Delta/KLM flight booked without seat reservation

You might try to go on the KLM site to choose your seat, unless you booked the Basic Economy route, then you may need to wait until there. But generally, if you have a ticket for that flight, you are on it.

No, having a ticket for a flight does not mean you’re on it. Flights are often overbooked. You aren’t on a plane until the door is closed and the plane is pushed back from the gate.

Since Delta is the airline from which you bought the tickets, call back Delta until you speak to an agent who can get you an assigned seat on your KLM flight to Florence. If you can’t get an agent to do it, speak to a supervisor. You cannot arrive at Schiphol without a seat assignment.

I'm not sure I agree with the absoluteness of Continental's statement. Yes, overbooking is a possibility, but seat-assignments glitches are every-day occurances —especially on code-share tickets—and are not an absolute indication that there's no room for you. Airlines also 'block' a certain number of seats on every flight only to be assigned at the airport, meaning that on a full plane load of people some will never have seats prior to checking in.

I'd ask Delta for the KLM record locator?PNR (5-6 alpha-numeric characters, distinct from the Delta's), and try to book your seats directly with KLM.

I have access to airline inventory data, and how many tickets they have remaining to sell. It wouldn't help you get seats, but it knowing their available inventory could offer some reassurance. Feel free to post or PM your dates and flight number and I could pull that for you.

@scudder

I've been trying to book seat for a flight I have going from Munich to Berlin. My first flight was canceled, and I was told by United I had to fly either the day before or the day after. I changed it to the day before. But I have not been able to get a seat assignment. I have another flight going home on Austrian Air via United and I was able to book those seats. So, it is worrying me that I cannot book these seats.

This has happened to my family. If you see Xs on the seat map, those are seats Delta/KLM is holding back for future use. If you booked a class of ticket that allows you to pick a seat in advance, I'd call the airline (Just use the speaker phone option and go about your business until you are "up") and assert that you are entitled to pick the seat. Escalate to a supervisore if necessary.

Several times, I 've called Delta and said that we wanted a seat type that was unavailable for us to select. Each time, Delta has been able to get us a seat assigned in advance. The codeshare with KLM may be part of the issue, but its worth a try. I wouldn't just sit back and wait.

We have a couple of flights on partner airlines and I can’t reserve the seats either. This is not unusual. I will probably be able to reserve the seats as we get closer to the flight for a fee. Both flights are short hops so I am not all that bothered. If you are bumped from the flight involuntarily, the airline will owe you a substantial sum. Unless I have to be somewhere immediately getting bumped involuntarily would not be a bad thing. Look up the rules beforehand to be sure you are well compensated. Edited to add - Google “This Lawyer's Trick for Making Money When You're Bumped From a Flight Is Going Viral on TikTok” for the rules.

Similar thing happened to my Air France codeshared flight from Seattle to Paris. After AF canceled the flight; Delta simply rebooked me to another Delta flight without seat assignment. My original booking was for Premium Select, the new flight had no Premium Select class and all Comfort+ seats had been taken. I ended up rebooking for a completely different route by connecting through SLC (and this was the second time I had to rebook).

If I were you I would consider calling KLM (not Delta) directly to secure your seats on your new KLM flight; or call Delta to rebook you on a different flight if you're unable to secure the seat assignement with KLM.

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Edit:

Codeshared flight seat assignment is handled by the operator of the codeshared flight; in this case KLM.
You can either call KLM (flight operator) to select the seats for you; or simply add your Delta booking to your KLM account (create one if you don't have one yet) and select the seats yourself. (KLM will have their own equivalent confirmation number for this same flight)

Yeah, not trying to dump on "Continental" but Delta does not handle KLM seat assignments, that is up to KLM. Depending on the ticket class, you may be assigned a seat on booking, but choosing a seat requires dealing with KLM if the seating class allows. For Delta, even if you have status, that status does not translate over to KLM, or Air France for that matter. And yes, I have arrived at Schiphol with no seat assignment on a KLM connecting flight, and yes, they had a seat for me.

We've run into the situation of being booked on a codeshare on a partner's metal and have been unable to select our seats until 24 hrs before the flight. Usually when in an economy or PE seat. You might not get the seats you want, but you will get A seat.

Delta flights on AF iron play the same game with you having to wait until you get to the airport check-in counter, if not the gate, to get an assigned seat. That wild card practice soured me on flying Air France years ago, so I stick with American mostly now for Europe flights.

