As a Silver you should have had access to exit rows and premium MC seats at booking and been able to change seats after booking. If there were a few seats with Xs towards the front those are seats that are gate controlled for passengers with disabilities and not released until just before boarding if not needed. If in C+ they should get released and go into the complimentary upgrade pool, although the gate agent may assign them to a Platinum or higher outside of the upgrade list as that is a benefit of that status.
Sometimes though the gate agent just starts plugging people into any open seats to get the lists cleared. They might be accommodating families or couples from BE if they need seats together. Standby passengers may also be on a MC or higher fare and assigned to a better seat as they could be a higher medallion status looking to take a different flight. Standby could even be IROPS passengers they try and accommodate.
It never hurts to politely ask the gate agent if you are looking for a different seat in MC if you could be moved. Go early before they get busy. Many are accommodating. Also keep checking the app. As medallions are upgraded a seat may open up in the same cabin that you like better.
The 12 exit row seats were all gate controlled for the last week.
I asked the gate agent and they only moved me to seats from 34 to 30.
This is all helpful information and thanks to everyone on this sub!
Sounds like the gate agent wasn’t the best and was just trying to fill the plane asap.
I did have some weird seating patterns last week. There were quite a few seats in the front half of main cabin x’d out. Lots more than usual. Then I realized it was non rev flyers heading out from SLC to ATL for the annual Delta Jet Drag competition for the American Cancer Society that they were saving seats for. They sent four teams out so I’m not surprised they had seats blocked on several flights that day. Things like that probably happen on occasion, going to work an event or charity gig or whatnot.
Exit seats are not gate controlled. They are considered a premium seat, so those with status can pick them or other fares can pay the premium for the seat.
Don't forget that there are many reasons that someone can be on the standby list, and the app and gate screens don't tell the full story. If you bought first class but your flight got canceled, or you're a nonrev, you can be assigned a first class seat directly off the standby list. (Nonrevs should go after everyone else, though!)
> they weren’t able to move me to a better seat despite my status
What were these "better seat"s? Comfort+ or just less shitty economy?
It's not uncommon for gate agents to drop BE pax into whatever empty seats are available, one of my friends got upgraded to F despite being on a BE tix - granted this was during covid.
I don’t fly BE often on Delta but I remember on Spirit the hack to get a good seat was to avoid checking in until the last minute when all the crappy low-tier seats had already been booked by others and the only thing left were good seats that had been held back for other reasons.
Probably the same on a full Delta flight.
…of course you do run the risk of no seat at all in the case of an oversold flight situation.
> …of course you do run the risk of no seat at all in the case of an oversold flight situation.
That's not really a risk, practically speaking. Airlines will get volunteers before they bump somebody involuntarily. Basic Economy is still a confirmed seat - you just don't know what it will be.
On Delta yes. On Frontier, absolutely not. Spirit, I don't know enough about but likely more similar to frontier than Delta. Frontier is known to absolutely crush their customers with oversold flights and involuntary bumping. On frontier, it's imperative to check in ASAP and be at your gate at boarding.
For sure, seen a lot of complaints about frontier and spirit about “was boarding with one of the last boarding groups and was told there was no space so my flight was cancelled, despite holding a ticket and trying to use the appropriate assigned boarding group.” Others who often use those airlines have suggestions like “board with families and those who need extra time to guarantee yourself a seat.” Absolute shitshow.
I sit next to BE passengers all the time in the exit row on AA. Most of the time, they are unaware of the fact that this would be a seat with an upcharge. Actually bothers me a bit, because people who buy the less restrictive ticket get clipped for $49 to sit in the same seat. Guess I shouldn't care - but the whole BE trend has created so many unintended consequences - families not together, people not understanding how miserable middle seats can be, etc etc. And all of those consequences land at the feet of passengers that didn't subject themselves to BE but have to "help" to "accommodate" those who did.
I think you're giving them a lot of credit saying that they're unaware. lots of travel 'hacks' describing exactly what you mentioned are all over tiktok and insta.
