I know with Continental it's possibe to have an elite friend assign you to an exit row or otherwise premium seat. Is this possible on NW? I'm a tall, big guy and I would really REALLY like an exit row for a NYC-NRT flight.

When flying with my wife (non-elite) I always have NW assign her a seat next to me in a premium seat.

Even when I am upgraded and can't get the companion upgrade, she (or I) still sit in premium economy seats.

Dave

Has anybody tried this for a non-spouse, or somebody your not flying with?

I think the elite member traveling on the same metal, handling the reservation at the same time means a lot in this case (especially on an elite resv line). The OP is not clear if he is travelling with an elite companion or not. I think it would be iffy to request what are "premium seats" and not have an elite sitting in them.
Truthfully, I don't know, just have your friend try it, nothing to lose.

Yes, the elite must be flying in the same plane and must call with your name & conf. # to secure the non-elite's premium seat.

I coached my boss unit thru this yesterday for a coworker who is traveling with him.

You do not have to be in the same PNR.

How elite is your friend? I would guess that the plat line might be willing to do it as a courtesy. Nothing to lose by trying.

The SE line (normal resv. people, head of queue) did it for my supervisor (SE) and coworker (not elite) yesterday.

You know I have to say I had doen this myself via work prior to attaining status and never had a problem. Most gate agents will try and accomodate you if possible as well.

That's funny. It's always me whose in Coach.

I have done this on a couple of occaisons. You have to call the elite line you use, and humbly ask that the reservation agent call "Inventory Control" and move your non-elite spouse, partner, friend. into an exit row or premium seat. The reservations agent may not grant you request. If this happens, I would hang up and try again. I recommend calling late at night to get a newer agent that is more willing to make an impression with you as an elite member. Also, once your non-elite PAX is moved into an exit or a premium seat -- you will need to double check their seat assignment often as these moves are prone to becoming "un-done" (this happened to me on one occaison).

Good luck!

-Alan

Okay so it is possible, although not as easy as on Continental(Can just be done via the web site). Is anybody willing to do it for me? Comeon be nice...the people on the CO board were very helpful with this. If you are just PM me. If your in NYC I will buy you a drink or something.

Bump:Please fellow flyertalkers, be kind to a tall college kid on his first transpac

You might have considered a more honest approach for your OP. Something along the lines of "what is the best way for a non elite to obtain emergency row seating".
Your ploy of inferring that you had a friend to do this, requesting advice for your friend and then finally asking complete strangers to be your friend is a bit smarmy.

Good luck

Hey this is flyertalk, aren't we all friends Seriously you're probably right though. I wasn't sure if that would have gotten the post removed though, some moderators on here are like that, while others are more friendly. Plus I wanted to make sure it was even doable before asking somebody to do it for me. Seems like the NW board is pretty good though.

If you're a CO Elite (or other partner Elite), NW will not extend this courtesy to your companion if on a separate record. They'll do it for NW Elites, but not partners. I've tried many times recently as CO Elite, and always been denied. In one case, we had made reservations at the same time on different records (two of us were work colleagues, paying separately), and we even had consecutive ticket numbers. Escalated and still denied.

After a discussion with a supervisor on how to get seated together if we're paying separately for work expense purposes, it was suggested that if I really wanted to do this, buy both tickets on the same record, so we can get seated together in the Elite zone. Then, refund my (Elite) ticket only through Customers First. Then buy my ticket again on a separate record with my form of payment.

It seems like a lot of work, and not worth it, though I may try it once just out of spite. They seem to protect the Elite seats as they do spinzels. Good luck getting them...