I have just been fucked with by an airline in a totally new (to me) way, and I'm confused

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein) 11/11/2015 at 19:17 • Filed to: None

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Have you heard of bereavement fares? Airlines used to offer heavily discounted flights if you had to fly at the last minute for someone’s funeral. Now, not so much, but Delta still has a much less-generous bereavement discount. Unfortunately, Delta’s general shittiness has manifested itself in a different way.

I have to fly out to DC this weekend for my grandpa’s funeral. Yes, it’s sad, but he was 91, lived a great life, and his health was declining. I was prepared for the news. I’ll be ok, because this is a guy who clearly had an ok life:

I searched for flights, and learned that Delta offers 10% discounts on flights and waives change fees and whatnot for bereavement fares. All I had to do was provide the name of the deceased, their relationship to me, and the location of the funeral. People have abused the shit out of bereavement fares for a long time by claiming they’re attending non-existent funerals, so the airlines have tried to make it harder for people to book them. Delta is also the only airline that offers direct flights between Madison, WI where I live and Washington, DC where the funeral is.

Delta’s !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! states that you can only book through their reservation call center, not online. Yesterday I looked up flights on Delta.com, called Delta, and entered my phone number for a callback because Delta customer service always has ridiculously long wait times. Approximately 17 to 23 minutes later, I got a robocall from Delta that connected me with a reservations agent. I told the guy the funeral details and the flight numbers, paid, and thought I was done.

Today, as I was getting ready to forward my itinerary to my dad, I noticed that for my return trip back from DC, I didn’t have any seat assigned. When I clicked the “Choose Seat” link, there were no seats available to select except for first class and Comfort+ (a.k.a. what coach seats used to be like before the airlines shrunk them down to their current size that only fits people in the bottom 33% of adult human sizes). This is the seat map I was shown:

To me, this looked like all the regular coach seats were already booked. There was no explanation of what to do if I was not interested in paying extra for a first class or Comfort+ seat, or if I was even going to be on the flight if I didn’t pay extra for one of these seats. The call center guy who had booked me on the flight hadn’t mentioned anything about there not being any regular coach seats, so I didn’t really know what was going on.

I called Delta, and again put in my phone number for a call back, this time in “11 to 20” minutes. I asked this second Delta reservations dude what was going on and he explained that even though there are no regular coach seats showing as available on the seat map, that there are in fact 15 open regular coach seats on this flight, but they are blocked off as “reserved for the gate agent” and show as unavailable on the seat map.

I only needed to pay extra for a first class or Comfort+ seat if I wanted those extra amenities. This Delta reservations guy apologized for the previous Delta reservations guy just booking me without assigning me a seat and not explaining to me that I’d have to wait to be assigned a seat at the gate.

Now, this whole “we need to keep a certain number of seats saved for the gate agent” excuse sounds pretty fishy to me. Instead, I’m pretty sure Delta blocks a bunch of empty coach seats off as unavailable but doesn’t make this apparent on the seat map so that people will think that the only way to get on their desired flight is to pay extra for a Coach+ or first class ticket.

I know if I was booking online and was shown this seat map, I’d probably think the only way I could get on the flight was to pick a premium, extra-cost seat. In fact, I can think back on a couple times in the past where I did in fact book an extra-cost seat because no open coach seats were showing on the seat map.

So there you have it: if you’re stuck flying a shitty airline like Delta and the seat map shows no regular-cost coach seats available, try to make the reservation without selecting a seat. Because apparently you’ll still get a seat , even without a seat selection on your reservation.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2015 at 19:26

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Flying has truly become miserable. And now they charge you for every little thing. You can’t even carry on a bag anymore without them making a big fuss.

I never enjoyed flying but now I’m at the point where I hope to never have to hop on a plane. I just want to drive or take a boat anywhere.

SVTyler > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2015 at 19:35

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We’ve flown Delta three times and now avoid it like the plague because all three times we’ve had issues. Favorite was when we flew to France, they lost my friend’s luggage (which was 3 months worth of clothes) and spent three days trying to find it.

