Seatmap question
 

Hey everyone. Here is something i always wondered about. As a GM i can see all the preferred seats shaded blue. Obviously a non status traveler cannot. On a full flight where all the non preferred seats are taken I assume that the traveler gets a "seats cannot be assigned" message even though they have a confirmed seat. However on my end I can still see the blue shaded ones if available. My basic question is will DL start assigning non status folk to these seats and making them not available to medallions even though it is not visible to the non status traveler? On more than 1 occasion I have sat next to a non status passenger in a preferred seat that I saw become unavailable on the seat map days before the flight.

I always wonder the same about bulkheads. I've checked at EXACTLY T-24 when the "open up" and 2/3 are already taken. When boarding, no one is old/disabled/etc. so how do people get these seats assigned?

People can call and say they have a disability that requires the bulkhead seating, and they have to be transferred to a supervisor for screening before those seats can be opened up. They are also told that if someone with a service animal or a fused leg needs that seat, they will be moved to accommodate.

Non-status pax on Y or B fares, or on any fare in the same PNR as a Medallion, can get these seats at any time.

And passengers who need to wait for seat assignment at the gate can be put into preferred seats that are open (particularly those vacated by elites given gate upgrades).

The reason is because DL does not consistently apply their bulkhead rules and they constantly screw over people with actual disabilities (or infants in arms) who show up at check-in expecting to get such a seat because that is what they have been told they can do and they just don't know any better. Even people who do know better (me) but choose not to lie to obtain one of these seats dishonestly and instead assume that when bassinets are available bassinet requests will be honored (silly me) find themselves screwed over by DL's not enforcing their bulkhead rules.

Note that opinions on this point differ on FT. For example, OrangeCountyCommuter thinks that all those people have disabilities that are not visible. LMAO

I see people all the time taking advantage of benefits for the disabled (i.e. handicapped hang-tag in car, pre-boarding on flights) when they have no visible reason to do so. I always chalk this up to a "mental" handicap! ;)

I still want to know if the non status pax get assigned a seat. That seat being a preferred one, without them seeing it. Thus reducing seat choices of the elite pax?

I think they get assigned the preferred seat if elite pax don't choose them as a means of filling the plane.

for example, if you are elite, would you pick an aisle seat in economy vs a middle seat in economy comfort?

I would pick aisle any day over ec middle seat if it isn't too far in the back.

No. If you're a non-elite, and flying on a non-Y/B fare, and there are no more regular seats but there are preferred seats available, you won't be assigned a seat in advance. You'd have the option to purchase a preferred seat during check in, or you might ultimately be given one for free if you wait until the gate for your seat assigmnent.

You said that you have sat beside a non-elite when you were in a seat marked as a preferred seat. That's easily explainable as most seat maps mark the middle seats as non-elite.

Of course, if a non-status passenger doesn't have an available "free" seat at check-in and chooses not to pay for a preferred seat, the GA will assign what ever is available at the time of departure.

Bulkhead and exit row middle = preferred, but otherwise I think the middle seat can be selected by anyone. (not even sure about how preferable the bulkhead/exit row middle seats are!)