First post-not sure if in right spot.

Flying with wife, and 10 year and 13 year old daughters to Aruba tomm morning out of JFK. Flight shows full. Problem is we have we have 4 separate seats, in separate rows, but near each other. Spoke to Delta-says there is nothing they can do right now-need to go to Delta rep at airport. Here are my questions.

1. Check in online today anway?
2. Go to Check in-counter to try to get new seats?
3. Go to gate to try and get new seats?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Yes to all of the above. If you check-in online there may be some blocked seats that are available at check-in. If that doesn't work, try the counter and if that doesn't work try the gate.

Welcome to FT! Good luck with the seats.

Delta is pretty horrible with seats disappearing (if that is what happened to you).

Minor equipment changes often removes your seats. Be proactive, try to check in at the 24 hour mark, and see if you can get any seats together. Otherwise, show up early, ask a DL employee if they can seat some of you together. If that doesn't work, at the gate, as soon as it opens, as the gate agent to help as well.

If nothing works out, take your seats, and then ask politely people near your seats if they wouldn't mind swapping. Don't get mad if they don't want to, and don't expect someone to change a good seat (aisle or window) for a bad middle seat.

And if that doesn't work, ask on the aircraft after you have taken your seats. Most people are sympathetic when you have kids. It helps if you can trade a window/aisle to someone who is seated in a middle seat. I wouldn't expect to get 4 altogether, but you should have no problem getting 2 + 2 together.

If you have middle seats, don't expect people to willingly give you their aisle or window seats just so you can sit next to your not-so-young kids.

Unfortunately, this is happening more and more with equipment changes.

1. Yes, check in online.
2. Use as much self-help as possible: monitor seat map and grab one-off seats as they become available. Focus on grabbing "close" seats, but also good "trading" seats (it's easy to ask someone in the aisle you want to move to another aisle).
3. Watch for seats to become available right at OLCI. I find that seats appear (perhaps because people are upgraded from them?) right at the 24 hour mark.
4. You can ask at check-in, but realistically, they have no more power than you do looking at the seat map. Certainly ask at the gate, and get to the gate on the earlier side.
5. Ask, ask, ask; check, check, check.
6. Prepare the 10 year old and 13 year old for the possibility of sitting alone but nearby. My children are slightly younger than that, and I am using a similar situation as a "teaching experience."
7. If all else fails, politely ask people to switch. But recognize that it's your issue, not theirs. Don't demand -- you have no right to.

Good luck.

It's better to have no seats at all than a bunch of middles assigned. If you have no seats the gate agents take care of those when they open the flight with a focus on groups. Right now you are off the radar because you are seated. Probably too late at this point to do anything other than swap with people if possible. If you have 4 aisles, it will be easy, if you have 4 middles you are SOL. And an Aruba flight is probably all groups.

Whoever assigned you the mixed seats did you no favor......

I agree and do that often when I can't assign an aisle or window. The one catch with that strategy is in an oversold situation. If they have to IDB the person without a seat assignment may be SOL. As a Medallion, I don't worry about that too much but if I didn't have status it would be something to think about.

Don't they IDB the last person who checked in (whether or not they have a seat assignment) vs. the person without a seat assignment? That was my impression, but it might be wrong.

NO - Could not disagree more.

By the looks of it, the OP has no status.

No status + a full flight + no seat assignment = Spectacular Recipe for getting bumped off the flight.

Airlines have special priority rules, which they sometimes follow. Depending on the number of seats needed, a group may be more or less likely to be IDB'd.

There are three categories of people with respect to IDB. The first is Medallion members and those in a premium cabin; they will be accommodated first. The second is those with boarding passes; they will be accommodated second by class of service and then checkin time. The third group is passengers without boarding passes (ie a seat request card); with some secondary priority for IROPS, FO, ST E/E+ and then sorted again by class of service and checkin time.

Full details are on page 42 and 43 of the COC, located here:
http://www.delta.com/content/dam/del...rriage_dom.pdf

I think the OP said they had seats, just not together.

Check in

Either counter or gate can do their best to move you around or at least put the girls together. There are three seats showing open now (two are exit row, though) but all is under Airport Control. This is in addition to any blocked seats. Just be at the counter/gate early in case the flight does not fully load and before stand-bys are processed

I have not seen very many groups on the AUA flights especially on a weekday. Most travelers on this route are very amiable and I really do not think you will have an issue.

OP Drop me a PM - I will be there Saturday for a day or so to take care of some matters.

And OP should also understand that in trying to move things around, DL GA will first focus on families with small kids. The youngest in OP's group is 13, so not quite such a critical issue.

He's already got assigned seats, so he's past the problem of getting assigned lousy ones.

The key is to be persistent, but not pushy. Persistent so that the GA wants to help, but not pushy so the GA just ignores. Important to remember that DL has zero obligation to do anything here, so it's a polite ask not a demand.

+1.

My only two IDB's in my life have been DL, no status, no seat assignment. They bump the people with no seats, period. They did not solicit VDB in any way that a gate-area passenger would have heard, nor did they offer at the kiosk. I checked in at T-24 on both occasions.

Check in, get your seat assignments in-hand, prepare the kiddos with some reading material or other entertainment for the flight, and just get to your destination.

No seat assignments could mean a full day and night in New York. Which would be better than a full day and night in Atlanta and a room at the worst Holiday Inn in the history of human hospitality. (Just trying to provide a little silver lining for you... )