Originally Posted by
flydrive
I flew Basic a few days ago as FB sky team elite plus. Was surprised that no option to change seat after check in, even for payment (was allowed to pay for seat assignment prior to check in for USD 34). At check-in sky priority agent would not change seat and told me the gate agent would say the same so did not bother. All other elite plus benefits (free bag, lounge, and priority boarding group 4) provided. Always last in line for upgrades no matter what ticket, so no upgrade option is no big deal. A bit disappointed about seat assignment so may consider this in future when selecting fare.
Seems like I made the right decision by paying $44. That being said, I think you just got a lazy agent or an agent who does not want any kind of conflict/service. I booked United's basic economy (but in all honesty, the flight was operated by ANA), and they let me select any seat for free, and when I got auto-assigned due to the flight being full, they let me change my middle seats and upgraded me to a bulkhead row.
Now, back to my story with Delta, I bought my basic ticket before Delta added that verbiage, so I was not sure whether Delta would retroactively apply that rule to my ticket. But once I spotted that rule, I paid for my desired window seat, and I was allowed to change to a similarly-priced seat.