Select Seating (again)
 

One of the supposed benefits of Select Seating is that middle seats will be kept open unless the flight is so full that they are needed.

When OLCI'ing I of course select a row with a vacant middle seat, only to usually find that there is somebody in that seat anyway when I board the aircraft. This in spite of the fact that far more often than not I can see plenty of empty seats around, sometimes even one, two or more rows that are completely unoccupied.

I've now decided to resort to the tactic of boarding as the very last pax, and then simply picking whatever seat that takes my fancy. This works like a charm on all but really full flights. Yesterday I selected three seats for myself, instead of taking my assigned seat in an otherwise full row.

Why on earth is it so difficult to properly implement Select Seating? On yesterday's flight KL wanted me to sit in a full row, while a non-elite colleague of mine had a row of six seats to himself. Good for him, but are they just really stupid, lazy and incompetent or what?

I just don't get it!!!

Johan

For all I know it would be a very simple algorythm to implement. Realy VERY simple.

Johan seems like you have been asking KLM "how difficult" is this for sometime now surely you must realise that its their job to do this in order for you to contribute to FT

Select Seating goes from strength to strength!
 

Having a preference for aisle seats, I've long since accepted that I'm usually pre-assigned a window seat. That this was the case again this morning did therefore not come as a surprise. What caused me to raise an eyebrow, then, was the novel idea of pre-assigning me a seat in one of the very last rows on the aircraft. On an F70, which has tail-mounted engines!

Many years ago Interflug used to operate Ilyushin 18s with the first class cabin located at the very back of the aircraft. This was not for communist ideological reasons, but because the rear end of the cabin was far quieter than the front.

Perhaps KL has hit on a new way of keeping disgruntled PEs from voicing their opinions: drown the chorus of despair in the roar of two F70 engines.

Johan

Welcome to the club! This has been happening to me for years, especially on F70s (well, most of my flights ARE on F70s these days, so that's not really surprising).

It happens a fair bit of the time when I'm travelling on my own. It happens nearly 100% of the time when I am travelling with my other half (who is also GE)

Me too (GE) always given a window or middle seat, rarely an aisle though this has been in my profile since I joined.

Again, elite benefits are not implemented properly, if at all.

Shame really. On a BA I fare for my vacation - assigned 2A & C, welcomed by name, "more champagne, sir?".

Guess what... we are travelling on KLM tomorrow, LCY-AMS for a change (usual departure airport is NWI). Just checked us in - preallocated two seats in Row 14 right at the back of the F50. PLENTY of seats available everywhere - in fact only 5A and 5C were shown as taken.

What are they playing at???

Isn't that the cancelled flight?
















:)

I thought you were serious for a moment. Until I realised you were winding me up. (I hope...) :confused:

Couldn't resist, sorry.

Flights seem quiet except the 1564 @ 15:55

Does Select Seating Still Exist?
 

As I wrote in the first post: I just don't get it.

The other day, I boarded the aircraft to discover that I was the only person on the entire plane in a row with an occupied middle seat. Even though the load factor was very low (lekker puh!), the so-called Select Seating zone was a lot busier than the rest of the aircraft: there was not a single pax in any of the rows in the middle section over the wing, and not all that many more sitting farther aft.

Johan

Have the same "problem" on CityJets flights.

We're two (who more or less always flying together) and both of us are E+. Every single time we're automatically assigned seats at the very front of the plane and with any if's and but's there is always some one sitting next to us even though there are plenty of seats available further down the plane :( We have now started to get one of the last three rows as these are the only 2 seaters next to each other...

Is the blocked seat only for Plat holders or is there a trick around the problem?

We have tried to change seats so the middle seat is open when checking in online but this has never worked either :rolleyes:

Definitely not for Plat. I had the same experience yesterday from Ams to FCO (as so often), middle seat occupied while almost all other rows had no-one in the middle - and plenty off empyt rows in the back. Very annoying, shows again that KLM does not care too much about elite+ customers that only fly in economy class.

Btw, where is it actually written that a middle seat will be blocked unless the flight is full for Elites?

So I fired off some questions to my Schiphol sources on this one.

For European sectors in Y cabin, it's not possible to reserve a seat before checking in.
So theoretically, the whole cabin should be empty when Internet check-in opens 30 hours before departure.
But this is not the case.
Firstly, pax checking in from destinations further away (say, Singapore for example), get seats before we can check-in as they are able to check-in 30 hours prior to their first flight.
So that takes away some seats.
Secondly, the Departure Control System will distribute passengers in the plane evenly as more people check-in, also taking into consideration the booked load.
With a very light load, certain sections are blocked for Weight and Balance purposes.
So on internet check-in it may appear as something has been "reserved" for us, but that's merely the computer allocating a seat as we check-in.
Of course check-in agents can shift the passengers if they don't like the seat the was assigned by the computer.

Select Seating is no longer able available on intercontinental flights - it has been replaced by Economy Comfort.
On European sectors it is available - for those in Unrestricted Economy fare classes and Silver Elite and upward, provided the FB number is in the reservation.

Does the DCS automatically preseat those who are eligible before check-in opens?
No it does not.
Does it automatically allocate seats upon checkin in, in the Select rows if one is eligible?
Yes it does.

Could attentative staff play a role in better and fairer distribution?
Yes they can as in the flight preparation period, they could pre-seat Elites, block middle rows and ensure a fair distribution throughout the plane.
Do they do this?
At many stations yes, at others not.
Why not?
Because it costs time and effort.

For flights departing Amsterdam there is the thing of "missed connections".
A flight that's full can appear quite empty because passengers have been rebooked.

Tip: check the self service transfer machines at Schiphol Airport - that gives one a fair idea of available seats before departure, much more accurate than Internet Check-in and you can reseat until a certain period (I believe until the flight is closed for check-in).