Understanding Delta award/miles fare classes is not straight forward since Delta Air Lines switched to dynamic pricing on award tickets. This article was written by a very frequent Delta Air Lines flyer who has spent many years studying how the airline industry operates and documenting the changes as the full-service airlines continually devalue frequent flyer benefits.
This article is designed to help a Silver, Gold, Platinum or Diamond Medallion understand award fare class restrictions and the associated pecking order for upgrades to premium cabins.
The information contained is not endorsed by Delta Air Lines. If you find something incorrect, please send me a message and I’ll get it updated.
Delta Fare Class Groups
Since the 2015 introduction of revenue requirements to the SkyMiles Medallion program, Delta has added TONS of fare classes and made it much more complex to keep track of each. This article addresses award fare classes only. Revenue fare classes and upgrade fare classes can be found in their respective articles.
Fare Class basics
The ultra-simplified way to understand Delta fare classes and how it associates to ticket price, restrictions and upgrade eligibility is this:
Delta One, Delta Premium Select, Comfort+ and Main Cabin all have multiple seats and fare classes available for for sale to customers. By default, you’ll always buy the cheapest fare class available in the cabin of service; however, the less seats available in a fare class causes the fare class (not cabin) to become full. Then the next (more expensive) fare class becomes available for sale (with an increase in ticket price) until the cabin is sold out.
If you don’t know, now you know
Fare classes do not relate to where you sit within your cabin, they are just a placeholder for how much you paid. You can easily purchase a last minute Main Cabin ticket in the Y-fare bucket and sit a middle seat in the last row, while a basic economy ticket may be sitting right behind Comfort+ in a preferred seat – this is due to the economics of supply vs demand (i.e.: less seats in the cabin = higher fare classes, and thus prices).
Once all cabins have been sold out, the flight no longer has availability and is considered sold out.
Upgrades and important rules
The Delta Air Lines official upgrade order and rules are published here which does clearly outline the process that should be followed for upgrades; however there are some caveats that frequent flyers may not know:
Revenue Fare Class Upgrade Order
When you find your fare class, you can expand it and click through to get fare-specific information for your fare class.
Delta Fare Class OJ – confirmed
Fare class J is a revenue fare/booking class of service that is marketed as Delta One. This fare class is marketed as full fare business class on domestic and international flights.
Also referred to as: Booking Class J, Booking Code J, Fare Class J, Ticket Code J, Class J, J Fare or Delta One (J)
Delta Fare Class OC – confirmed
Fare class C is a revenue fare/booking class of service that is marketed as Delta One. This fare class is considered a discount business class fare class on domestic and international flights.
Also referred to as: Booking Class C, Booking Code C, Fare Class C, Ticket Code C, Class C, C Fare or Delta One (C)
Delta Fare Class D – confirmed
Fare class D is a revenue fare/booking class of service that is marketed as Delta One. This fare class is considered a discount business class fare class on domestic and international flights.
Also referred to as: Booking Class D, Booking Code D, Fare Class D, Ticket Code D, Class D, D Fare or Delta One (D)
Delta Fare Class OI – confirmed
Fare class I is a revenue fare/booking class of service that is marketed as Delta One. This fare class is considered a discount business class fare class on domestic and international flights.
Also referred to as: Booking Class I, Booking Code I, Fare Class I, Ticket Code I, Class I, I Fare or Delta One (I)
Delta Fare Class Z
Fare class Z is a revenue fare/booking class of service that is marketed as Delta One. This fare class is considered a discount business class fare class on domestic and international flights.
Also referred to as: Booking Class Z, Booking Code Z, Fare Class Z, Ticket Code Z, Class Z, Z Fare or Delta One (Z)
Delta Fare Class F
Fare class F is a revenue fare/booking class of service that is marketed as full fare First Class or Delta Premium Select. This fare class is considered a First Class fare class on domestic and short-haul international flights and Delta Premium Select on long-haul international flights.
Also referred to as: Booking Class F, Booking Code F, Fare Class F, Ticket Code F, Class F, F Fare or First Class (F)
Delta Fare Class P
Fare class P is a revenue fare/booking class of service that is marketed as Discount First Class or Delta Premium Select. This fare class is considered a First Class fare class on domestic and short-haul international flights and Delta Premium Select on long-haul international flights.
Also referred to as: Booking Class P, Booking Code P, Fare Class P, Ticket Code P, Class P, P Fare or First Class (P)
Premium Select (RA) – confirmed
Fare class RA is a revenue fare/booking class of service that is marketed as Discount First Class or Delta Premium Select. This fare class is considered a First Class fare class on domestic and short-haul international flights and Delta Premium Select on long-haul international flights.
Also referred to as: Booking Class A, Booking Code A, Fare Class A, Ticket Code A, Class A, A Fare or First Class (A)
Delta Fare Class G
Fare class G is a revenue fare/booking class of service that is marketed as Discount First Class or Delta Premium Select. This fare class is considered a First Class fare class on domestic and short-haul international flights and Delta Premium Select on long-haul international flights.
