Haha, I just want to buy tickets and sit next to my kid. Is that too much to ask?!
Nope, not too much to ask, the airline determines the price and effect to do this. Airtran (FL) and Southwest (WN) have a different method that Delta (DL) or United (UA), but no one is better than another on a macro scale.
Delta allows you to pick your seats for no charge, unlike a few other airlines. That said, your colleagues were trying to warn you that DL does a lot of schedule shifts and aircraft swaps to accommodate their customers, timetable, and margins. To that end, DL tries to anticipate any issues that may occur on the travel day (like weather or mechanical issues) and they try to assign the right sized aircraft for the job. As such, DL tends to swizzle the plane assignments and timetables a bit (737s come in many configurations, so one is not like the others).
Given this info, it is also important to understand how the computer software assigns seats. Once a change is made (or anticipated), the software begins reassigning seats to get all passengers in a chair. While it may seem intuitive to us viewing it a month or more out, the software is actually programed to make this changes while people are traveling. Meaning, it is reactionary and very efficient in preventing stranded passengers due to weather, mechanical, and other delays over a global network. The software ensures people on their way to a connection point will make it to their destination ASAP, and will assign people seats to ensure this occurs. As such, many times people get into a chair but no next to someone they know. You will be happy with this if you see the effects while you are actually traveling.
However, we must be diligent with our reservation prior to travel. It isn't something to stress over, but it is something to watch more frequently than you'd normally do. When traveling on a Delta airline, I usually check my reservations about once a month until closer to the travel date, when I switch to weekly reviews. The week or two before travel, I'll check up on it daily (usually via the app or website). takes little time, and if something did change, I can ensure my party is still sitting together.
We were discussing Delta's seat swap concerns on this thread:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3124212
Please join us. Oh and, yes, DL lets you pick seats for free on almost all tickets (not E as Not Ursula said). No worries here, though, as they release held blocks of seats and those seat vacated by frequent fliers getting an upgrade. at the airport. Just arrive around 2 hours before your flight (earlier than later).
Even if your DD doesn't sit with you for some strange reason, she should be fine at 16.
Have fun and good luck!
