What do people think of the utility of the seat map potential? I think it can be useful. After the merger, I'm using it more and more.

Although it's not entirely accurate when it's empty, I think it's more accurate when it's full.

For instance, on this flight:


New Picture (1) by sfflyer123, on Flickr

You pretty much can kiss your upgrade good bye. This flight is 3 weeks from now, and unless you are GS and 1st on the upgrade list, it's highly unlikely.

The fare class for this flight reads:

Available Cabins: F5, FN5, A3, ON0, O0, J0, JN0, C0, D0, Z0, ZN0, P0, PN0, R0, RN0, IN0, I0, Y9, YN9, B9, M9, E9, U9, H9, HN9, Q9, V9, W9, S9, T9, L9, K9, G9, N9, XN9, X9

So in this case the seat map is reflective of reality.


I do agree with others that when the seat map is wide-open, it's less accurate, but it's not completely useless.

For instance, if you're 1k and your map looks like this 2 days before the flight:


UA 747 FRA-SFO by sfflyer123, on Flickr

I think your odds of getting the upgrade are pretty good. If however, this is 6 months before the flight, all bets are off.

So I think seat map is not entirely accurate, but it is helpful.

I think the absence of seats is much more telling than the presence of seats. I have been burned before seeing a wide-open flight, and then it fills up super-fast. But I've never seen a fully loaded flight become empty.

I also think that in conjunction with the fare buckets, how far away the flight is, the historic fullness of the flight, whether or not there is more than one flight per day, the seat *can* be useful in some circumstances.

What do people think?