katybird

We had to extend our flight and change our date of return. I called the airline to find out my options for the flights. The first time I talked with an agent I was given about 5 different times and told we could take any of those flights and there were several seats available. I called the next day to book and was told I could only take the 6am flight and there were only 4 seats and we even had to be in different rows because the plane was so full!! Once we boarded the plane was 1/2 full!!

I had a discount coupon for the flight. Are the seats restricted for these flights?

I do not understand why I was told 2 different things. Can anyone give me any insight? It might help for future reference!
Thanks!

rkkwan

An airline allocate seats into various "fare class" on each flight, and availability is limited on each class. It depends on which fare your discount coupon can use, and the numbers of seats for each fare class also change all the time.

So, the first agent probably didn't know about your discount coupon, or punched in the wrong code, and therefore came out with all the extra seats.

How full the actual flight is has little to do with availability for certain discount fares.

clevelandbrown

I think its a little unrealistic to call one day to see what is available, then call back the next day and expect the same availability. Other people do buy tickets, sometimes even while you are on the phone, or on-line. A good strategy if you need time to make a decision is to reserve the ticket; many airlines will hold it 24 hours, or longer, then cancel the reservation if you haven't completed the purchase.

I don't think they restrict seats based on the type of fare you paid; other than the distinction between front-cabin and tourist. Many airlines to block off certain seats in tourist, such as prized exit-row seats, for their frequent flyers. And you never know until they shut the door who will miss the flight; perhaps a connecting flight was late and freed up some seats, but I suspect your flight was more than half-full; a half-empty plane is a rear rarity these days. I have always had good luck with gate attendants and flight attendants getting our seats adjusted; my wife likes a window seat, so I take the one next to her; when she gets upgraded, I ask to move to the window seat and they are very accomodating.

katybird

I think rkkwan is right...it had to do with the discount coupon and first agent gave me the wrong information about seats/flights available even though he knew it was a discount coupon flight.

It really wasn't a big deal..we were happy to get any seats at all on one days notice. According to the coupon we had to complete travel by 2/17 so we lucked out.Our original return was 2/15 so we didn't have much time to work with. Thank goodness everything worked out and we could return on 2/17.

Well, I don't know what the real story is but it just seemed very curious that I was told there were 5 different flights available one day only to find out there was really only one flight at 6:00 Am we could take. The seating was 2/3. In the 2 seats across rows only one seat was occupied in each row and in the 3 seats across many had 1 or 2 seats available. I switched my seat and we were the only ones with 3 seats full. I originally had been seated in a 3 row seat and the aisle seat was empty..I was in the middle and the window was occupied..wondered why my husband wasn't seated with me instead of an aisle seat 2 rows up???? Discount coupon seats??

I will keep that in mind to see if I can put a hold on the tickets in the future. Thanks for the suggestion.

rkkwan

Sorry, but I have trouble figuring out what you're saying about the seat assignments. But who did that for you in the first place? An agent? The airline's computer system?

Unless a plane is ~70%+ full, an agent can assign almost any seat for you. Only when it gets over a threshold do they become non-available.

And nowadays, most airline let you view your seats online, even if they are booked by humans, as long as you have your itinerary number. You can then "reseat" yourselves.

katybird

rkkwan - I called NWA and made the change to our reservations on the phone. The agent told me there were only 4 seats available on the first segment of our flight from DFW to DTW and she encouraged me to book right away.I do remember saying that I had been told the day before that MANY seats were available and she said "no, only 4" But in fact, there were many seats available. We were given seats 13D and 15E on flight 700. We each had an empty seat in our row.

After your first reply to my question I am assuming she might have meant that only 4 seats were available for my type of discount ticket.

Do you need any other info to sort this out? It just seems so curious to me but then again I am not very knowledgable.

rkkwan

katybird - Yes, that mostly likely mean there are only 4 seats left in that particular fare you have to book in. But I just don't understand why the agent is so lazy that he/she doesn't care to give you seats together.

Anyways, you should be able to change seats on nwa.com.

katybird

rkkwan - I do know I can change the seats online which I have done. I do remember the agent saying she could not give us seats together but maybe someone would switch with one of us.I didn't bother to look at the seating online as I took her word that nothing was available.

Thanks for all you help and insight. I really appreciate your time and effort to answer all my questions.