<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by AAgoraku:
I wondered about this myself and couldn't figure out the answer. If the gate agent is "on the ball" it seems that he/she wouldn't assign an empty seat btwn two elites until absolutely necessary but what about seats assigned automatically? How does the system determine the best next available seat?</font>
IMHO- gate agents don't give a hoot about blocked seats- their job is to get people in seats to get the door closed.
For example, if you want to maximze the chances of having the seat next to you empty in a MD-80, pick a seat on the 3 side, because regardless of any blocks that may have existed, GAs are going to ask people "aisle or window" and put a person in the seat next to you if you're on th 2 side.
[This message has been edited by landspeed (edited 02-20-2003).]