Delta Prefered seats out of control

Old Jun 8, 2012, 3:05 pm
  #76  
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Originally Posted by ag30075
Well, I had the pleasure of sitting by the lavatory with my kids once - when I asked a GA for help - so not my solution anymore. And it's not fun at all - smells bad, noisy and bumpy. Me and my kids have traveled with Airtran and Frontier and their formula seems to work better than this gambling with Delta - they ask upfront to pay for the seats if the passenger wants specific seats - and yes I have paid to be in a window towards the front of the plane with my son next to me in both Airtran and Frontier.
With Delta - is there any way to know - at time of booking - that you can fly in a window seat and a middle (together) towards the front of the plane? if there is a way I would love to know even if it involves money - and no I will not fly more often (hate to fly but love vacations) to get status.
Some clarity upfront is desirable - traveling with kids is stressful - airports, airlines and airplanes are simply not kid friendly (I should say they are very unfriendly/hostile places to everyone these days, unfortunately). Knowing at booking were you will seat is important to me - and as I read in the post to most travelers.
PS I love this forum - tons of great tips and advice!
When you search for flights on delta.dumb, you can click on the words "view seats" to see maps of available seats at any time during the purchase process. You can also cancel tickets by midnight of the next day if you don't like the seats that you are able to pick.
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Old Jun 8, 2012, 3:08 pm
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Originally Posted by ag30075
With Delta - is there any way to know - at time of booking - that you can fly in a window seat and a middle (together) towards the front of the plane? if there is a way I would love to know even if it involves money - and no I will not fly more often (hate to fly but love vacations) to get status.
I don't fly much any more, so others can correct me, but I think Delta now offers Economy Comfort on most domestic flights for around $29. So you pay a little extra, get lots of leg room, some extra recline, plus free drinks. These seats are in the very front of the coach section.
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Old Jun 8, 2012, 3:12 pm
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From one 30075er to another...

Originally Posted by ag30075
Well, I had the pleasure of sitting by the lavatory with my kids once - when I asked a GA for help - so not my solution anymore. And it's not fun at all - smells bad, noisy and bumpy. Me and my kids have traveled with Airtran and Frontier and their formula seems to work better than this gambling with Delta - they ask upfront to pay for the seats if the passenger wants specific seats - and yes I have paid to be in a window towards the front of the plane with my son next to me in both Airtran and Frontier.
With Delta - is there any way to know - at time of booking - that you can fly in a window seat and a middle (together) towards the front of the plane? if there is a way I would love to know even if it involves money - and no I will not fly more often (hate to fly but love vacations) to get status.
Some clarity upfront is desirable - traveling with kids is stressful - airports, airlines and airplanes are simply not kid friendly (I should say they are very unfriendly/hostile places to everyone these days, unfortunately). Knowing at booking were you will seat is important to me - and as I read in the post to most travelers.
PS I love this forum - tons of great tips and advice!
The difference is diversity in fleet configurations. AirTran has one type of 737 and one type 717. That's it. They can easily be swapped like your kids' Garanimals. On the other hand, Delta has multiple types of 757 aircraft due to the various acquisitions that have occurred over the years. It's just not feasible for them to swap out for identical aircraft whenever there is a mechanical problem or weather delay upstream in the schedule.
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Old Jun 8, 2012, 3:36 pm
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I''m sure something like this has already been mentioned, but I got an idea of the writing on the wall a couple of years ago when I was on a full Spirit flight and some 20-something guy couldn't understand why he wasn't assigned next to his girlfriend when they were both on the same reservation (he just sorta assumed they'd be assigned seats together). He hadn't paid for seat reservations, though, and the FAs either didn't know or wouldn't say that he might have assumed too much that they'd be together. (The guy traded his way to a seat next to the girl).

Where this is heading is that airlines are looking at making people PAY to sit together, especially with the larger the number wanting to be together *3 or 4 would be more difficult than 2, for example).

And once the public realizes what's going on and consumer reporters and other media get complaints of families of 4 being scattered to 4 middle seats even though they didn't buy last-minute or go standby, I think there will be a big backlash. Air travel is already in serious trouble with leisure-traveling families and other non-captives, who often get to pay $100 or more in total taxes on 4 domestic tickets, try to carry on everything to avoid another $100 in bag fees (a policy that will bend the future growth cruve downward(, go through security and now possibly face more tens of dollars in seat fees just to sit together. No wonder theyll go on a car trip instead or, at best, take Southwest.

Once again I suspect airlines will be tone-deaf to the complaints and the long-term implications for the business.
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Old Jun 8, 2012, 3:40 pm
  #80  
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Maybe airlines are just selecting the type of customer they prefer, with carriers like Southwest appealing to families and legacy carriers focusing more on business travel. (It's a different route network and a different business model.) That would work for me.
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Old Jun 8, 2012, 4:05 pm
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Originally Posted by MSPeconomist
Maybe airlines are just selecting the type of customer they prefer, with carriers like Southwest appealing to families and legacy carriers focusing more on business travel. (It's a different route network and a different business model.) That would work for me.
I think you hit the nail on the head as legacy carriers are much more corporate/business traveler focused.
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Old Jun 8, 2012, 5:11 pm
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Originally Posted by Rebelyell
I don't fly much any more, so others can correct me, but I think Delta now offers Economy Comfort on most domestic flights for around $29. So you pay a little extra, get lots of leg room, some extra recline, plus free drinks. These seats are in the very front of the coach section.
Actually....no extra recline and, sorry, no free drinks on domestic EC
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Old Jun 8, 2012, 6:42 pm
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Originally Posted by RustyC
I''m sure something like this has already been mentioned, but I got an idea of the writing on the wall a couple of years ago when I was on a full Spirit flight and some 20-something guy couldn't understand why he wasn't assigned next to his girlfriend when they were both on the same reservation (he just sorta assumed they'd be assigned seats together). He hadn't paid for seat reservations, though, and the FAs either didn't know or wouldn't say that he might have assumed too much that they'd be together. (The guy traded his way to a seat next to the girl).

