Originally Posted by Globaliser
Nevertheless, to take a statistically-insignificant sample of 2 BD flights as a *G earlier this year, both on tiny fares (LHR-AMS-LHR), I found that my "allocate only at check-in" seats were in something like rows 3 and 4, which was a pleasant surprise. Both window seats, according to my preference. I don't know how much being *G had to do with it, but I wouldn't be surprised if it had an effect.
BD seem to do this quite a bit - I think some preallocation of Golds goes on when the flight is being opened up for check-in. I rarely sit any further back that Row 9 (on the increasingly rare occasions I use BD these days). Same seems to happen for Senators on LH (not for other *Gold, though). LH and BD also block empty middle seats (i.e. they are the last to be released on the flight) next to Star Golds in economy.