Flying LAX- SFO- YUL .. worth flying Delta as VA Gold?

[broombroom]

Hi all, long time lurker very rare poster BroomBroom here.

I've just moved to LA and I'm still a current VA gold. I'm looking at flying with my girlfriend (red) to San Fran for a week, then to Montreal for a week, before coming back to LA.

LAX - SFO 14/8/19
SFO - YUL 22/8/19
YUL - LAX 29/8/19

Booking it all on Delta seems to come out around $150AU more expensive than bouncing between united/air canada. And with a stopover on both montreal legs. I think that would be money/time well spent if VA gold got perks such as free bags, lounge access, and possible upgrades to C+.

Can anyone who's flown Delta enlighten me whether those perks are a sometimes/almost guaranteed thing? it looks like booking through a third party website would be cheaper, in case that affects anything.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

 

[Mattg]

Well as VA Gold you would receive lounge access, free bags and the chance at upgrading to Comfort+, as you say. Once you factor in the cost of bags on the other airlines, it seems like a no-brainer to go with Delta. Not to mention, they tend to have better service than United/Air Canada.

 

[broombroom]

Thanks Mattg! Haven't done any flying in the US so not sure about the service etc of each airline!

 

[cdp88]

Hi all, long time lurker very rare poster BroomBroom here.

I've just moved to LA and I'm still a current VA gold. I'm looking at flying with my girlfriend (red) to San Fran for a week, then to Montreal for a week, before coming back to LA.

LAX - SFO 14/8/19
SFO - YUL 22/8/19
YUL - LAX 29/8/19

Booking it all on Delta seems to come out around $150AU more expensive than bouncing between united/air canada. And with a stopover on both montreal legs. I think that would be money/time well spent if VA gold got perks such as free bags, lounge access, and possible upgrades to C+.

Can anyone who's flown Delta enlighten me whether those perks are a sometimes/almost guaranteed thing? it looks like booking through a third party website would be cheaper, in case that affects anything.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

The free bags are definitely provided as they recognise your status when you put the VA number in at point of purchase. All passengers in your booking (I think up to 8 passengers in total) get those bags so make sure to book together and not separately.

The lounge access is offered for you and a guest. The one time I used it I had a bit of trouble convincing the attendant that I was entitled when taking a DL domestic flight. She called a supervisor over and they sorted it out and we gained access.

I purchased comfort plus so the upgrade wasn’t an issue for me. I think only you as the VA Gold member would be offered that upgrade. It often isn’t much more so I’d recommend paying C+ If you can afford it. You get much better status credit earn than standard economy and the $/SC equation is quite favourable.