Last weekend I had the pleasure to join other Boarding Area bloggers at the annual BlogWorld Expo in Los Angeles. In this post, I’ll demonstrate how I selected a flight from Atlanta to LAX to greatly increase my chance of a domestic upgrade from coach. I choose Delta’s 777-200 LR from Atlanta to Los Angeles because I knew I would have the best upgrade chance from coach given the large number of premium seats. The best part is the upgrade in this case was to the Business Elite lie flat seats, Delta’s best product.
I booked my coach ticket in L class (I think about $300 or so), which is one of the cheapest fares. Purchasing a ticket in one of the cheapest fare buckets was a gamble, especially since it was an Elite heavy flight on a week night between two Delta hubs. But I’m a gambler and I liked the odds. I checked back at the Diamond upgrade window for my upgrade results. Sure enough, I was upgraded and began seat selection. Seat selection was slim when I was upgraded. So I checked seat expert’s seat map and selected 13A. For future reference I would have selected seat in 14A (it has extra space on the side) or in the forward cabin (coach boarding doesn’t go through this cabin) if they were available.
Available Seating Charts
The Delta planes available from ATL to LAX on my day of travel were the 757, 767, A330, 777-200 LR planes. By selecting a plane with a larger number of First or Business Elite seats, this greatly increased my likelihood of a domestic Elite Status based upgrade. Here are the respective seat maps for the 757, 767, A330, 777-200 LR planes from seat expert.
Picture of the 777 Business Elite Seat and Amenities
Seat 13A
Seat 3C
Seat Controls
Seat Tray
Pre-Departure Drink (Cabernet)
Dinner (Chicken, Vegies, Polenta, Salad, Key Lime Pie)
Mid-Flight Cocktail (Woodford Reserve)
In-Flight Entertainment
Bottom Line
By selecting Delta’s internationally configured 777 on my domestic ATL > LAX flight I greatly increased my upgrade chances and got to experience one of the best seats Delta has to offer at coach prices.
A special thanks to Randy Peterson to inviting the Boarding Area crew out to LAX and hosting a dinner for the bloggers including Mommy Points, Deals We Like, Road Warriorette, Frequently Flying, AAdvantageGeek, Loyalty Traveller, Flight Diversions, and the Wandering Aramean. It was great to catch up with other Boarding Area bloggers and learn about the state of the Blogging world. A special note to MilesQuest hoping he has a speedy recovery from his accident which prevented his attendance at the event.
About The Weekly Flyer
The Weekly Flyer writes about travel from a business traveler perspective. He travels the world every week accumulating points and miles along the way.
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Why do bloggers take pictures of drinks?
@mark Did you notice the title of my blog:)
I honestly do because it is part of the experience. Like wine in a plastic cup. I like Woodford Reserve, I’m sure others do as well. If I blog about the experience, people will know what to expect if they buy or upgrade to the service being reviewed.
I think others like Lucky show pre-departure drink presentation. Like one example was a cool way to deliver a diet coke (like a metal can holder of some sorts, might have been on Thai or SQ).
Lucky / Chris / Other bloggers care to share why you show drinks in reviews?
I am sick of the Chicken, they need to diversify their menus and rotate them more like what CO/AA does. Perhaps 3-4 different menus for dinner flights, 2-3 for lunch, etc.
UA is the same, but I am sure CO’s catering program will be the surviving program post merger.
Excellent trip report
Thanks for the info! Agree, it’s nice to know what to expect – even the plastic glass. 🙂 We’re taking the 777-200LR to Sydney and we’ll be in the two middle seats. Any advantage/disadvantage you see to the front bulkhead or last row over a middle row? Galley noise? Extra/less space? Thx
If it were me, I’d choose the two in the middle of the front cabin.
If it were me, I’d choose the two in the middle of the front cabin or an aisle / window so we’d be on the same side of plane.