Dumb Delta need to get in the 21st Century!

[disneyholic family]

Okay, well I guess we can say that unless you live in a desert country your seat assignments aren't guaranteed.

Seriously, it is important to keep in mind that things like seat assignments are much more generally respected on inter-continental flights.

also if you're in business or first class.....

 

[angel659]

Hi

We have allocated our seats, but as Virgin said it isnt gaurenteed they can change. Thats fine as long as we all sit together. We are travelling with 2 adults, 3 children 1,1 and 5. I dont mind not sitting near the window an isle seat you get more room. Only figured this one out last year when we flew with My Travel. Now my 2 boys will be having the seats near the window both my husband and I sitting at isle seats next to each other any dd next to me in the middle section with someone on her left side. Hopefully they all stay the same. Will check online just in case this can gaurentee the seats. Also we will be arriving 3-4 hours prior for breakfast and shops etc... I hate rushing the airport.

 

[CHRIS F]

also if you're in business or first class.....

Beth

How can you do that to me, first or business class I have walked through those areas many times, never stopped though well never allowed to stay lol.

I work for a company that would make me get on the baggage belt if they could!!

I have been unlucky with pre asigned seating, once with BA in 1995 we had front seats on a 747 in economy, actually got to sit in them and then the cabin crew from hell demanded that we move as some late arrival demanded extra room, actually told my family that if we did not comply the flight would be delayed, that is why I still hate BA.

I must say I flew Qatar airlines this year best flights I have ever taken!!

 

[disneyholic family]

Beth

How can you do that to me, first or business class I have walked through those areas many times, never stopped though well never allowed to stay lol.

I work for a company that would make me get on the baggage belt if they could!!

I have been unlucky with pre asigned seating, once with BA in 1995 we had front seats on a 747 in economy, actually got to sit in them and then the cabin crew from hell demanded that we move as some late arrival demanded extra room, actually told my family that if we did not comply the flight would be delayed, that is why I still hate BA.

I must say I flew Qatar airlines this year best flights I have ever taken!!

the company i work for would have me sit on the wings if they could...
when we fly business or first it's when we're flying on holiday or for personal reasons....

my husband's the head of his company, so he has greater freedom when he's on business trips....(and since he's 6' 7", anything less than a business seat is cruel and unusual punishment on longhaul flights....same goes for my 6' 6" son...)..

when i've flown alone in business, I'm occasionally asked if i'd be willing to switch to another seat....but i'm never willing....i'll fly at totally awful times just to be sure that i'm able to reserve the seat i like to be in...(front row upstairs on the 747).......

 

[kristieuk]

We are flying with delta from lgw next week, and yes it is a pain not to have twilight check in or the facility of checking in on line as our flight is at 9.15 [unless they change it again!] so we have to be there at 6.30am but that is why I suppose that is why Delta were considerably cheaper than Virgin or BA when I booked.

My only worry is not the seating so much but that the flight goes on time so we don't have to sprint for our connection in Atlanta, we have only done non direct flight twice and both times it was like a scene from Home Alone. Also what conerns me was that the Wednesday flight we are on was cancelled two weeks ago, I am checking on a daily basis.

The benefit of flying with Delta and having a connecting flight is that if anything does go wrong - eg a delay or whatever, they will simply bump you to the next available flight. They generally have almost hourly flights out of Atlanta to the major cities, so as long as you didn't arrive last thing at night, you'd have a very good chance of getting to your destination the same day. They will normally have all of the information available and be ready for you - it's not like having to explain a BA or Virgin delay that they have no knowledge of.

On our first Delta flight about 10 years ago, some poor chap had a heart attack. We had to down in Washington Dulles, get fuel checked etc all over again, and ended up in Atlanta about 3 hours after schedule. It was no problem at all getting on the next flight - we were only in Atlanta for maybe an hour before the next flight left for Sarasota. I suppose we were lucky - not sure how it would have been at a holiday time.

 

[Frances999]

Beth - which airline are you referring to which offers that guarantee?

Thanks

 

[disneyholic family]

Beth - which airline are you referring to which offers that guarantee?

Thanks

a non-european, non-american airline...
actually there are lots of airlines that will guarantee seats in business/first class...if the UK airlines don't then i guess i can scratch them off the list of airlines to look into....

 

[Miffy2003]

a non-european, non-american airline...
actually there are lots of airlines that will guarantee seats in business/first class...if the UK airlines don't then i guess i can scratch them off the list of airlines to look into....

Well I for one am intrigued by which airline it is Beth! Go on, do share the name, please

 

[Frances999]

Well I for one am intrigued by which airline it is Beth! Go on, do share the name, please

Yes, please do!

 

[Red-Snapper]

Why is it such a secret --get a life.

