Originally Posted by
zsmith2
Buffer seats, or blocked seats, are blocked to accommodate ticketed customers with disabilities, families traveling together, passengers with cabin baggage, and passengers without seat assignments.
The gist of my conversation with him was exactly this. That they should give priority to a Diamond traveling with his family over standby passengers. Of course, disabled folks would come first!
The issue is they IMMEDIATELY assign standby passengers to blocked seats when they start working the flight.