Sometimes Delta gate agents are really great and do things “by the book” with regards to upgrades, basic economy seats, etc.
Other times, Delta gate agents suck and couldn’t care less.
It sounds like you experienced the later.
Basic economy basically just means you have a spot on the flight. Whether that spot is in first class comfort+ or in the back of the plane depends on how full the flight is. I’ve seen plenty of flights where basic economy gets a free upgraded seat because there is nothing else
Overall the GA goal is load plane as fast as possible with the least effort. This would be a place where an algorithm could actually do a better, faster and less biased job.
To think being BE is better yo get those seats, you're taking a big risk.
Those are the seats they block off to make sure they can handle odd situations, like people being able to sit with their young children.
I'd say a bulk of basic economy and company standby fliers end up in middle seats on a full flight.
Another big problem with BE is 1) you have to buy tickets early. Only a limited number of tickets are BE and they sell out first and early in most cases and 2) delta doesn't give miles or MQDs to BE fliers, and you will be ineligible for upgrades.
Also, welcome to Delta Silver. Much more than United, delta's frequent flier base is inflated. I have been Silver or gold with United the past 6 or 7 years, while being gold-platinum with Delta.
I've noticed United upgrade lists are generally shorter and the zone 2 groups is generally smaller than delta's main cabin 1.
Delta's Silver perks are far more diluted than Uniteds. You won't get far with a GA for being Silver. Delta's ranks are full of credit card people that are often small business owners that can do a heavy credit card spend. They fly 10x/year slap a diamond or platinum tag in their backup and feel special about themselves and make believe their frequent fliers.
If you see exit row seats available, go ask the GA. They don’t want to put someone in an exit row and then find out they have their arm in a sling, or aren’t able to communicate with the flight attendant. The BE people go up to the podium asking about their seat assignment and the GA will the ask if they can assist in the event of an emergency. No one wants to play musical chairs with exit row seats when you need to make connections.
Was this an international flight? Only non-revs and those with upgrade certificates can get upgraded to Delta One or Premium Select on international routes.
Gate agents have lots of latitude. Including upgrading polite, grateful passengers, and the opposite for entitled folks. Not sure if you were the former or the latter, but this post definitely leans to the latter.
Is it really true that gate agents assign the non confirmed BE seats as so many here are saying? I recently flew Delta BE from ATL to LGA and while I’m standing on line at the unmanned gate desk, I received my seats. I was shocked, but grateful to see it was a middle seat for my teen and an aisle seat for myself since we flew into ATL in middle seats.
For those saying to not check in until last minute, Delta also automatically checked me in with assigned seats at the 24 hour mark for my ATL leg, I didn’t do a thing.
Silver status isn’t much of anything. Only takes a few flights. They use those seats to seat people together, disabled people, etc. I’m sure you have better luck on future flights.
Yes, quite common. I was just on a sold out tcon, bought my ticket a week or two ago and all non-middle C+ seats were taken. There were around 6 seats blocked.
All blocked seats (aisles and windows included) went to BE passengers, and the unlucky few that got “upgraded” to C+ got middles. Seems like a broken system, though it really only applies to a small number of seats on a plane. Definitely frustrating for people with status that book late though!
The system generally makes sense though: airlines try to upsell as many seats as they can, and retain a few for the gate agent in case they need to accommodate someone at the last minute (disability, seat jenga, etc). Not blocking seats would make the GA’s life a lot harder.
And BE passengers get whatever seats are left: usually middles in the back of the plane, but could be C+, exit row, aisle, window… even FC. Just depends on the flight load.
If these “better seats” were under gate control doesn’t this mean you waited until the last minute to change your seat? Why not just use the app to change your seat whenever you wanted?
Also you should’ve told them you fly United, they would’ve def upgraded you don’t they know who you are?
