Originally Posted by
WineCountryUA
blocking is where a seat is marked and avoided by agents (GA, RCC, ...) and is no longer done
Asking to be moved to an empty row is a perfectly reasonable request if such exists but there is no guarantee the row will stay empty.
With 85+% load factors domestically, you will rarely see empty rows domestically. While maybe more common internationally, an empty row can not be counted on and will not be blocked.
I always ask for adjacent seat/empty row availability at the gate and I fly almost exclusively TATL. But I will tell you that since UA reduced capacity over the last year, loads are way up in intl too, just as they are in the rest of the system. I have not had an empty row once this year.