Once they found it they sent a guy to bring it to our hotel, but because the room was registered in my name (which we explicitly mentioned it would be and the Delta dude on the phone said he would make sure the delivery guy knew knew) and didn’t match my friend’s the guy brought it back with him to the freaking airport. It took eight days for my friend to get all of his shit back, and even then it was the night before he left for another country.

TL,DR; of all the airlines to have a problem with it’ll be Delta. It’s always Delta.

samssun > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2015 at 19:44

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Every airline does the seat juggling game. There’s a huge logistical balance between how many seats to overbook, minimizing non-full (and therefore money-losing) flights, and using more expensive seats to subsidize cheaper ones.

Only way to get rid of it all would be to have every seat assigned, with no rebook/refund if you can’t make the flight or want to change it. Airlines don’t have much pricing power, they’re mainly passing on overhead like all the various taxes and fees, legacy pensions and benefits, and regulatory stuff, so firing the TSA would be a good first step.

Dusty Ventures > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 11/11/2015 at 19:51

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I’ve flown fourteen times since August, most of the time with an overstuffed backpack and a helmet. I’ve had no hassles carrying them on the plane. In fact the one time I gate checked the backpack they practically tried to talk me out of it.

Nibby > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2015 at 19:54

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I’m just waiting for the day buying a personal jet is cheaper than airline tickets. SOON.

Rico > Dusty Ventures 11/11/2015 at 19:59

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I would definitely avoid checking it just so that I know there is no chance of it being lost. I haven’t lost a bag but people who have seem to go through a shitload of issues before getting it back or compensated (which sucks if you lost valuable items). I once thought American Airlines lost my bag but after 20 mins of dealing with one of their staff members it was found, they placed it on a flight that left sooner than mine.

Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST) > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2015 at 20:01

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I booked three flights with Delta in late July (they were the cheapest when I customized what times I wanted to depart and arrive). Considering it was my first time flying since I was 2-3 years old and having no prior experience with airlines, I had no gripes.

All three flights arrived on time or earlier, the complimentary snacks and drinks staved off hunger and kept me hydrated, I didn’t have any problem with the seats (I’m skinny), relatively silent flights (except one kid in the back of the plane was throwing a tantrum for the entire flight because his mom didn’t buy him a toy he saw at a store by the gate and refused to scold or beat his ass in public for crying), and since my carry-on was considered too large and in order to speed up the boarding times they put it into checked baggage for free.

So no complaints here. And I hope no flights in the future give me any problems. However flying is a rarity, so it won’t be any time soon until after college and a solid paying job!

Dusty Ventures > Rico 11/11/2015 at 20:09

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I gate checked it the one time because I was on a small plane (capacity of about 45) with zero empty seats and overhead bins that would struggle to fit a shoe. I took the important items out of the bag before checking it, and, since it was gate checked not regular checked, I got it back pretty much immediately upon landing, even though I had two more flights left before reaching my final destination.

PushToStart > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2015 at 20:16

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“People have abused the shit out of bereavement fares for a long time”

Yup, they made an entire Seinfeld episode about that...

jariten1781 > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2015 at 20:23

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I fly every other week or so for work...this is normal on all the non-discount carriers. If you’re booking on line it’ll pop up a message after you select the flight with “Seating in coach not available at this time” then some blurb about selecting it at check-in or the gate. It typically only happens if you’re the lowest of the low fare codes, but on big commuter flights (think 0600 IAD-SFO) it can happen even if you’re a full fare unrestricted coach (Y on United). Bereavement fares are going to be under some super discount fare code (like N or something). Bonus though, if you have no seat when you get to the gate, approach the agent before they start calling names, and if no one paid for the economy plus option the agent will often bump you up at no charge. Otherwise they’ll go down the fare list in descending order priority order and bump up someone else then give you their seat.

It does mean that you’re in line to be bumped if they’re overbooked and everyone shows and no one volunteers for the coupons...but that’s really rare. I only see it happen like once a year.

Here’s the whole United fare priority list (my main carrier so I have it bookmarked, other carriers have them as well): http://www.cwsi.net/united.htm

You can sometimes get better seating for an extra buck or two if you use the option to book by code. Also, some codes give bonus miles if you’re into the collecting game.