Where this is heading is that airlines are looking at making people PAY to sit together, especially with the larger the number wanting to be together *3 or 4 would be more difficult than 2, for example).

And once the public realizes what's going on and consumer reporters and other media get complaints of families of 4 being scattered to 4 middle seats even though they didn't buy last-minute or go standby, I think there will be a big backlash. Air travel is already in serious trouble with leisure-traveling families and other non-captives, who often get to pay $100 or more in total taxes on 4 domestic tickets, try to carry on everything to avoid another $100 in bag fees (a policy that will bend the future growth cruve downward(, go through security and now possibly face more tens of dollars in seat fees just to sit together. No wonder theyll go on a car trip instead or, at best, take Southwest.

Once again I suspect airlines will be tone-deaf to the complaints and the long-term implications for the business.
I could not agree with you more! I really do not see the long term strategy or business model feasibility/sustainability of providing this kind of service....maybe a good network of trains is what the airlines and we all need :-)
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Old Jun 8, 2012, 7:10 pm
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Just out of couriosity, since were are talking about how unfair DLs seating policy supposedly is to the big-spending families that fly Delta when the T fares are up.

What happens on WN when Ma and Pa K, and the kids check-in late and get stuck in the last boarding zone (or whatever they call it). Do they make everyone get up and move around?
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Old Jun 8, 2012, 8:27 pm
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Originally Posted by zsmith2
I think you hit the nail on the head as legacy carriers are much more corporate/business traveler focused.
Nothing new. DL/UA/AA are just not that concerned with carrying the lower fare leisure traffic to places like FL since they make no money off of it. SW is increasingly in that boat as well given their now relative high costs.

Last edited by grahampros; Jun 8, 2012 at 10:06 pm
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Old Jun 8, 2012, 9:23 pm
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Delta Prefered seats out of control

One thought... If the OP is asking for the four of them to be seated together, at this stage in the game, isn't he requesting that someone else get their seat changed "randomly" reassigned by delta?

Also, think about it. Leisure passengers are far more likely to jump at a voluntary denied boarding opportunity than business pax. I'd wager to guess that even though the mco mem flight was oversold, there would be next to no risk of the op not getting on the flight, regardless of if he had seats selected or not. Future free trip to disney to someone on the flight? Yeah, someone would jump on that and no idb.
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Old Jun 8, 2012, 10:02 pm
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Originally Posted by cottonpatch
I had an unfriendly DL Preferred Seat Monetization (PSM) discussion with DL yesterday. I don't know what exactly caused the problem that I had, but DL is apparently going to work this PSM thing pretty aggressively. When did they start charging for these seats for non-status flyers? It isn't very customer friendly to charge to have families sit together when all other possibilities have been exhausted. In an extreme scenario, DL can effectively control strategic access to seats rendering it impossible for families to sit together without (paying).

...but I was mildly taken aback when this PSM initiative impacted me and all DL had to offer was "show me the money."
I think it's a given that airlines are already squeezing money out of non-status flyers for "options" like adjacent seats.

The only thing that puzzles me about your post is why YOU are having trouble getting adjacent seats for you family without paying extra. Your profile says "DL Diamond" Isn't the whole coach cabin available for seat assignment at the time of booking (all on the same PNR)? To maximize your first class upgrade chances, you can split the PNR later. My understanding that splitting the PNR after initial booking leaves the original seat assignment intact. (Unless there is a flight change, which is why the PNR should not be split far in advance.)

Yeah, I can see non-status flyers having trouble with seat assignments, but a Diamond's family?

Last edited by Bowgie; Jun 8, 2012 at 10:44 pm
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Old Jun 8, 2012, 10:06 pm
  #88  
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Originally Posted by Bowgie
I think it's a given that airlines are already squeezing money out of non-status flyers for "options" like adjacent seats.

The only thing that puzzles me about your post is why YOU are having trouble getting adjacent seats for you family without paying extra. Your profile says "DL Diamond" Isn't the whole coach cabin available for seat assignment at the time of booking (all on the same PNR)? To maximize, your first class upgrade chances, you can split the PNR later. My understanding that splitting the PNR after initial booking leave the original seat assignment intact. (Unless there is a flight change, which is why the PNR should not be split far in advance.)

Yeah, I can see non-status flyers having trouble with seat assignments, but a Diamond's family?
Maybe the tickets must be on different PNRs from the beginning because all but the elite have award tickets or the elite's ticket is for business travel and must be booked through the corporate travel office or website.
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Old Jun 8, 2012, 10:11 pm
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The bottom line here seems to be want seats together you PAY for them and the OP doesn't want to. It's the new airline reality. Get use to it if you don't have status. And this anxiety/claustrophobia excuse is rather tired by this point.

Last edited by grahampros; Jun 8, 2012 at 10:23 pm
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Old Jun 8, 2012, 10:18 pm
  #90  
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Originally Posted by grahampros
The button line here seems to be want seats together you PAY for them and the OP doesn't want to. It's the new airline reality. Get use to it if you don't have status. And this anxiety/claustrophobia excuse is rather tired by this point.
Yes, or the family reserves seats together at the very back of the plane, or they wait and hope that the GA will give them some of the seats reserved for airport control together. It's largely a matter of priorities, but they cannot realistically expect to grab the best seats together for free, nor should they expect others who have earned or paid for prime seats to be willing to swap for a middle seat in the rear of the aircraft.
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