Originally Posted by
mitchmu
You know, every time we have one of these threads, we have this debate. ;-)
I simply disagree.
What you said is the common perspective on FT. But, in my practical experience, I find seat maps to be more valuable than they are given credit for and I look at the maps as well as the fare class buckets.
Recently, I had an eye-opener. There was a thread where it was discussed that LH actually holds back fare class availability (capped at 4) even when it's larger than 4. This made me realize that there could be a case where a fare bucket shows something less than 9, but, there are more than 9 seats for sale, because an airline might not show all inventory.
Why they do this? I have no idea. But, it shows the value of checking seat maps to corroborate what is shown in fare buckets.
Fare buckets can be > 9 and there can be fewer seats if they are planning to oversell also.
You know, I can't find fault with your argument. Not sure if LH's policy is something that UA does as well, but I do agree. This is especially the case with multi-segment flights, where the fare class is restricted by the "lower" of the segments.
Consider me convinced.