How To Earn and Use Delta Global Upgrade Certificates

One of the best benefits of Delta SkyMiles Diamond Medallion status is the ability to choose Global Upgrade Certificates. These certificates are a handy way to get a near-guaranteed upgrade to the class above the one you purchased anywhere Delta flies.

However, using them isn’t always intuitive. To make Global Upgrade Certificates work successfully, it pays to know what they are, what they get you, and when they should be deployed for maximum effect. That’s what we’ll cover in this comprehensive guide.  

What Are Delta Global Upgrade Certificates?

Diamond Medallion status is the highest published status available to members of SkyMiles, Delta Air Lines’ loyalty program. To reach Diamond Medallion status, you must earn $28,000 Medallion Qualification Dollars (MQDs) in a calendar year.

Upon qualifying for Diamond Medallion status, you can choose Global Upgrade Certificates (GUCs) as one of your Choice Benefits.

Diamond Medallion members get to choose 3 benefits from a Choice Benefits pool. You can use 1 of your benefits to choose 1 of these options:

• 4 Global Upgrade Certificates
• 8 Regional Upgrade Certificates
• A combination of 2 Global and 4 Regional Upgrade Certificates

Global Upgrade Certificates allow you to secure a 1-cabin upgrade above your purchased cabin of service anywhere Delta flies.

Global Upgrade Certificates are valid on any cash or award ticket in Main Cabin, Comfort+, or Premium Select, excluding basic economy. They can also be used on tickets booked as part of a Delta Vacations package and to upgrade on some Delta partner airlines.

Regional Upgrade Certificates (RUCs), available to Platinum and Diamond Medallion members, allow members to upgrade by 1 cabin class on domestic and select regional Delta flights.

Global Upgrades are especially useful on long-haul flights featuring Delta One business class, because upgrades based on Medallion status aren’t available on international flights longer than those to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, or Central America.

Note that 1 certificate, whether Global or Regional, is valid one-way, for 1 person.

All upgrade certificates have a higher priority than complimentary upgrades for Medallion members.

However, it’s important to know that Global Upgrade Certificates are applied differently depending on your flight’s most premium cabin of service.

Here are the scenarios that might apply to you when using a Global Upgrade Certificate on a Delta flight:

The most coveted use of a Global Upgrade Certificate is to sit in Delta One flat-bed business class, which is installed on most of Delta’s long-haul fleet. You’ll also find Delta One on many transcontinental U.S. routes.

On aircraft with 3 cabins — Main Cabin, Premium Select, and Delta One — you can use a Global Upgrade Certificate to upgrade from Main Cabin to Premium Select and hope for a bump to Delta One. That’s because you will be added to the waitlist for a Delta One upgrade, which can clear anytime from 24 hours before departure until boarding. However, note that clearing into Delta One this way is rare.

To ensure that you’ll be upgraded to Delta One, you’ll need to purchase a Premium Select ticket and apply a Global Upgrade Certificate.

How Long Are Delta Global Upgrade Certificates Valid?

Global Upgrade Certificates expire at the end of the Medallion year associated with selecting Choice Benefits.

For example, if you hit the qualification requirements for Diamond Medallion status on August 1, 2025, you will immediately be eligible to select Choice Benefits for the 2026 status year (or Medallion year — they are the same thing.) The 2026 status year ends on January 31, 2027, so your Global Upgrade Certificates will expire on that date, regardless of the date they were selected.

You must also fly by the expiration date; you can’t book a flight by January 31 but fly after that date. If you don’t use your upgrade certificates, you lose them.

How To Find Out if Upgrade Space Is Available

Before booking a flight and applying for a Global Upgrade Certificate, know whether upgrade space is available. For example, you may be looking for a seat in Delta One, but that class may be sold out on a flight you’re eyeing.

If upgrade space is available using a Global Upgrade Certificate, it will be mentioned below the flight details when booking on the Delta site.

If you’re trying to apply a Global Upgrade Certificate to an existing booking, the problem is that the Delta site generally makes it impossible to view seats in different classes from the one you’ve booked. For example, if you have a reservation in Main Cabin, you may only be able to view that seating section of the plane when you look up your reservation on the Delta site.

The workaround is easy, though. Log in to your Delta SkyMiles account and search for the flight you’ve booked, then try a dummy booking for the class of service you wish to view. If seats are available in the section where you want to upgrade, you will see them as unoccupied. This may not be the most accurate way to gauge availability, but it will give you an idea.

If you want to apply a Global Upgrade Certificate to an existing booking, you cannot do so online. You will have to call or message Delta.

How To Use Delta Global Upgrade Certificates

If the Delta site shows Upgrade Certificate availability for a specific flight and cabin, you can book as usual.

