Originally Posted by
ccronkhite
In your experience, how often have you gone in to choose your seat on delta.com and found that there are NO free seats in economy?
My husband has been flying with Delta since the beginning of May, so they are new for us. So far in the last 3 months he has reached Gold status, and he usually flies on a Y (sometimes an M). Not that it matters, really.
Anyway, he is on the waitlist for the mileage upgrades for two long haul international segments, so I suppose it may not matter in the end. However, I always select an economy seat for him ahead of time (just in case) so that he at least has power, and is on an aisle (being extremely tall). This is the first time that I've gone to select a seat and there are not a decent amount to choose from.
I'm sure there are seats being held back for assignment at the gate, but does this mean that economy is potentially oversold? It's just slightly annoying to think that he will most likely end up stuck in a middle seat in some back row for 18 hours. Somewhere in the back of my mind I am hoping that an oversold economy section means an easier upgrade.
Just as a heads up as you are new to Delta: The rule of thumb is to NOT buy a M fare if the upgrade is not available at the time of ticketing. The waitlist will occasionally work but the vast majority of the time it will not. You should call often (Dailly) if you want to grab a Z seat (upgrade) as it is not automatic and someone else can grab that seat out from under you.