Delta changed my seats!

[Hannathy]

You asked if I would be upset and the answer is no. You are together. 2 kids and an adult and an adult and 1 kid. I don't see where the problem is. We have been split up a lot more than that.

You should be very happy they were able to get you that together. you may have ended up with 2 together and then single seats all over the place.

Just make sure each kid has their own snacks and things to occupy themselves in their own back pack so if there is another change there will be no problem with them sitting apart.

And it isn't just Delta they all do it. I wouldn't fuss at the airport I'd just take the seats the way they are and have a good flight rather than getting all worked up and starting the vacation stressed.

 

[oldkey1]

....that at 5 days out Elite members start getting upgraded. Check the seating chart every day (at least a couple of times) until departure day. Then get to the airport early. Since starting in ND you will be "in line" for changes before the folks in MSP. Best advice - ask nicely. Being an airline employee with Delta sucks worse than being a Delta customer. I'm about to become Platinum on Delta and plan next year to fly them as little as is possible. The airline truly believes that shareholder wealth can not exist while giving quality employee or customer service. I absolutely hate Delta.

 

[DebbieB]

If it shows that the flight is currently full, is there a chance that some seats will open up?

There is a possibility someone will cancel. I had a Delta business flight earlier this month and had a seat in the back, no other seats open (50 seat CRJ). I watched the chart and a few days before 2 seats opened up in the 2nd row so I grabbed one of them. The second seat actually remained empty.

There are also seats held back for airport check-in. You could check on those at your home airport, you don't have to wait until you get to MSP. There are also seats they hold for their elite flyers, you would not see them on the seating chart if you don't have status.

 

[mom of 3G's]

I don't see where the problem is.

We seldom fly so I apologize for my naivity in my assumptions of seat selection/guarantee.

 

[dudspizza]

There is a possibility someone will cancel. I had a Delta business flight earlier this month and had a seat in the back, no other seats open (50 seat CRJ). I watched the chart and a few days before 2 seats opened up in the 2nd row so I grabbed one of them. The second seat actually remained empty.

There are also seats held back for airport check-in. You could check on those at your home airport, you don't have to wait until you get to MSP. There are also seats they hold for their elite flyers, you would not see them on the seating chart if you don't have status.

Good advice. Checking in in ND will actually help since the MSP passengers won't be in line yet. If there were seats held back for departure day, they should be available to be switched to.... ask nicely. If they are there, Delta should be able to help.

In the end, a 3 hour flight from MSP-MCO will work out just fine with 1 adult with 2 kids and the other adult with the 3rd kid. Yes, sitting together is perfect, but the world isn't perfect and things will work out just fine.....

Have a wonderful trip.

duds

 

[Hibernians]

same thing happened to me and my family twice with Delta; as a result we fly on Southwest now and refuse to give Delta our business. We have 4 small kids and both times we booked our flights way out, like 9 or 10 months; selected our seats near the front of the plane and then later on Delta canceled our flights and put us on a later flight with seats split up in the very back of the plane.

Splitting up the family and moving us to the back of the plane stinks but at least we knew we we're heading to Disney so we could live with that but the worst thing was that we basically lost our first day of vacation since our late morning flight was now a late afternoon flight.

I too pleaded with Delta over the phone and in person at the airport and at the gate check in - neither time did they change my seats - bothtimes the flights were full as a result of Delta canceling the earlier flight and squeezing everyone on to the later flight.

I think Delta could easily have changed the seats and have my family sit together if they wanted to.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

....that at 5 days out Elite members start getting upgraded. Check the seating chart every day (at least a couple of times) until departure day. Then get to the airport early. Since starting in ND you will be "in line" for changes before the folks in MSP. Best advice - ask nicely. Being an airline employee with Delta sucks worse than being a Delta customer. I'm about to become Platinum on Delta and plan next year to fly them as little as is possible. The airline truly believes that shareholder wealth can not exist while giving quality employee or customer service. I absolutely hate Delta.

This so much!

I don't like Delta, and they are horrendous about cancelling flights at the last minute and moving people around etc.

Your best bet to get what you want is, honestly, to be nice, warm, welcoming, empathetic and caring to the folks who work for Delta. They're underpaid, overworked, and have deal with people yelling at them over things that are beyond their control and not their fault. If you're really, really nice to them and care about them as people, they will generally go out of their way to help you. (Bonus: you'll feel better about yourself and your blood pressure will be healthier!)

