@bkuhn Honestly, I've gotten upgrades for JFK🛫AMS flights before, mostly in the winter where load is super low. But generally getting automatic economy to delta comfort/economy comfort upgrades on booking is nice enough in most cases.

You might have more luck with PDX🛫AMS, since it's once daily (I think?) and not a very heavily loaded route.

@neal

Funny you mention JFK🛫AMS! I spent 2 hours on the phone with Delta Global Ticketing yesterday because I found a *cheaper* coach routing through JFK, & the long haul KLM metal had Z available for GUC. We were so close to upgrading me all the way through, & KLM partner desk refused to release the Z to Delta.
Delta+KLM=biggest frenemies ever!

As for PDX🛫AMS, does not run weekends & is KLM metal & gambling on a Z opening is a weaker play than Delta metal with a GUC.

@neal 😲 … how did you get upgraded on a transatlantic without a GUC?

Do you mean with miles? If so, yes that works great from November 10th to March 1st, but hopeless in northern spring/summer.

Or, was this pre-pandemic? In the good ol' days where loyalty mattered, FAs would upgrade me to D1 just because they had an empty seat and recognized my name on the manifest. 😔

@bkuhn It is still the policy of KLM to do such upgrades at their discretion. I have gotten it once or twice when they needed to bring in standby families and wanted to free up my slot and there were free premium economy or world business seats.

Lufthansa did it a couple of times for me pre-pandemic too.

(I think it helps if you directly book with them, I haven't gotten it ever through partner bookings.)

@neal Oh, yeah, being booked with KLM directly changes a lot. They treat code shares as “people in the way of real customers”.

I should maybe consider this for future given the slow but clear decline of value in being a million miler/Diamond with Delta.

I mean, it's my own fault for thinking loyalty meant anything in capitalism.

@bkuhn You can still associate your Delta SkyMiles status with a direct KLM booking. So you get the one-two punch of being a "direct customer" while being "a loyal customer". It also reinforces your Delta status better too, since west coast to Europe MQD generation is significantly better with partner bookings than Delta bookings.

https://www.delta.com/us/en/skymiles/how-to-earn-miles/airline-partners

https://awardwallet.com/airlines/delta-skymiles/medallion-qualification-dollar/

@neal yeah, I have a vague memory of trying to do this a few years ago & splitting the itinerary was just too much and added costs.

AFAICT, KLM discounts the inter-Europe flights to Delta via AMS. So, if AMS isn't final destination it's cheaper to book a full roundtrip in Europe with Delta via code share.

Anyway, there are good tips and every frequent flyer had something to learn in the new era of *non*-loyalty.

I'm considering status match to Star Alliance as well!🫢

@bkuhn My most recent booking showed that it costs *exactly the same* now unless you're booking in premium cabins. Then flights on Delta's own metal will be more expensive than KLM's metal. But the pricing will be the same on both Delta's site and KLM's site. It's just a question of how you want it to count toward SkyMiles.

For me at JFK, it almost never makes sense to book with KLM if I'm booking higher than economy class. But economy bookings *can* make sense.