 

[Ash aka sky]

I would be very interested to know which airline or even which country you are talking about (I would be interested to look see who governs the airlines and their laws in general).

I travel alot mostly between the US and UK but I have travelled a fair bit to other countries too and you can reserve seats as much as you like but if there reasons (and good reasons) the cabin crew CAN and WILL move you for example... if you reserve seats in an exit row and are unfit/unable to operate the doors, you reserve a seat that is disabled accessable and someone needs to use that seat, you have a seat beside a power point that is needed for medical equipment.

Last time I flew with my then 15 month old daughter (just her and I... we always buy a seat for her too) she was required to be fastened into a car seat to use the airline seat... also because the car seat can cause an obstruction it has to be placed in a window seat or in the center seat of the center row... because we had been put in different rows and both aisle seats they had some guy moved so that her car seat was beside the window and I was sat beside her... like I said if the cabin crew need too they will move you, regardless.

Ash

 

[kristieuk]

Yes, now I'm intrigued too! Why the secret? Your own private plane perhaps !!!

I had figured that they wouldn't actually guarantee your reserved seat allocation because, for example, children under a certain age have to sit with their parent or guardian and if they checked in late and there was no alternative, they would have to bump you out of your seat.

I wonder how an airline can guarantee to honour a particular seat. What would they do if, say, they could not seat a child and parent together any other way? It seems the airline is setting themself up for a losing situation if they do firmly guarantee allocation. How do they compensate if they can't honour a seat allocation?

 

[kristieuk]

I would be very interested to know which airline or even which country you are talking about (I would be interested to look see who governs the airlines and their laws in general).

I travel alot mostly between the US and UK but I have travelled a fair bit to other countries too and you can reserve seats as much as you like but if there reasons (and good reasons) the cabin crew CAN and WILL move you for example... if you reserve seats in an exit row and are unfit/unable to operate the doors, you reserve a seat that is disabled accessable and someone needs to use that seat, you have a seat beside a power point that is needed for medical equipment.

Last time I flew with my then 15 month old daughter (just her and I... we always buy a seat for her too) she was required to be fastened into a car seat to use the airline seat... also because the car seat can cause an obstruction it has to be placed in a window seat or in the center seat of the center row... because we had been put in different rows and both aisle seats they had some guy moved so that her car seat was beside the window and I was sat beside her... like I said if the cabin crew need too they will move you, regardless.

Ash

Sorry Ash. Hadn't seen your post when I posted !

 

[Ash aka sky]

Sorry Ash. Hadn't seen your post when I posted !

Oh no worries... just shows I am not the only one thinking about the child/parent aspect... I think someone needs to do their homework

I should have also added to my previous post that I called the airline to reserve our seats together on all 6 flights (3 each way) we were sat exactly where they told me on 5 of the flights and only screwed up the one on the computer systems... just shows reserving your seats doesn't always mean they are reserved.

Ash

 

[Chester Copperpot]

disneyholic family - Someone even grumpier than me, thats made my day.

 

[Frances999]

disneyholic family - Someone even grumpier than me, thats made my day.

 

[Scottish-Helen]

I'm working in Ireland at the moment and we sell a lot of Delta as there is only a direct Aer Lingus charter from here.

I often get customers requesting Delta after they have been with them before. I've heard nothing but positive feedback about them.

It is a shame not to have online check-in etc with them though.

I'd also be interested in an airline that guarantees seat nos even in business class. In this industry things are never 100% guaranteed in order to cover the airline or hotel's back.

 

[Scottish-Helen]

a non-european, non-american airline...
actually there are lots of airlines that will guarantee seats in business/first class...if the UK airlines don't then i guess i can scratch them off the list of airlines to look into....

It's not just a UK airline thing. I'd really be interested to know who this wonderful airline is that guarantees seats as I have booked many worldwide airlines over the years not just UK based ones.

 

[Obi Wan Kenobi]

The airlines will assign seats to you, but no seat is ever gaurenteed for many reasons, i.e. if a disabled person is loaded, there can be a requirement to move people around, if a family with young children are loaded, they under the rules must be seated together wherever possible, if the seat goes "tech" as happens with the modern electronic seats, a change in aircraft type or configuration, and, of course, the old overbooking of fare classes. Whilst all airlines will try to accommodate their J and F pax, none can gaurentee, as if, for reasons like above the seat is no longer available when you trot up at the last minute, they would be sued by certain people for a rather large kettle shaped country!

 

[bicker]

Another reason often given for the lack of a guarantee is that there may have been a cancellation of another flight, and in such cases an airline will reaccommodate passengers on international itineraries even if it means not only moving seats but bumping a domestic passenger from a flight that passenger is confirmed on.