ETA: And if they can't help you? Take a deep breath, smile, thank the workers sincerely for trying, and walk away. . .after all you're headed to DISNEYWORLD! You can handle one flight split into two family units and laugh about it later! (And if something opens up after you've calmly, pleasantly walked away and thanked them for trying. . .oh yeah, they'll definitely remember how nice you were.)

 

[Hannathy]

We seldom fly so I apologize for my naivity in my assumptions of seat selection/guarantee.

I was answering the question do I see a problem with the way Delta has resolved the problem. And no I do not

You have an adult with each group of children and no one is alone. How much better can it get?

Even if you are all in the same row or one group behind the other it doesn't really matter it isn't like you can easily talk or visit. between the height of the seats and the noise of the engines you can't do much more than one or two word exchanges anyway especially 5 seats away.

I do think the airlines should do a better job of letting people know seats aren't guaranteed.

 

[maxiesmom]

same thing happened to me and my family twice with Delta; as a result we fly on Southwest now and refuse to give Delta our business. We have 4 small kids and both times we booked our flights way out, like 9 or 10 months; selected our seats near the front of the plane and then later on Delta canceled our flights and put us on a later flight with seats split up in the very back of the plane.

Splitting up the family and moving us to the back of the plane stinks but at least we knew we we're heading to Disney so we could live with that but the worst thing was that we basically lost our first day of vacation since our late morning flight was now a late afternoon flight.

I too pleaded with Delta over the phone and in person at the airport and at the gate check in - neither time did they change my seats - bothtimes the flights were full as a result of Delta canceling the earlier flight and squeezing everyone on to the later flight.

I think Delta could easily have changed the seats and have my family sit together if they wanted to.

If Delta changes your flight time, they will let you switch to a different flight at no cost. All you have to do is call them, and tell them the new time doesn't work for you. I have done that on more than one occasion, and the people at Delta coudn't have been any nicer!

You last statement is a bit questionable though. You were not happy that your seats were switched, so you wanted them to do it to others for your benefit?Booking way in advance it is very likely your seat assignments will not remain the same, as airlines condense flights down. Remember that when you fly again in the future, you need to keep an eye on your flights. Changes can happen. Babysit your flights.

 

[francie57]

We fly Delta every trip since they have the best non-stop times to and from MCO. We always book well in advance - I just booked our flights for next Aug. since the prices was $189 with fees and taxes. We picked our seat already and will just keep checking each week to make sure they don't change. We have had our seats in the past change because, as others have said, equiment changes. The computer just spits out new seating assignments in that case. There have been complaints on these boards about all airlines so Delta is not the only one. As fliers today you just have to keep alert to your flights and keep checking. In the past we have been split up on the flights and it really isn't a big deal as long as you have one adult with the kids you will be fine and you are on your way to Disney so don't let this ruin your trip.

 

[crashbb]

I wrote this for somone in a slightly different situation, but most of the suggestions could still help you (although it sounds like everyone is already paired up):

Yes, they may end up sitting apart from you and no the world will not end (not saying you think it will).

Ways to reduce the chances of this happening:

1) Keep checking the seat selector to see if any pairs open up. Choose "good" singletons seats - near the front, aisles (or window if no aisles) - as these are more tradeable.

2) Call Delta - sometimes they have seats that are blocked, but not actually being used. They *may* give you a pair (they may not, even if they exist, since they are blocked for a reason).

3) Check in at the 24 hour mark. The blocked seats have often opened up and people may have upgraded, opening up coach seats. See comment about getting "good" singletons.

4) Get to the airport early and ask at the check-in counter if any pairs have opened up. Again, upgrades may have happened. Or cancellations. Or people choosing other seats when they check in (thus opening up seats). See comment about getting "good" singletons.

5) Ask again at the gate. Again, cancellations, upgrades, etc. keep happening.

6) Very nicely ask the people in the seats that would give you a pair. ALWAYS try to ask people to move into a better seat. In other words, ask someone in a middle seat to take your aisle seat or ask people to move forward, rather than backwards (let's say you have a seat in row 5 and a seat in row 30 - ask the person in row 30 if they'd like the seat in row 5, don't ask the person in row 5 to take the seat in row 30).

In case all else has failed - make sure that each of your kids has their own backpack (or whatever) for carry on, in which they have their own entertainment/snacks/whatever so that they have everything they need if they are sitting alone.

