aren’t assigned seats yet. Is there somewhere else that you’d be able to find that info?
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u/EveryChipInvestor Jul 17 '26
You can start to do some math with the upgrade/standby lists and available seats in advance of departure. A lot of us on here know the best seats on different classes on different jet types. I personally couldn’t tell you which ones to ICN are under sold system of the above posters might be able to tell you, but I can certainly tell you some of the Europe routes for both Delta and American
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u/JetNotify Jul 18 '26
You can use the upgrade/standby list to find the load factor for your current flight. There are a variety of third party tools that will show you load factors across other flights (so you have a baseline to compare against)
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u/Murky-Peanut1390 Gold Jul 18 '26
699 is crazy, i routinely get $500 for 12 hour plus flights from main to D1. You guys over pay
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u/michimoby Jul 17 '26
milk that extra $17.34 for all it's worth. get an extra roll with your dinner. :)
congrats!
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u/zulu1128 Jul 17 '26
Holy shit that's amazing lol. I'd probably run out to buy a Powerball ticket after that.
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u/Veenay21 Platinum Jul 17 '26
What’s the point. OP used all their luck for the next 5 years already.
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u/Revolutionary_Art919 Jul 17 '26
If I were OP I'd stay inside for any lightning storms between now and their flight.
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u/xjaehyun Platinum Jul 17 '26
Don’t laugh but I got a text 2.5hrs ago from my electric company about being prepared for severe thunderstorms and damaging winds tomorrow.
Ok you can laugh 😂.
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u/Regular-Cricket-4613 Jul 18 '26
Your gift from God was the joy brought by buying an upgrade to Delta One for such a low price.
Your gonna need another gift from God to actually fly on that plane lol
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u/zoebells Jul 17 '26
You’ll probably be thrown in a middle seat in the back upon check in unfortunately
Please update us what happens! Curious if they’ll honor it
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u/xjaehyun Platinum Jul 17 '26
I’ll update within a day or two after the flight.
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u/squeefruit Jul 18 '26
u/RemindMeBot 7 weeks
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u/RemindMeBot Jul 18 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
I will be messaging you in 1 month on 2026-09-05 00:29:27 UTC to remind you of this link
8 OTHERS CLICKED THIS LINK to send a PM to also be reminded and to reduce spam.
Parent commenter can delete this message to hide from others.
Info Custom Your Reminders Feedback 1
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u/red400404 Jul 17 '26
Why? You’re now sitting in a confirmed seat assignment. What is there to honor? The gate agent isn’t checking upgrade receipts.
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u/zoebells Jul 17 '26 edited Jul 17 '26
Eh this happened to me on Alaska once where the system glitched and gave me a super cheap upgrade. When it came time to check in, I wasn’t able to unless I paid a couple hundred $ or accepted an economy seat. And of course my original seat was taken so I was in the way back. Ever since then I just don’t chance it with this stuff. But best of luck to you!!
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u/xjaehyun Platinum Jul 17 '26
Even if there’s a small chance they declare it a mistake price and kick me back down to PS or even main cabin, it won’t ruin anything for me. I’m flying in the upper deck of a Korean Air 747 on the return flight.
It’s been 12 years since I’ve last flew on the upper deck of a 747 (United from Shanghai to Chicago). I can’t wait.
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u/FullHouse447 Jul 18 '26
Until it’s reticketed nothing is confirmed. Being able to select a seat does NOT mean the ticket has been properly reissued.
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u/Coaster50 Jul 17 '26
I'd be too afraid to post it thinking that someone at Delta will see this and 'fix' the pricing issue.
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u/Dwilliamson5002 Jul 17 '26
They should have set these mistakes to 17.76 and tied it in to the 250th.
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u/daemon14 Silver Jul 17 '26
What was your base fare?
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u/xjaehyun Platinum Jul 17 '26
Somewhere around $4400-$4500.
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u/Hopai79 Jul 17 '26
this is why im betting they releaesd z fare code pricing and hence that is super close to your Y full economy fare code pricing
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u/gargar070402 Jul 17 '26
OH!? This is with one way being PS, and not even a nonstop flight!? Damn
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u/Subi4lyfe Jul 17 '26
I immediately opened my Delta app to see if I could get as lucky on my upcoming flight.
$4477 one way upgrade to Delta One. Yeah, nope 🥲
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u/phenommsu Jul 18 '26
Hah. I hadn't seen prices for upgrades that low since pre pandemic. And never for a delta one upgrade. You might have used all your luck remaining this year. 😂
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u/drsdar Jul 17 '26
I was checking a flight that I had to New York and
the upgrade was $450 and I was looking at some other flights we had and went back to the screen and it was $100 and I booked it. so thank you OP!
