Involuntary Seat Change -- Advice?

Old Jan 25, 2019, 8:05 am
  #1  
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Question Involuntary Seat Change -- Advice?

Hi All

I'm flying on the A350 (ATL-ICN) in D1 and I specifically reserved 5A several months ago based on various reports/reviews of the seats. I got an auto-generated email informing me that my seat has now been changed to 6D. When I called the DM desk, the agent said there was an equipment change from an A350 to an A350. I was like, "Uhh...I think DL only has one model of A350s?" She then said that there are 6 different D1 configurations and that the original configuration (when I booked the ticket) isn't available anymore--except that there's only one configuration for D1.

Here's where I could use some advice:

1) What the heck happened? According to the email from DL, this change was due to a "technical seat duplication." I thought it might be an FAM, but I thought new policies dictated that they have to fly in Y now?

2) What recourse do I have? (I wanted a side seat away from the aisle).

3) Is there really an equipment change? I really hope the A350 didn't get switched a tired 777. The whole point of choosing this flight was to try out the A350.

(I recognize these are first-world problems, so I just want to name that)
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Old Jan 25, 2019, 8:22 am
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There's literally nothing you can do - at least right now. Maybe you can try to plead your case to the gate agent, but that is unlikely to be successful.

I got moved from an exit row aisle to a regular seat window due to the infamous A321 equipment swap issue (even though my seat existed in both configs). This happened not once, not twice, but THREE times on different flights. After the third time, I spent about 4 hours on the Diamond line, customer care line, and other lines I don't even know and got the same answer every time - they cannot force someone out of the seat once they are there (even though I called 5 minutes after the fake equipment swap occurred and the new person in that seat - who was in a regular seat before - didn't even know they had a seat).

It's ridiculous but there's really nothing you can do at this point.
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Old Jan 25, 2019, 9:02 am
  #3  
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Use EF to set seat alerts for all of the odd numbered window seats on your flight. There tends to be more movement in the D1 cabin than you might expect. I did one of these myself recently to get the suite type I wanted on a TPAC just last week. In fact, set an alert for your own seat too as this *might* warn you if your seat has been moved involuntarily, although I like to double check my flights/seats weekly after the Saturday schedule changes.

What new policy about FAMs riding in Y only? I haven't heard of any such rule, but I hope it's true.
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Old Jan 25, 2019, 9:31 am
  #4  
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The starting and ending point is that you have no recourse. The contract you agreed to specifically states that seat assignments are not guaranteed.

It is highly unlikely that you will every find out why this happened, largely because no front line agent (or even supervisors in a call center) know the true answer. Better answer to have given you was simply, "sorry, but I don't have access to that information."

As others note, the best you can do here is to keep an eye on it, either manually or through EF.
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Old Jan 25, 2019, 10:10 am
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When this happened to me last year, I called, they told me the FAM took my seat, and they gave me a bunch of skymiles for the inconvenience and in case I did not get my choice of meal (it was right before the rollout of meal preselect). Nothing they can do. BTW, the FAM was a really scary looking guy.
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Old Jan 25, 2019, 10:35 am
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Here's the article that I was referencing: https://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-...ry?id=59974300 (I guess the program won't be implemented until later this year.)

While the cost of setting up a seat alert is $0.99, I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle at this point. For those who've flown on the A350 in D1, is the quality of side seats (A/D) really that different between even and odd rows? I mean, I have a long flight from ATL-ICN...

I asked the DM desk what happened, and I asked why the other person got the seat instead of me. She said that it's based on the time of seat request. I asked if status played any role in this, and she said no -- though I do wonder whether DL would boot a paying J pax to accommodate a 360 member.
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Old Jan 25, 2019, 10:45 am
  #7  
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Originally Posted by The Situation
When this happened to me last year, I called, they told me the FAM took my seat
if they told you that, then it probably wasn't a FAM since they're legally prohibited from telling you that if it actually is one.
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Old Jan 25, 2019, 11:08 am
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I would stare down the passenger in your original seat
(just kidding) unfortunately it happens.
Happened to my wife and myself on a BA flight from BOM to LHR last month (BA could or would not explain as to why)
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Old Jan 25, 2019, 11:29 am
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Originally Posted by UVAhoo06
Here's the article that I was referencing: https://abcnews.go.com/US/exclusive-...ry?id=59974300 (I guess the program won't be implemented until later this year.)

While the cost of setting up a seat alert is $0.99, I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle at this point. For those who've flown on the A350 in D1, is the quality of side seats (A/D) really that different between even and odd rows? I mean, I have a long flight from ATL-ICN...

I asked the DM desk what happened, and I asked why the other person got the seat instead of me. She said that it's based on the time of seat request. I asked if status played any role in this, and she said no -- though I do wonder whether DL would boot a paying J pax to accommodate a 360 member.
There is really no difference between the A side and the D side other than the fact that the FAs usually take meal choices from the A/B folks and then the C/D folks. There is a difference in the odd seats and even seats. Even seats have more storage than odd seats.
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Old Jan 25, 2019, 12:09 pm
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Originally Posted by DL-Don
There is really no difference between the A side and the D side other than the fact that the FAs usually take meal choices from the A/B folks and then the C/D folks. There is a difference in the odd seats and even seats. Even seats have more storage than odd seats.
I gotcha -- I guess for the first meal, I've pre-reserved a Korean meal. For the second meal, I guess I might somewhat out of luck--that is, unless, they follow FEBO.
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Old Jan 25, 2019, 12:46 pm
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Originally Posted by The Situation
When this happened to me last year, I called, they told me the FAM took my seat, and they gave me a bunch of skymiles for the inconvenience and in case I did not get my choice of meal (it was right before the rollout of meal preselect). Nothing they can do. BTW, the FAM was a really scary looking guy.
So if you were a terrorist ir bomber they just told you where the air marshal was sitting?
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Old Jan 25, 2019, 1:20 pm
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Originally Posted by Annalisa12
So if you were a terrorist ir bomber they just told you where the air marshal was sitting?
Yup. Anybody in my situation would have figured it out though. Given my original seat and taking one look at the guy and seeing his behavior throughout the flight (as I think anyone would have done in a case when someone takes their seat - take a look at the shena thread for evidence of that), it was extremely obvious who he was, and I am sure surrounding pax noticed how unusual his behavior was. My take was that the goal of the program was not to protect that particular flight, but to promote a general awareness that FAM do exist to serve as a general deterrent for all flights.
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Old Jan 25, 2019, 1:40 pm
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Originally Posted by UVAhoo06
I gotcha -- I guess for the first meal, I've pre-reserved a Korean meal. For the second meal, I guess I might somewhat out of luck--that is, unless, they follow FEBO.
No FEBO on international D1 flights
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Old Jan 25, 2019, 6:36 pm
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Happened to me once on NWA 747-200. I had reserved my favorite upper deck seat and noticed I had been moved. I called and .....ed & complained. The agent recognized I had been moved but wouldn't put me back. Ended up throwing me a bunch of miles. Day of flight, I boarded and my favorite seat was unoccupied so I took it.
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Old Jan 25, 2019, 10:23 pm
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Originally Posted by DL-Don
No FEBO on international D1 flights
Well, thats definitely unfortunate. I feel like a few miles would be go toward making me feel less crummy though, tbh, Im just frustrated more than anything else. I spoke to two DM agents and also tweeted the DL team. No one offered any sort of goodwill gesture just basically told me to suck it up. At the same one, I dont want to come off as one of those who complains about every little thing. (I rarely complain to DL unless its something egregious such as a broken seat in J).
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