WHAT NOT TO DO - do not threaten the person sitting beside your kids if they don't want to move. In other words, do not hand them a paper bag and say "Here's a bag in case she gets sick". Do not tell your child to cry. Do not just sit in the seat and hand the person your boarding pass. Do not pitch a hissy fit. I'm not at all suggesting that you plan on doing this, but all my examples have been suggested on this board.

 

[crashbb]

I just checked my Delta itinerary and I see that our seat assignment on the way from Mnpls to MCO has changed. I booked back in May for our Dec. flights and I had it figured so that all 5 of us would be together. Now they have my DH and I in row 25 and the 3 kids in row 35!!! I called and he said it was because of a schedule change and the system automatically changed us. How can you put 3 little kids by themselves??? Does the system not check ages?? The plane is full so he couldn't change us around other than put an adult back with 2 kids and 1 kid up front. He said that when we check in they may be able to accomodate us. I asked to speak to a supervisor but he claimed that they would not be able to do anything. How can they switch our seats and not be able to change it on their end? If they were able to switch us around, then they should be able to switch somebody else around.

Another question I have is can a 9 y/o be in an aisle seat? I thought I read somewhere that they couldn't because it would impede the exit of the other seats in an emergency.

Just to point out that you could have easily done this yourself (the bolded bit). As long as the five of you are sitting in the five seats for which you have boarding passes, it doesn't matter who actually sits in which seat.

 

[NancyIL]

I have never had the seat assignment problem on American, but Delta would drop my seat assignment every time the flight time changed by even a few minutes.

 

[pamjb]

I am hoping some of the people who bash SW's boarding policy would read this thread.
To the OP, you will be fine. I have had Delta change my flights (they had me leaving the connection airport before I got there. Um don't think so) That happened twice. I pretty much stick with Southwest now. I realize you were just venting and we all know there is no pixie dust on the Transporation board. But several posters gave you information that you can use in the future. Hopefully, you are saying to yourself, "Hmm, that is a good idea".
If you ever need to make flight arrangements again, maybe you could book another airline from Minneapolis. Just because Delta is the only game in town from North Dakota, doesn't mean it is the only game from other airports. Just something to think about the next time....

 

[kaytieeldr]

I do think the airlines should do a better job of letting people know seats aren't guaranteed.

JetBlue does! Right on the seat selection page is a disclaimer letting you know "your seat selection is not guaranteed". I've never had a problem - but I know my seat may get changed!!!

 

[mom of 3G's]

To the OP, you will be fine. ... Hopefully, you are saying to yourself, "Hmm, that is a good idea".


If you ever need to make flight arrangements again, maybe you could book another airline from Minneapolis. Just because Delta is the only game in town from North Dakota, doesn't mean it is the only game from other airports. Just something to think about the next time....

Yep, wish I had known this beforehand...I would have kept a closer eye on the flight. The previous times I have flown I've used Allegiant and paid for our seats so there wasn't an issue.

It's the flight to MSP that is the killer. It seems like for just a few dollars more I can stay on Delta and fly from MSP to my destination. Each roundtrip ticket on Delta from my home airport to MCO was $493, whereas just flying from my home airport to MSP was around $400.

 

[canadiankim]

Wow, I think a little sympathy is in order. I fully understand that when you have 3 kids and they are young that you want to have things organised well in advance.

I hope that you get your seats together, remember deep breaths and counting to 10 and try and make the best of it. The journay should be part of the vacation and try and enjoy it.

 

[bumbershoot]

If it shows that the flight is currently full, is there a chance that some seats will open up?

I'm not the expert, but I've read, here, repeatedly that just b/c it shows the seats can't be chosen doesn't mean it's full. Hubby takes relatively last-minute flights (usually booked a week or so out), often on Delta, and he can't even check in until he gets to the ticket counter...he has no seat selection at all until he gets there. Which means there are open seats, even if it doesn't appear that there are.

 

[mom of 3G's]

I hope that you get your seats together, remember deep breaths and counting to 10 and try and make the best of it. The journay should be part of the vacation and try and enjoy it.

I can guarantee you I'll be calm as I am claustrophobic and will have taken my Ativan. Part of the reason that I booked early and picked seats closer to the front of the plane is so that I don't see so many people. Now I'll definitely be seeing more people and will need the Ativan.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Have you tried hypnosis? I have two friends who were SO claustrophobic they couldn't even GET on a plane, never mind with drugs. They've both had sessions with a reputable hypnotist in the Boston area, and now both fly. Better and faster than one's previous four-day train trips to California!!!!