You can apply the certificate at checkout or later by contacting a Delta phone agent.

After applying the certificate, you will receive an email — and a push notification in the Fly Delta app —confirming your Upgrade Certificate request and whether you’ve been assigned a seat right away or added to the waitlist.

In the former case, the certificate will be considered used and deducted from the list of your available certificates on the Delta site. If you are waitlisted but do not get the upgrade, the certificate will go back into your account. You can then use it for a future booking, subject to the expiration date.

Global Upgrade Certificates clear off the waitlist in order of Medallion tier, then the day and time your request was added to the list. As a Diamond Medallion, you are outranked only by the rare holders of the invitation-only, ultra-exclusive Delta 360° status. If you’re on the standby list, all upgrade certificates are prioritized over Medallion complimentary upgrades.

Global Upgrade Certificates also can’t be transferred to others. You can, however, use them to upgrade people traveling with you if they are flying on the same reservation or on another one that you asked Delta to link with yours. Each person being upgraded will use 1 certificate to be upgraded. You don’t, however, have to use a certificate for yourself to upgrade others; you can just upgrade them if you wish.

If you have to change or cancel a reservation where an upgrade certificate was used, either for the entire trip or on 1 segment, you can call Delta to apply the certificate to your new itinerary.

Using a Global Upgrade Certificate on Multi-Flight Itineraries

Let’s say you have booked a Delta flight in Main Cabin from New York (JFK) to Seoul (ICN) via Detroit (DTW). You have a Global Upgrade Certificate you want to apply, so you can relax in a Delta One suite on the 14-hour flight from Detroit to Asia.

The Delta site offers you the chance to tick a box to request the upgrade, but beware: on itineraries with 2 or more segments, upgrade certificates work on only 1 segment. You don’t want to risk burning your precious certificate to upgrade to domestic first class on the short hop to Detroit, only to be stuck in coach to Seoul.

The solution is to ignore the tick box on the site and instead call Delta to ask that your certificate be applied to the longer flight.

How To Use Global Upgrade Certificates With Delta Partner Airlines

Global Upgrade Certificates can also be used on select flights with some of Delta’s partners in the SkyTeam alliance: Aeromexico, Air France, KLM, Korean Air, and Virgin Atlantic.

You must book your flight through Delta if you want to use an upgrade certificate on those partner airlines, except Air France and KLM.

Hot Tip:

Not every Delta agent knows exactly how to apply a Global Upgrade Certificate to a partner airline’s flight, which is not the most common request. Sometimes, when you run into a snag, it may be best to courteously end the call and try again.

On Aeromexico, upgrades are possible directly from economy to business class, only on tickets sold by Delta. Fare classes that can be upgraded are identified by the codes B, H, K, L, M, Q, T, U, V, W, X, and Y.

On Air France, upgrades can happen from economy to premium economy and premium economy to business. You cannot use Global Upgrade Certificates to jump from business into Air France’s La Première first class.

• On Air France flights marketed by Air France, economy tickets (fare codes B, H, K, L, M, N, Q, R, T, V, and Y) can be upgraded to premium economy. Premium economy tickets (A, S, and W fares) can be upgraded to business.
• On Air France flights marketed by Delta, economy tickets (B, H, K, L, M, Q, T, U, V, X, and Y fares) can be upgraded to premium economy. Premium economy tickets (A, G, and P fares) can be upgraded to business.

On KLM, you can upgrade from economy directly to business class.

• On KLM flights marketed by KLM, economy tickets (B, H, K, L, M, N, Q, R, T, V, and Y fares) can be upgraded to business.
• On KLM flights marketed by Delta, economy tickets (B, H, K, L, M, T, U, V, X, and Y fares) can be upgraded to business.

On Korean Air, you can upgrade tickets sold by Delta from economy (Y or B fare code) to business class, or from business (J fare) to long-haul first class.

On Virgin Atlantic, you can upgrade only tickets sold by Delta. This applies to economy fares (B, H, K, L, M, Q, S, T, U, V, W, X, and Y fares), which can be upgraded to premium economy, and premium economy (A, G, and P fares), which can be upgraded to Upper Class, Virgin’s version of business.

Upgrade availability for flights operated by those partner airlines doesn’t appear on the Delta site or app. You’ll need to call Delta and ask them to apply the certificate for you. Also, you can’t be put on a waitlist for an upgrade on those partners.

Final Thoughts

Global Upgrade Certificates are among the most coveted perks of Delta Diamond Medallion status. They are not a guaranteed pass to first or business class 100% of the time, but when used correctly, they can be an excellent tool at your disposal.