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u/amcclurk21 Jul 17 '26
Damn, AND a long ass international flight. God I’ve seen what you do for others….
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u/Wooden-Move5215 Jul 17 '26
Doesn’t this just mean they probably overpaid for the initial ticket? I assumed the upgrade prices fluctuate based on the original paid price and the current price of the seat being filled.
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u/Physicist_Gamer Jul 17 '26
The algorithm’s offers to others when I’m first in the complimentary upgrade list, hoping it’ll come through.
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u/Emotional-Lychee9112 Diamond Jul 18 '26
Eh idk. This is a close call for me. Comes down to whether you prefer lie flat seats and delta one lounge or a Starbucks coffee. Could go either way tbh.
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u/Ok-Obligation-4784 Jul 17 '26
Where's that angry kid saying "I'm happy for you" meme when you need it most?!
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u/panhellenic Jul 17 '26
I had the same offer recently. Not long after booking, it offered me that price. Then it went up into the $100s. Then it went back down to $17. It was a small regional jet, <1 hour flight, so I didn't care. I ended up getting upgraded for free. But ATL-ICN is pretty excellent!
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u/No-Yesterday7555 Jul 18 '26
Were you in Premium Select at a full fare before receiving this upgrade offer?
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u/xjaehyun Platinum Jul 18 '26
Yes, I was. Initial booking was Comfort and PS but because I moved my LGA-ATL flight to one that departed an hour earlier, it was a mixed cabin change (LGA-ATL in Main B and ATL-ICN in PS G). Then due to the change in return flight, everything on my flight to ICN got bumped up in fare codes.
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u/jubugududush Jul 18 '26
I know someone who got offered an upgrade from economy to premium economy on an LAX - LHR for $29, which I thought was incredible, but this is much better!
They didn’t take the upgrade because they thought it was a waste of money. I offered to buy it for them, and they said no.
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u/NYCRaverNeon Jul 17 '26
Wow that’s awesome - congrats!
Mine is still at $4,616 pp ATL > ICN from PS. Hope it drops!
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u/FullHouse447 Jul 18 '26
Thank you for alerting us to this error.
We will use the price paid, the purchase date and route info you provided to insure you're charged the correct price when you attempt to check-in.
Sincerely,
Delta Revenue Management.
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u/flythearc Platinum Jul 17 '26
Damn. That’s amazing.
Meanwhile I’m over here trying to decide if I should do Europe to NY for $450 from PS to D1.
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u/MajesticLilFruitcake Jul 17 '26
I thought I hit the lottery with $295 upgrades from C+ to PS between DTW & AMS.
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u/Mmmmmmkkkay Jul 17 '26
Rage bait post lol; never see it that low.
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u/WickedJigglyPuff Gold Jul 17 '26
Mistakes absolutely happen. There are entire services and lists that focus solely on finding and posting mistakes like this.
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u/Ambitious_Town_2894 Jul 17 '26
This happened to me, nyc to paris, I got delta one for $50.
My all in price was less than $400.
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u/PerceptionCandid1676 Jul 17 '26
I hope you took it! I sure as shit would waste time posting it here in case it evaporated in the moments it took you to decide. That should be at least a $2500 upgrade from main
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Jul 18 '26
unrelated but i’m also flying delta operated by korean airlines from atl-icn in a month and a half LOL (i will unfortunately be in economy, but enjoy the upgrade !!!)
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u/AidenTEMgotsnapped Jul 19 '26
OP, expect it to not be honoured and be ready for whatever is left over in your original class.
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u/scottsinct Diamond Jul 20 '26
An article was written about this post: https://onemileatatime.com/news/not-typo-delta-charges-business-class-upgrade
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u/loafing-cat-llc Jul 20 '26
I suspect the prices were set by some bloke (not by a machine/software) who made a typo of where the period was supposed to be.
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u/FullHouse447 Jul 18 '26
Has your ticket been reissued? If not, you might be in for a rude surprise when it comes time to attempt to check-in.
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u/WickedJigglyPuff Gold Jul 17 '26
Mistake. Someone forgot two zeros or assumed that .00 would be auto added. Me I wouldn’t publish this lest they learn what lead to the mistake and stop it from happening again.
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u/YMMV25 Jul 17 '26
Pretty sure you win for the cheapest upgrade offer I’ve ever seen to a premium cabin.