15wrbrex > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2015 at 20:26

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Ive been in your situation before, it sucks, but last time they did get me a seat day of so best of luck.

Be glad youre not flying Frontier or Spirit though, their upping their baggage fees just for the holidays...

http://time.com/money/4098674/…

TheHondaBro > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 11/11/2015 at 20:41

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Southwest is an extremely pleasant experience. TWO free checked luggage + one carryon. You don’t reserve a seat, you just find a place to sit.

f86sabre > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2015 at 21:12

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First, sorry to hear about your grandpa passing. Looks like a cool guy.

There are some things you should keep in mind regarding your situation:

1) Flights between DC and any state capital will have a larger than average number of business and government fliers on them. That means people with lots of sky miles. Those people go for the upgrades.

2) The airline doesn’t know which of those people will pull the trigger for the upgrade until they check in. That means a good deal of variability with seat assignments.

3) In Order to accommodate those people who move to primium seats, as well as special circumstances that people fail to mention while booking (I need to be near a toilet, I don’t want to be in an exit row, can I sit next to aunt Nelly) they leave some seats unassigned until the end.

4) This may actually work in your favor. If you are polite, pick a good time to talk to the agent, they may be able to hook you up. I’ve seen it happen.

I really don’t think they are trying to screw you. They let you book a discounted far with most change fees waved because of your situation. If you are really stressed out about not having a seat assigned you can try @deltaassist on Twitter and politely ask if they can help. They are pretty good.

Good luck, I hope your flights go well and condolences to your family.

horizonsofkhaos > Textured Soy Protein 11/11/2015 at 21:34

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I’ve had that happen a few times before. It’s goofy and I forget the exact reasoning that was explained to me but the most recent flight I booked that didn’t allow me to pick a seat until check in actually had many open seats on it. For the most part if the airlines sell you a seat, they’re going to get you one barring weather or mechanical issues. I’ve been flying somewhat regularly for work the past few years and I’ve had very good luck with my Delta flights and for the most part they’ve been a pretty pleasant experience. I try not to check a bag whenever possible (Ogio Layover bag is awesome. I’ve had a weeks worth of clothes in a carry on bag) to reduce the risk of issues.

CCC (formerly CyclistCarCoexist) > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 11/11/2015 at 22:01

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Well, you live in Florida so boats are plentiful and probably fairly common...

thebigbossyboss > JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! 11/11/2015 at 22:31

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Try flying in Canada. It’s so miserable I am driving to where I am going. all 4350 kms....

Textured Soy Protein > horizonsofkhaos 11/12/2015 at 12:13

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I really prefer to check bags. Because:

I can fit more stuff for my trip.

I don’t have to drag yet another item through security where I’m already dealing with removing all accessories from my person and stashing them in my backpack, then taking my laptop out of my backpack, then putting my shoes in a bin, and laptop in another bin, then the backpack on the conveyor, then maybe another bin for my jacket. If I can check a bag and fly without my laptop and just a tablet, I am a happy guy in the security line.

I can get on and off the plane with only having to deal with my backpack under the seat in front of me and not trying to chase down an overhead bin space that is most likely nowhere near my actual seat.

But, if I’m on an airline that charges for checked luggage, and I can make do with my small carry-on suitcase, I deal with dragging it through security rather than pay the baggage fees. But I still usually try to gate check it for free.

Textured Soy Protein > f86sabre 11/12/2015 at 12:17

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The concept of keeping some non-premium seats reserved for the gate agent makes sense to me. But keeping 15 non-premium coach seats reserved for the gate agent when there’s only 48 total non-premium coach seats on this little regional jet seemed...off.

f86sabre > Textured Soy Protein 11/12/2015 at 12:22

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Your flight is on a regional? Yeah, that adds a level of complexity.

Textured Soy Protein > Blunion05 drives a pink S2000 (USER WAS BANNED FOR THIS POST) 11/12/2015 at 12:25

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I last flew Delta about a month ago, from Madison to Boston with connections in Detroit.

All 4 flights were delayed.

