Here's my experience with Delta phone agents:

If your call is routed to the India call center, the agent may not even know what Northwest is, much less whether your elite status entitles you to select seating.

If you call is routed to a NA call center, the agents are extremely knowledgable and will set you up in no time.


I don't even bother calling Delta after hours any more...during business hours it seems like about 75% of my calls go to a US call center. After 8pm Pacific it's all India.