Originally Posted by
jamespvg
One interesting consequence of this: seat maps are now available through external sources (like ExpertFlyer) right up to departure. With the old system, it ceases to be visible once the flight goes to airport control.
Aha, that explains why a few weeks ago at I was sat in my economy seat at MCO waiting for boarding to finish while looking at what appeared to be a live seat map of our MCO-LGW flight on expertflyer.
I think there were only two spare seats and the one next to me was showing with the X (?) suggesting that it was blocked, which welcome, as I hadn't factored when booking that MCO-LGW at the end of half term may not be a restful experience....there were scores of excited Mickey Mouse youngsters aboard.
I'm not sure whether the seat was blocked because the seat was u/s (I don't think so), whether being Gold helped or whether the guy on the other aisle was a VIP or... Anyway, my experience was that the live seat map was accurate and it's a nice enhancement.