Seats "unavailable" but not "occupied"
Dec 5, 2019, 7:22 am
#1
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Join Date: May 2009
Programs: tug; csa; cruise critic
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Seats Blocked/ Marked Unavailable???
I am looking at some international flights, open jaw, for next September just to get an idea of fares. I have noticed that many of the flights show about 50+ seats in the rear of the plane marked as unavailable. The seats are all together in a group. I checked about 4 different flights, different days, same route and the pattern is consistent. Could you please tell me the reason for this........thanks
Dec 5, 2019, 8:44 am
#2
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They're blocked from pre-assignment by the airline, likely for use for passengers on basic economy fares (or who for other reasons don't have advance seat assignments), so that the airline can still ultimately seat families together.
Dec 5, 2019, 9:16 am
#3
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I forget, are some of them also potentially crew rest for FAs on aircraft that don't have enough dedicated space for it?
Dec 5, 2019, 11:38 am
#5
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I often notice two rows in the back for family reunification, including those with kids on BE fares but I'm not aware of it extending to fifty seats.
Could there be some expected tour groups, including cruise routes?
Could there be some expected tour groups, including cruise routes?
Dec 5, 2019, 1:21 pm
#6
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Fair point, I checked a few flights too and only see the back two rows unavailable. And of course the Preferred seats that would also be blocked for a non-elite are up front, not in the back.
martyap, care to share an example of a flight where you see this?
martyap, care to share an example of a flight where you see this?
Dec 5, 2019, 1:22 pm
#7
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 224
Only on the 75S there is a seat set dedicated to crew rest with a foot rest and tons of legroom. (Also happens to be the best seats in Y on non-international flights as they’re not blocked when there isn’t crew rest) all widebodies currently have crew rest facilities for FAs. If those are inop, they will block seats in C+ for crew rest.
Dec 5, 2019, 5:50 pm
#8
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I noticed this on DL260 on 8/28 and DL261 on 9/1. I figured it was a tour group, but now I'm wondering if it's in case they're thinking of down-gauging aircraft on a particular route/season?
Dec 6, 2019, 8:13 am
#10
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Apr 13, 2021, 9:23 am
#12
Join Date: Feb 2002
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Ok, I'm T-48 hours to departure on this flight to the domestic Caribbean. What's with all the blocked seats in C+? It's not like these are basic economy tickets waiting for seat assignment....
DL says there's only one ticket available for sale on this flight in each class of service.
DL says there's only one ticket available for sale on this flight in each class of service.
Apr 13, 2021, 10:07 am
#14
Join Date: Feb 2002
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On the seat map they have 4 seats blocked in F, 23 seats blocked in C+ and 13 seats blocked in Y. The seat map is also showing about 40 open Y seats that I can pick from (some preferred some not).
I know seat maps aren't an indication of flight capacity, but my gut tells me this is not an overbooking situation...
But hey, I'd love to get on that bump-up list.
Too bad I haven't had medallion status in over a decade.... 
Apr 13, 2021, 11:45 am
#15
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Well, if there's only one seat left for sale in each cabin, that sounds like a pretty full flight. There are typically a number of seats in Y that are blocked near the front and rear for special needs pax, UAMs, and such and not released until later. There can be similar seats in F and C+. On a 757, these blocked seats would be 17BC, 18DE, 19BC, 21DE, and rows 44 and 45 in the back.
Last edited by xliioper; Apr 13, 2021 at 11:51 am