US Airways Dividend Miles (Pre-FlightFund Merger) - Seating - at the gate w/o an assigned seat?

This is going to be a quickie to answer, but I've always wondered... I see people that get to the gates without a seat assignment, but how does this happen? The only guesses that I have would be:

- standby pax not yet confirmed
- non-rev pax (i guess they'd be standby)
- codeshare flight (wouldnt they get a seat during ticketing)

Any other scenarios? Thanks in Advance.

-JC

If a flight is oversold then a few passengers may not have seat assignments.

[This message has been edited by Alysia (edited Dec 05, 2003).]

The airline holds back seats to be assigned at the airport. If you book online after those seats are sold you will need to get a seat assignment at the airport.

If you don't have a seat assignment it is important to get to the airport early.

Does web check-in allow customers without advance seat assignments choose their seats at the "change seats" stage when they check in?

THis is when a flight is oversold. Happens quite often. Seats are cleared based on no shows, misconnects, and volunteers.

The flight doen't have to be oversold. A few years ago I heard airlines were witholding seat assignments once the flight was 80% full. This way people cannot tell if the flight is oversold. Before they implemented this, people would buy a refundable ticket, see if they got bumped (to get a free ticket), then cancel the original ticket (whether they were bumped or not) before the flight leaves for a full refund. Its like getting a 50% shot at a free ticket for the cost of nothing. These people must have had a lot of time on their hands to just sit around an airport trying to get bumped.

I understand about the airport taking control of seating assignments when the flight is over 80% assigned, but how do you get to the gate without a seating assignment? Don't you need a boarding pass to get through security?

What do they give the people when the flight is oversold? A boarding pass with no seat assignment? Seems like an oxymoron http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by dcmike:
Don't you need a boarding pass to get through security?

</font>

Itinerary/Confirmation sheets are also accepted as proof of travel to get through security...these don't always have seat assignments on them...

N674UW

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by safetymom:
If you don't have a seat assignment it is important to get to the airport early. </font>

It depends on what your goal is ... if you want a seat assignment in the class of service you purchased, your best bet is to get to the airport early ... if you want to get bumped and/or get an operational upgrade, the later (within the limits set by the airline of course) you check-in, the better ...

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by N674UW:
Itinerary/Confirmation sheets are also accepted as proof of travel to get through security...these don't always have seat assignments on them...
</font>

Itinerary/Confirmations will not get you through security in the US anymore ... you need a boarding pass (or in the case of WN, their "security document", which is a quasi-boarding pass).

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Beckles:
Itinerary/Confirmations will not get you through security in the US anymore ... you need a boarding pass (or in the case of WN, their "security document", which is a quasi-boarding pass).</font>

Actually, the e-ticket receipt plus ID will still get you through in PHL (at least it did as recently as Saturday for us - in the snow - for an international flight - saved waiting in a huge line - got boarding passes at the Club - no line).

Don't know how long this will last, and not all TSA folks seem to realize that this is the rule, so we go to security first and ask. Almost always, we get a "yes". http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

This happened to me once. I was bumped on a US flight from SFO-PHL to a United flight (connecting in Chicago). I had 15 minutes to make my new flight (which of course, is on the other side of the airport). After I ran about a mile, I get to the gate agent who checked me in and handed me my boarding pass (I didn't bother looking because I was concerned about making this flight). I went through security (of course, I was flagged probably because I was sweating from my 1 mile run I just did). As I was running to my gate, I looked at the boarding pass to see what seat I had and there was no seat assignment listed anywhere. I get to the gate and the gate agent said that the flight was almost full and she gave me a new boarding pass with my seat assignment. I got on board a 747 that just came back from Asia and probably took the last empty seat in the back of the plane (on an aisle, to my amazement). This was the only time this happened (that I showed up to the gate without a seat assignment).

Also, sometimes I see a co-worker taking the same flight at the gate, if the gate agent wasn't busy, I'd asked to be reseated next to my co-worker. So this might be another time you see someone get a new seat assigment.