I am currently in Seattle for the Frequent Traveler University and got out here with Delta (it has been almost a year since I flew Delta!). My flight took me through Detroit and I will return home via JFK. I was only upgraded on the first leg and unfortunately will not be eligible for an upgrade on the way home since Delta markets the SEA-JFK route as a BusinessElite route only and not available for complimentary upgrades (which stinks since they are not even running a BusinessElite equipped aircraft on that particular flight).
But that is all ok! That’s because I finally got to fly on my Delta December 26 ticket. For those who may not have known about or forgotten, Delta had a fare mistake (which they did a great job in of working with those who had problems during the ticketing phase to ensure that their tickets were issued and honored) on December 26 that saw tickets all over the US (and US territories) being sold by under and around $50 round-trip! Some people were even able to get those tickets in first and business class at that price! I got in on it late as it was dying and was only able to snag an economy ticket. I had been hoping I would be able to attend the FTU in Seattle when was home but had not seen any good award availability so was going to just skip it. Thanks to that amazing ticket price, I was able to purchase my round-trip ticket for $32!
At the end of the day, that $32 ticket got me to the other side of the country in comfortable seats (yes, even in economy!) and did it in under 8 hours from the time I left my house. Not only did it not cost me any miles, it even earned me miles! While I am sure that Delta did not mean to do that, I do appreciate Delta’s little mistake sale! Even in the way they honored it (which they were required to do after tickets were issued or else be fined) – yes, they had to honor the ticketed flights but they still worked with those who had problems even getting it ticketed and still gave the same miles for the tickets flown that one would have earned had they paid $1,000! Yes, this will not be the case next year – in that case, instead of earning the 11,000 miles that I will have from this trip, I would have earned about 350! 🙂 Oh well, my $32 seat still felt pretty good!