Also referred to as: Booking Class G, Booking Code G, Fare Class G, Ticket Code G, Class G, G Fare or First Class (G)
Comfort (SW) – confirmed
Fare class W is a revenue fare/booking class that is marketed as Delta Comfort+ on Delta Air Lines mainline and code share flights. A ticket booked in the W fare class will be supported by a main cabin fare basis code to provide upgrade rankings for the ticket. This fare class is eligible for complimentary upgrades.
Also referred to as: Booking Class W, Booking Code W, Fare Class W, Ticket Code W, Class W, W Fare or Comfort (W)
Main Cabin (NY) – confirmed
Fare class Y is a revenue fare/booking class of service that is marketed as Main Cabin on Delta Air Lines mainline and code share flights. This fare class is considered a full fare ticket that is eligible for complimentary upgrades.
Also referred to as: Booking Class Y, Booking Code Y, Fare Class Y, Ticket Code Y, Class Y, Y Fare or Main Cabin (Y)
Main Cabin (NB)
Fare class B is a revenue fare/booking class of service that is marketed as Main Cabin on Delta Air Lines mainline and code share flights. This fare class is considered a full fare ticket that is eligible for complimentary upgrades.
Also referred to as: Booking Class B, Booking Code B, Fare Class B, Ticket Code B, Class B, B Fare or Main Cabin (B)
Main Cabin (NM)
Fare class M is a revenue fare/booking class of service that is marketed as Main Cabin on Delta Air Lines mainline and code share flights. This fare class is considered a full fare ticket that is eligible for complimentary upgrades.
Also referred to as: Booking Class M, Booking Code M, Fare Class M, Ticket Code M, Class M, M Fare or Main Cabin (M)
Main Cabin (NH) – confirmed
Fare class NH is a revenue fare/booking class of service that is marketed as Main Cabin on Delta Air Lines mainline and code share flights. This fare class is considered a discounted main cabin fare class that is eligible for complimentary upgrades.
Also referred to as: Booking Class H, Booking Code H, Fare Class H, Ticket Code H, Class H, H Fare or Main Cabin (H)
Main Cabin (NQ) – confirmed
Fare class NQ is a revenue fare/booking class of service that is marketed as Main Cabin on Delta Air Lines mainline and code share flights. This fare class is considered a discounted main cabin fare class that is eligible for complimentary upgrades.
Also referred to as: Booking Class Q, Booking Code Q, Fare Class Q, Ticket Code Q, Class Q, Q Fare or Main Cabin (Q)
Main Cabin (NK)
Fare class NK is a revenue fare/booking class of service that is marketed as Main Cabin on Delta Air Lines mainline and code share flights. This fare class is considered a discounted main cabin fare class that is eligible for complimentary upgrades.
Also referred to as: Booking Class K, Booking Code K, Fare Class K, Ticket Code K, Class K, K Fare or Main Cabin (K)
Main Cabin (NL)
Fare class NL is an award redemption fare class of service that is marketed as Main Cabin on Delta Air Lines mainline and code share flights. This fare class is considered a so-so redemption fare class and is eligible for complimentary upgrades.
Also referred to as: Booking Class NL, Booking Code NL, Fare Class NL, Ticket Code NL, Class NL, NL Fare or Main Cabin (NL)
Main Cabin (NU) – confirmed
Fare class NU is an award redemption fare class of service that is marketed as Main Cabin on Delta Air Lines mainline and code share flights. This fare class is considered a so-so redemption fare class and is eligible for complimentary upgrades.
Also referred to as: Booking Class NU, Booking Code NU, Fare Class NU, Ticket Code NU, Class NU, NU Fare or Main Cabin (NU)
Main Cabin (NT)
Fare class NT is an award redemption fare class of service that is marketed as Main Cabin on Delta Air Lines mainline and code share flights. This fare class is considered a good redemption fare class and is eligible for complimentary upgrades.
Also referred to as: Booking Class NT, Booking Code NT, Fare Class NT, Ticket Code NT, Class NT, NT Fare or Main Cabin (NT)
Main Cabin (NX)
Fare class NX is an award redemption fare class of service that is marketed as Main Cabin on Delta Air Lines mainline and code share flights. This fare class is considered a good redemption fare class and is eligible for complimentary upgrades.
Also referred to as: Booking Class NX, Booking Code NX, Fare Class NX, Ticket Code NX, Class NX, NX Fare or Main Cabin (NX)
Main Cabin (NV)
Fare class NV is an award redemption fare class of service that is marketed as Main Cabin on Delta Air Lines mainline and code share flights. This fare class is considered the best (cheapest) redemption fare class and is eligible for complimentary upgrades.
Also referred to as: Booking Class NV, Booking Code NV, Fare Class NV, Ticket Code NV, Class NV, NV Fare or Main Cabin (NV)
Basic Economy (NE)
Fare class NE is an award redemption fare class that is marketed as Basic Economy on Delta Air Lines mainline and codeshare flights. This fare class is the most restrictive fare class and cheapest for award redemptions. There are limited numbers of seats available in this fare class that are not complimentary upgrade eligible.
Also referred to as: Booking Class NE, Booking Code NE, Fare Class NE, Ticket Code NE, Class NE, NE Fare or Basic Economy (NE)