Originally Posted by kjl
I actually will be en-route to HKG in November too. After you purchase the ticket, you can use the nwa.com site to choose your seat. There is a policy that the seat assignment can't be done 90 days prior to the departure. Maybe some one has purchased the tickets but hasn't called the airline or use the website to get an assigned seat.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought a major reason why the Asian routes in particular always have half-full seat maps but fly with high loads are tour groups and travel agent/consolidar ticket sales. Pax are ticketed on the flight but don't get seat assignments until checkin (typically at the airport). This can be a boon to those who can/do choose their seats, but often result in the seat maps not providing an accurate view of the load.