Customers Prefer Delta And Southwest Because They Limit Ticket Sales, Block Middle Seats [Roundup]

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About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. @gary

    “I’m not sure I’d take a connecting flight on an airline that blocks middle seats versus a connecting flight that does not, however…”

    I don’t think that’s worded correctly. I think you’re getting at it’s actually versus a “non-stop” flight that does not block middle seats.

  2. Why are we paying flight attendants and pilots to continually fly all over this country helping to spread the virus? Furthermore, another bailout is only putting off what we all know will occur. We will be paying all of these people unemployment checks any way you look at it. It’s clear what happens next, whether on Oct, 1, 2020 or…surprise March 2021. All this money should be funneled to feeding and housing the poor and unemployed people in this country The virus…speaks for itself.

  3. So far I’ve only flown AA this summer and every AA flight I’ve taken is full. I think they prefer the cash to a higher Net Promoter Score!

    We all know blocking the middle seats is Virus Theater. You either get COVID on airplanes or you don’t. The fact that people don’t seem to get COVID on airplanes is one of the few better-than-we-could-have-expected virus stories so far (and therefore is largely ignored!).

    BTW, sometimes I get emails from AA in advance telling me my flight is full (and offering me a free change) and sometimes I don’t. I don’t understand why. In any event, I’ve never been offered a change that’s be a plausible option — most have involved circuitous routes and long layovers. They just don’t seem to have many empty seats flying around, at least on the major routes.

  4. When booking DEN-MCI I preferred direct on UA because it was a third of the price of SWA and Frontier. I’m more concerned about TSA agents and people at the airport than sitting next to one person for the duration of the flight.

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