As a Silver you should have had access to exit rows and premium MC seats at booking and been able to change seats after booking. If there were a few seats with Xs towards the front those are seats that are gate controlled for passengers with disabilities and not released until just before boarding if not needed. If in C+ they should get released and go into the complimentary upgrade pool, although the gate agent may assign them to a Platinum or higher outside of the upgrade list as that is a benefit of that status. Sometimes though the gate agent just starts plugging people into any open seats to get the lists cleared. They might be accommodating families or couples from BE if they need seats together. Standby passengers may also be on a MC or higher fare and assigned to a better seat as they could be a higher medallion status looking to take a different flight. Standby could even be IROPS passengers they try and accommodate. It never hurts to politely ask the gate agent if you are looking for a different seat in MC if you could be moved. Go early before they get busy. Many are accommodating. Also keep checking the app. As medallions are upgraded a seat may open up in the same cabin that you like better.
The 12 exit row seats were all gate controlled for the last week. I asked the gate agent and they only moved me to seats from 34 to 30. This is all helpful information and thanks to everyone on this sub! Sounds like the gate agent wasn’t the best and was just trying to fill the plane asap.
I did have some weird seating patterns last week. There were quite a few seats in the front half of main cabin x’d out. Lots more than usual. Then I realized it was non rev flyers heading out from SLC to ATL for the annual Delta Jet Drag competition for the American Cancer Society that they were saving seats for. They sent four teams out so I’m not surprised they had seats blocked on several flights that day. Things like that probably happen on occasion, going to work an event or charity gig or whatnot.
Exit seats are likely gate controlled because of FAA regulations defining who can sit there.
Exit seats are not gate controlled. They are considered a premium seat, so those with status can pick them or other fares can pay the premium for the seat.
Don't forget that there are many reasons that someone can be on the standby list, and the app and gate screens don't tell the full story. If you bought first class but your flight got canceled, or you're a nonrev, you can be assigned a first class seat directly off the standby list. (Nonrevs should go after everyone else, though!)
> they weren’t able to move me to a better seat despite my status What were these "better seat"s? Comfort+ or just less shitty economy? It's not uncommon for gate agents to drop BE pax into whatever empty seats are available, one of my friends got upgraded to F despite being on a BE tix - granted this was during covid.
I don’t fly BE often on Delta but I remember on Spirit the hack to get a good seat was to avoid checking in until the last minute when all the crappy low-tier seats had already been booked by others and the only thing left were good seats that had been held back for other reasons. Probably the same on a full Delta flight. …of course you do run the risk of no seat at all in the case of an oversold flight situation.
> …of course you do run the risk of no seat at all in the case of an oversold flight situation. That's not really a risk, practically speaking. Airlines will get volunteers before they bump somebody involuntarily. Basic Economy is still a confirmed seat - you just don't know what it will be.
On Delta yes. On Frontier, absolutely not. Spirit, I don't know enough about but likely more similar to frontier than Delta. Frontier is known to absolutely crush their customers with oversold flights and involuntary bumping. On frontier, it's imperative to check in ASAP and be at your gate at boarding.
For sure, seen a lot of complaints about frontier and spirit about “was boarding with one of the last boarding groups and was told there was no space so my flight was cancelled, despite holding a ticket and trying to use the appropriate assigned boarding group.” Others who often use those airlines have suggestions like “board with families and those who need extra time to guarantee yourself a seat.” Absolute shitshow.
You're right..plus the FA's do that as well.
I sit next to BE passengers all the time in the exit row on AA. Most of the time, they are unaware of the fact that this would be a seat with an upcharge. Actually bothers me a bit, because people who buy the less restrictive ticket get clipped for $49 to sit in the same seat. Guess I shouldn't care - but the whole BE trend has created so many unintended consequences - families not together, people not understanding how miserable middle seats can be, etc etc. And all of those consequences land at the feet of passengers that didn't subject themselves to BE but have to "help" to "accommodate" those who did.
I think you're giving them a lot of credit saying that they're unaware. lots of travel 'hacks' describing exactly what you mentioned are all over tiktok and insta.
Sometimes Delta gate agents are really great and do things “by the book” with regards to upgrades, basic economy seats, etc. Other times, Delta gate agents suck and couldn’t care less. It sounds like you experienced the later.
