GateGuardian

I have not booked extra seat on Delta before, but have on Air Canada and it requires calling in. As others have said, it's usually cheaper to book a first class seat, especially for domestic travels and if you have checked luggage.

Chris330

Thanks for everyone's advice. It's really helpful. As far as earning miles is concerned, i'm not really a frequent flyer so that's not much of a concern for me. I travel just once per year to Vegas from Orlando and comfort during that 4 hour leg there and back is most important to me. And yes, seat width is definitely more important than anything else.

I haven't flown in a few years and it appears that the seats have become a bit smaller then when I regularly flown. I'm still the same size as i've always been (6 ft. and 190lbs) so it's not me lol.

My next trip to Vegas is probably going to be in December, so I have lots of time to do research on this. When the time comes to buy, i'll just try to buy both on the Delta website and if I hit any snags, i'll just call them and let them know what I want to do. Hopefully they'll help me to buy those 2 seats for myself or if FC isn't too much more than that, i'll choose that option.

I just want to ensure what happened yesterday never happens again and have no problem shelling out double price for basic comfort. And it's sad that I should even have to do this, but it is what it is and it's not going to change.

DiverDave

You can book an extra seat with the Amex companion certificates.

readywhenyouare

Haven't there been cases of the airline taking away that second seat in an overbooked situation?

WheelsUpGal

I am considering doing this - business class on overseas flights isn’t all it’s cracked up to be sometimes and I’d be quite happy with a bit more space in coach. Better if it’s configured for 2 seats instead of 3. I have had squishy slights like that. VERY uncomfortable. I always go for an aisle seat with my right arm in the aisle as I am right handed. Hope you will come back and let us know if you were able to do this!

Chris330

This is exactly what i'd be afraid of happening. A FA would void my extra seat ticket and sit whoever they wanted there and I would be beyond livid.

PurdueFlyer

The extra seat is NOT released to standbys / nonrevs, or used to balance oversells. Don't worry about that. You paid for it, its yours. You'll get a boarding pass for the extra seat, the GA will then block the seat in the computer, and nobody will be seated there.

After you fly, you can submit the extra seat ticket number for Skymiles credit (just the base redeemable miles, not MQMs or MQDs, but its still better than nothing).

Gig103

If your last flight was on an airbus and this was a Boeing, it would feel smaller but to my knowledge DL hasn't changed the seats.

Something that has changed in the past 2 years is basic economy. So larger customers, like the one that made your most recent trip so miserable, might have previously booked an aisle seat but now don't have that option and aren't always polite enough like myself to book main cabin to secure an aisle.

If it happens again you can bring it to the attention of the flight attendant before takeoff; you are entitled to having your full seat and at 190lbs I am confident you weren't the one encroaching.
​​​​

bennos

I've done this several times, both domestic and international. You must call in and have an agent book this. It is not sufficient to book an extra ticket for yourself with the EXST first name, as the agents do some additional work on the reservation. The instructions cited on the Pro site linked upthread indicate this -- these are not steps you can do yourself. (This is in contrast to some other airlines, jetBlue IIRC allows you to do this online.)

There are some extra complications when checking in on an international itinerary, but since you're flying domestic you won't run into those. However, you will almost certainly have to check in at a counter to get the boarding pass for the second seat. When boarding, present both boarding passes so the GAs counts are accurate and the remainder of your itinerary isn't canceled as a no-show. Getting a boarding pass and having it scanned at the gate ensures your itinerary is checked in correctly. Particularly if you fly multiple segments, later segments may be canceled if you don't do this. (I've had agents block my extra seat instead of properly checking it in, and then had to have the GA fix it when my connecting flight's extra seat was canceled.)

If you've already booked two tickets for yourself online, you can probably call in (or maybe try Twitter?) and have them fix the itinerary for you.

ijgordon

I disagree.
I’ve done it a bunch of time on DL and other airlines, including an international award flight on AA. Never had a problem. I don’t think I’ve ever had the EXST in an oversale situation, but definitely there have been folks on the standby list that didn’t make it.

Of course you do need to flag to the gate agent when they scan both boarding passes that one is an extra seat, otherwise the physical passenger count will be incorrect. Honestly, I don’t think they really care if it’s marked as EXST or EXTRASEAT or whatever nomenclature.

paterwdb

A random check of a long weekend in December, MCO-LAS, returns an Economy seat (you can't do Basic economy, since the seats wouldn't be matched to each other, I'm assuming) at about $420 x 2; first class for one seat is about $1050. Obviously fares will fluctuate, but if I were you, I'd book it in F. You get better treatment, a meal, free booze, and a better experience. Besides, you only go to Vegas once or twice a year, might as well go in style for just a bit more than the cost of two seats.

nrr

Google Flights can show you “historical” pricing, if the FC $1050 is high, wait a few days, it will probably go down; you still have nearly a year to go.
Between Thanksgiving and Christmas is the “slow period” in LAS...prices for hotels and airfares should be lower than other periods.

AeRoSpaceman

In my mind the EXST option is good to have for a POS, but what are the odds of this happening again to the OP? If he was a frequent traveler and had this happen frequently that is one thing. But the OP said that they are a once a year traveler. The odds on this are very small on it happening every time they take their once a year flight. To each his own but this isn't a bet I would pay for.

jdrtravel

If money is not a big issue, just get a first class seat. The price difference won't be significant, and as others said, it could be cheaper, and you'll get free checked luggage, drinks and, depending on route, a meal.

MT_Switch

Assuming you don't get bumped/downgraded from F for some random or arbitrary reason.