Delta Air Lines Adopts Flier-Friendly Upgrade Policy

A new policy from Delta Air Lines will allow travelers to upgrade to a premium cabin on any one segment of a trip, rather than the entire inbound or outbound part.

Delta customers can now purchase upgrades to Comfort One, first class or Delta One for one part of a journey—someone flying from Paris to New York with a stop in London will be able to upgrade to first class for just the London to New York leg of their trip.

Previously, Delta customers had to upgrade the entire leg of the trip.

The upgrades can be made on the Delta App, Delta.com or through the airline’s reservations phone line after purchasing the original ticket. Upgrades can be purchased using a different method of payment than the one used for the original ticket.

According to Delta, the new policy is “all about consumer choice.”

“This flexibility is what our corporate travel customers, in particular, have told Delta they want because it lets them select their desired experience, regardless of how or where their ticket was bought,” vice president of Global Distribution and Digital Strategy Rhoda Crawford said.

Delta is also giving SkyMiles Medallion Members more flexibility to take advantage of their complimentary upgrades. SkyMiles Members will be able to self-select upgrade seats from Delta’s seat maps and then will be able to revert to their original seat assignment if they are unhappy with their upgrade seat assignment.

Delta said the new policy is “designed for customers who value exact seat selection more than the ease of automation.”