I too was booked on a KLM/Delta flight from AMS to FLR in September. The early morning flight was cancelled, and I was booked on a 2:55 flight to FLR with an assigned seat, which I had on my original booking. Interestingly, I received the message from KLM first. I was able to use their website with their confirmation number to change my seat. I am only one traveler. It may be the flight is full now, but this could change as travelers make different arrangements. Others have mentioned your fare class.

I contacted Delta via phone and learned how to make a claim for compensation AFTER the flight is completed.
KLM sent the EU regulation 261/2004 information to me. When I received my notice from Delta a few days later Delta did not provide any hint of information concerning compensation.

DELTA ADVISED ME: No changes should be made to the flight within 10 days of the rebooking lest it impact any future changes KLM may make, for example to book on a better connection. I believe my seat change is not a 'change' for this purpose.

For this flight, if I am reading this correctly, the compensation is 350 euro non-refundable credit or 250 euro refundable credit because the flight is under 1500 kilometers, and the delay in arrival was more than 2 hours. Also, all the ice cream I can eat. Or food vouchers. I can't remember which.

Lodging would be compensated if necessary.

In my experiences, it’s completely normal to not have a seat assignment on a codeshare airline until 24 hours before the flight. You can usually determine what seats are available by going through the process to purchase a ticket but obviously not completing that purchase. We always been seated, and together. But these have been business/first award tickets with never an issue. Don’t know if that’s relative info or not.

In my experiences, it’s completely normal to not have a seat assignment on a codeshare airline until 24 hours before the flight.

I'm curious - do you get to pick your seats at 24 hours, or are they randomly assigned to you?

It is normal nowadays in my experience, not to be given a specific seat on a flight unless you have specifically paid for one you choose.
It seems now you must wait until the 24hr- before-the-flight—checkin-online, and hope to get a seat you like.
I’ve just had my KLM flight home from Florence to AMS cancelled for September, and they rebooked me on a later flight, now giving me 25 minutes between flights.
That is not doable, even before the latest airport madness!
As I had booked flights that included seat selection (I didn’t pay extra, it was some sort of deal the day I booked), after they rebooked everything to my liking for the day after I was originally flying home, they then said I’d have to pay or wait to select seats.
I said no, was very polite and persistent, and asked for a supervisor.
Eventually they backed down and gave me my preferred seats.
However, the seats I chose show up on the My Trips on the KLM website, but not on the ticket they emailed me.....
We wait......
I hope you get your seats sorted out to your liking before you fly.
I had trouble getting a live agent to speak to, but finally called at 5:30 pm Pacific time, and got someone right away....in Chile.
We consumers must continue to be persistent over our bookings and what we have originally paid for these days.
Best of luck to all having “flight fights” just now.

Call delta and ask for KLM record locator. Then go to KLM website and pull up reservation with that and get them assigned that way.

Based on my experience flying Delta to Heathrow in April, do not assume you have a seat on the flight if you currently do not have an assigned seat. It took me three days to get from SEA to LHR because I did not have an assigned seat and every flight Delta put me on was oversold when I got to the gate so the agent would/could not give me a seat.

I was originally booked SAN to SEA with a 3.5 hour layover and then SEA to LHR in April. I took off on time in SAN but just as I was about to land, Secret Service found a suspicious car at SEA and shut down the airport and air space. My plane was diverted to PDX and when we finally returned to land at SEA, I could see my connecting flight take off, which I missed by two minutes. The Delta Red Coat supervisor began looking for a flight she could rebook me on and put me on a flight the next day which consisted of SEA to SFO to LHR. The Red Coat supervisor assured me I had a confirmed seat on the planes eventhough she could not assigned me a seat on the SFO to LHR flight. She said that the gate agent would give me a seat. She also showed me the seat map which indicated an "X" on three seats and said one of those seats was mine.