Boarding the planes took forever because Delta has 5 different priority boarding groups depending on your level of frequent flier point seniority, and everyone has too much carry-on luggage either because they want to avoid baggage fees or are too afraid it will be lost if checked.

Getting off the planes also took forever because everyone had to remove their excessive amounts of carry-on luggage from the overhead bins, and because so many people put carry-on luggage in the bins, their suitcases are often not in the bin above their seat and instead in some other part of the plane because that was the only bin space available.

If I hadn’t flown in a really long time I suppose the carry-on luggage nonsense would have bothered me less, but I do the majority of my flying on Southwest which has much more efficient carry-on luggage and boarding procedures. Which is great if you’re flying Southwest, but makes dealing with the antiquated processes that non-Southwest airlines use that much more annoying, at least for me, because I’m stuck there wishing Delta would just act more like Southwest.

Textured Soy Protein > SVTyler 11/12/2015 at 12:31

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The only time in my entire life I’ve lost a checked bag was my freshman year of college. My family went on this cruise that sailed out of Barbados. We flew from DC to Miami to Barbados. Changed carriers in Miami from whatever the domestic carrier was to the local Barbados airline.

I actually watched out my window on the plane as our luggage sat on the tarmac and was left off the baggage train. Sure enough we got to Barbados and our luggage hadn’t made the trip. So we got on our cruise with no luggage, and had nothing to wear except the clothes we had on us on our flight, plus buying stuff from the ship’s gift shop and gift shops in the harbors the ship visited. Finally on like day 3 or 4 of an 8-day cruise, we got our luggage.

The cruise line had to first have the local Barbados airline find our luggage in Miami, then get it to Barbados, where the cruise line picked it up, and had it dropped off by helicopter at wherever our port of call was that day.

Now that I think about it, the domestic carrier may well have been Delta. Can’t remember. It was 15 years ago.

I always carry on a backpack with my important gadgets and whatnot, so I prefer not to carry on a suitcase if I can avoid it. But if I’m flying an airline that charges for bags, I deal with carrying on a suitcase rather than paying the extra 50 bucks round trip for the privilege of checking a bag.

Textured Soy Protein > 15wrbrex 11/12/2015 at 12:35

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Thankfully, Frontier and Spirit don’t really pop up on my radar. Frontier has only a select few destinations out of Milwaukee, and generally if I’m flying out of Milwaukee it’s so I can hop a Southwest direct flight somewhere (usually DC). The closest airport Spirit flies out of is Chicago O’Hare which is a good 2.5 hour drive from me.

Textured Soy Protein > f86sabre 11/12/2015 at 12:48

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Yep, flying out of a piddly little 12-gate airport like we have in Madison means lots of tiny-ass planes.

The one and only Delta Madison-DC flight is at least now on an Embraer 170 like this that has 4-across seating in coach.

Back in the day it was an even smaller Embraer of some kind that only had 3-across seating in coach. I’m 5’11” and had to duck my head walking down the aisle.

Actually, the worst was when I was in college, and ATA Airlines was around. I’d fly home to DC connecting thru Chicago Midway and the Madison-Chicago leg was on a tiny little Saab turboprop like this:

Those were some hair-raising takeoffs and landings whenever the weather was anything less than perfect.

Even on actual Delta flights not operated by some regional affiliate, Delta often flies piddly little 7/8-scale airplanes on the routes out of Madison. My flight out there is a 1-stop connecting through Detroit. I’ve got an MD-88 from Madison to Detroit. The Detroit-DC leg is (shockingly) on a normal-sized Airbus A319.

f86sabre > Textured Soy Protein 11/12/2015 at 14:14

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I used to do flights on Mesaba on ATRs out for Purdue. Good times.

SVTyler > Textured Soy Protein 11/12/2015 at 16:01

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Yikes, at least you guys had access to shops and showers and stuff. Carry-on really is the way to go, baggage fees are getting ridiculous for flights, especially Transatlantic ones (United tried to charge $100 for one of our bags being like .8lbs overweight or something before we moved some stuff around to other bags); I cram everything I need into a soft-shell duffel bag and just iron out what I need once I get there.