Originally Posted by Erasmus
All zeros doesn't always mean oversold. They often zero out flights when earlier flights are oversold, or cancel, etc., so they can accomodate those displaced passengers. Also, even if they don't 'zero out' the flight manually, and they actually sell all the seats, not all flights are authorized for oversell. Furthermore, if the front cabin isn't zeroed, but the back is, they often accomodate the overflow with op-ups, thus avoiding bumps.
In general, they are very reluctant to bump people before an hour before unless they're way oversold. SMS will usually give you a heads up if you ask if they're that deep in it.
In the last 3 out of 4 weeks my Friday afternoon flights from ATL to south Florida were oversold by 12-20 passengers on the days prior to the flights. Each one went out with seats open, including one that was 20 over but went out with 2 empty seats. Last Friday, my flight was 5 oversold 5 hours prior to my flight but when I landed in ATL, they had 20 empty seats.
Bottom line, I don't think that you can guess about being bumped on Delta anymore based on seat availability since many people end up not on their original flights for a variety of reasons, including mechanicals, weather, etc.
Today in the northeast should be interesting since they predict 4-9 inches of snow and started thinning out the flights yesterday, in anticipation.
Good luck! I haven't been successful since August, despite many times submitting my name as soon as the GA arrive!