Originally Posted by
mrswirl
That block of empty rows are phantom seats on .bomb - I saw the same thing happen on my SYD-SFO flight last fall. A couple days later they showed up as full again. Trust me, every seat will be taken when you board.
Another reason why seatmaps are not a good indicator of loads.
+1
Those E- 3 rows magically opened up on my last SYD-SFO/LAX-SYD flights 72 hours before departure- and both times I magically reseated myself in 38G immediately (I think these rows are blocked under airport departure control). Never assume the seat next to you will be empty as you never know how many rev/non-rev standbys are flying on the day.