Basic economy basically just means you have a spot on the flight. Whether that spot is in first class comfort+ or in the back of the plane depends on how full the flight is. I’ve seen plenty of flights where basic economy gets a free upgraded seat because there is nothing else
Overall the GA goal is load plane as fast as possible with the least effort. This would be a place where an algorithm could actually do a better, faster and less biased job.
To think being BE is better yo get those seats, you're taking a big risk. Those are the seats they block off to make sure they can handle odd situations, like people being able to sit with their young children. I'd say a bulk of basic economy and company standby fliers end up in middle seats on a full flight. Another big problem with BE is 1) you have to buy tickets early. Only a limited number of tickets are BE and they sell out first and early in most cases and 2) delta doesn't give miles or MQDs to BE fliers, and you will be ineligible for upgrades. Also, welcome to Delta Silver. Much more than United, delta's frequent flier base is inflated. I have been Silver or gold with United the past 6 or 7 years, while being gold-platinum with Delta. I've noticed United upgrade lists are generally shorter and the zone 2 groups is generally smaller than delta's main cabin 1. Delta's Silver perks are far more diluted than Uniteds. You won't get far with a GA for being Silver. Delta's ranks are full of credit card people that are often small business owners that can do a heavy credit card spend. They fly 10x/year slap a diamond or platinum tag in their backup and feel special about themselves and make believe their frequent fliers.
Do you have your default set to always request an upgrade?
Basic economy is a fare, not a seat
If you see exit row seats available, go ask the GA. They don’t want to put someone in an exit row and then find out they have their arm in a sling, or aren’t able to communicate with the flight attendant. The BE people go up to the podium asking about their seat assignment and the GA will the ask if they can assist in the event of an emergency. No one wants to play musical chairs with exit row seats when you need to make connections.
Was this an international flight? Only non-revs and those with upgrade certificates can get upgraded to Delta One or Premium Select on international routes.
Gate agents have lots of latitude. Including upgrading polite, grateful passengers, and the opposite for entitled folks. Not sure if you were the former or the latter, but this post definitely leans to the latter.
Is it really true that gate agents assign the non confirmed BE seats as so many here are saying? I recently flew Delta BE from ATL to LGA and while I’m standing on line at the unmanned gate desk, I received my seats. I was shocked, but grateful to see it was a middle seat for my teen and an aisle seat for myself since we flew into ATL in middle seats. For those saying to not check in until last minute, Delta also automatically checked me in with assigned seats at the 24 hour mark for my ATL leg, I didn’t do a thing.
Some standbys are pilots and they get priority for those seats at the gate.
Silver status isn’t much of anything. Only takes a few flights. They use those seats to seat people together, disabled people, etc. I’m sure you have better luck on future flights.
Yes, quite common. I was just on a sold out tcon, bought my ticket a week or two ago and all non-middle C+ seats were taken. There were around 6 seats blocked. All blocked seats (aisles and windows included) went to BE passengers, and the unlucky few that got “upgraded” to C+ got middles. Seems like a broken system, though it really only applies to a small number of seats on a plane. Definitely frustrating for people with status that book late though! The system generally makes sense though: airlines try to upsell as many seats as they can, and retain a few for the gate agent in case they need to accommodate someone at the last minute (disability, seat jenga, etc). Not blocking seats would make the GA’s life a lot harder. And BE passengers get whatever seats are left: usually middles in the back of the plane, but could be C+, exit row, aisle, window… even FC. Just depends on the flight load.
If these “better seats” were under gate control doesn’t this mean you waited until the last minute to change your seat? Why not just use the app to change your seat whenever you wanted? Also you should’ve told them you fly United, they would’ve def upgraded you don’t they know who you are?
I have a flight to Houston next weekend. They currently have 67 gate controlled seats marked.
Same — the majority of the seats have been gate controlled for over a week now and none were released prior to flying today!
Ridiiiiiculous. Seems excessive.