Imagine you have taken a trip to Las Vegas. You aren’t much for gambling, but you are a HUGE fan of “Top Chef” and are making a once-in-a-lifetime trip to enjoy a steak at Tom Colicchio’s Craft steak house. You have your reservations, and upon being seated at your table you place an order for a steak – medium.

Twenty minutes later, the waiter comes back and tells you some high rollers just came in and ordered the last of the steaks, but he would be more than happy to run down the hall of the MGM and get you a McDouble – and he won’t even charge you the full price of the steak!

Unimaginable you say? Yeah, you’re probably right … unless we’re talking about airlines and not restaurants.

It seems Delta told DTWpiston’s parents that one of them would have to move from business-class to economy on a flight from Detroit to Tokyo. And the unofficial kicker – they were selected for a downgrade because they were flying on award tickets and didn’t hold any elite status in the Delta SkyMiles program.

It’s exceptionally unclear at this point if this was just a one-off mistake, or if there is some sort of unofficial policy being applied here … or if we’re even getting the full account. Still, the story is troubling for anyone using miles to purchase business- or first-class tickets. FlyDeltaJets87 might have said it best:

“When someone purchases a product, they have a reasonable expectation that the product is delivered; whether that purchase was made with cash or miles is irrelevant. If the airlines can’t deliver, then they shouldn’t offer more product than they have. A very real case can be made that had the OP/OPs parents known the product they purchased wasn’t going to be available, then they would have purchased the service through another provider. … I think it’s ridiculous that if I don’t show up to use the product I purchased, the airline can impose all sorts of penalties and fees on me but if the airline doesn’t hold up its end, it can just go “well too bad so sad”.“

Post your opinions about the Delta downgrade on FlyerTalk. And in the comments section below make your prediction for this season’s winner of “Top Chef”. Me? I’m leaning towards Justin.