The FT thread really hasn't had much to say about nonrevs but there are a number of interesting issues that affect nonrevs in C+ after mid-May 2016.

The first deals with pricing. The initial pricing for C+ after May 16th is substantially higher then what it's been. Will people, especially high level elites, pay the price at booking or will they play the W Upgrade lottery since none of them can select specific C+ seats at booking. I know that it's going to change my seat selection methodology. My wife and I both have Status with DL. I'm a Diamond and she's Platinum. We almost never nonrev on domestic flights since we have schedules to maintain. If our travel is personal, we use FCFL since our Medallion benefits kick in and we can get complementary upgrades, C+ seating, etc. If it's business related, we usually buy discounted First (GAP fares). We tend to book well in advance and we'll take Preferred Aisle seats, probably exit row if we don't get the C+ aisle seats.

The next deals with Revenue Mgmt and how they'll be adjusting the oversell. If, in fact, there will be no free C+ upgrades, even at the gate, it should work the same as Int'l, OPUPs for the medallions to F or C+if main cabin is oversold, then nonrev and THEN EMPTY SEATS. That works fine EXCEPT, many Medallions (including my wife and myself) don't want center C+ seating under any circumstances. If we can't get our aisle C+ seating within a couple of hours of purchasing tickets, we'll deselect C+ Upgrade Requested and will refuse any attempt to upgrade us involuntarily to a center C+ seat. There are many who feel this way and it should be good for nonrevs who may get C+ instead of a center main cabin seat. I've spoken with a couple of senior GA's who are not looking forward to the gate scene when this kicks in. Their feeling is that this plan will be modified a couple of times once it becomes reality just as happened with SDC and D1 upgrades JFK-LAX/SFO. Will there be a new section added for C+ Av/Au or will it still be part of Main Cabin? It should be good for nonrevs initially but if the revenue hit is too great, the whole plan will get reworked.

Expect a lot of kickback, just as there was with the initial JFK-LAX/SFO D1 nonrev situation.