I flew from SEA to SFO and when I went to get my seat assignment for my LHR flight, I was told that despite having a confirmed reservation, the flight was oversold and I would not be able to board the plane. Then the fun really began. Delta proceeded to put me on two more flights and began flying me around the country in order for me to catch a flight to LHR. Each time I was shown the seat map and told I would get my seat assignment at the gate. Each time was my LHR flight was oversold and since I did not have an assigned seat, I was out of luck. I finally got smart and insisted I would not take another flight unless I had a definite seat assignment since I was getting really tired of flying and not getting any closer to LHR. (As my husband said, "you have flown 5,000 miles and you still are in California." ) A red eye to JFK finally got me to a Virgin Atlantic flight to LHR. (By this time Delta was trying to get me a seat on any airline going to LHR). I landed 3 days later, was thankful I had only carry-on and splurged for a driver to meet me at LHR since by now my legs were jellow from all the walking through terminals I had done.

As multiple Delta supervisors told me, the onslaught of everyone wanting to travel leaves them no available seats when things go wrong on a flight with delays etc. My advice-contact the airlines and get them to put you on a flight that will give you a definite assigned seat. Do not accept the "gate agent will assign you a seat" especially since your flight is in September. They should be able to get you a seat now. Also never fly to SFO if you want to get to LHR. As I learned the hard way, SFO has the fewest options for flights to LHR.

Delta recognized how horrible my journey was and maybe because I have Gold status with them or they felt sorry for me, but they refunded the entire cost of my ticket which was $1700.

All the international legs that people are writing about are irrelevant to your question.

Bets, the important thing is the spirit and intent of the posts.

I concur with ITSV. Call and get ahold of someone that can resolve the issue.

All the international legs that people are writing about are irrelevant to your question.

Well, when I posted earlier in the thread about unassigned seats on Delta tickets via AF, I should have made it clear I was talking about the transatlantic leg, from Dulles to CDG. We had assigned seats, but at the check-in counter, we were told that we would get boarding passes and seat assignments at the gate. That led to a bunch of unhappy people crowding around the gate desk, and even though yes, we had a seat on the plane, it was a very stressful way to start a trip. After experiencing the same thing on another trip to Paris, I quit booking via Delta / AF...

@AMann It really was!! There were two things that kept me from losing it. It was the start of a five week trip so I knew that although I was losing vacation days, I still had a lot of time on this trip. It did sort of wreck my time in London because it took me two days not to be completely exhausted. But at 61 years old, I kept on saying to myself "I still have that spirit of adventure!!. The trip also had emotion significance. In 2021 I had a freak accident and suffered a significant leg injury where I couldn't walk or drive. During the dark days of my recovery, I booked my trip in the fall as something to motivate me not to give up and keep working hard to learn to walk again and get better. Although I still have some health issues and do not walk perfectly (but hope to) as I drudged through each terminal I was just thankful I could take those steps.

I was just in Atlanta airport last week and saw the same thing go down. People told they had confirmed seats but there were not enough available seats to be assigned all the confirmed passengers. Why have that stressed, get the seat assigned now to solve any potential problems. With staffing shortages and so many wanting to travel this year, there just are not enough empty seats on planes to allow for things of this nature. Good luck and I hope you have a great trip!!

Edited: I've deleted my previous posts because I just managed to get a seat assignment on Air France (same company as KLM), for a flight from London to Paris at the end of August. I

I texted Delta and asked for my Air France confirmation number. I went to my reservation on Air France and reserved a seat. Since it's business class, I don't have to pay for the reservation. This might work for you, but you would have to pay for your seat assignment in economy.

Let us know what happens.

itsv - I hope no one ever comes close to what you had to endure! Kudos to you for your patience.

Is there any hope that all this mess with airlines and airports will improve? No replies expected!

Thank you to everyone for the suggestions, I am still working on this. I’ve made several more calls to Delta and they continue to reassure me that we are confirmed on this flight but we cannot reserve seats. They continue to tell me to wait til we are at Amsterdam airport and then find a ticket agent to assign us seats. Also tried going thru KLM website but it just goes right back to the Delta site. I’m not comfortable with the idea of waiting til we arrive at Amsterdam airport but there seems to be no other solution. I’m just hoping they have not booked us on an overbooked flight! There are no other available Delta flights to switch to for this connection. Still have a few weeks until travel so will keep trying as it gets closer! Thanks for all the helpful replies

Chris - I just booked a Delta Vacations to Berlin for December. One leg is on AF and two are on KLM (the fourth is on Delta). I was, of course, only able to book seats on the Delta leg. Because i am traveling with my 6'8" son, I called Delta Vacations to ask how to book a seat. We can't leave that to chance! They gave me my record locator number. Has anyone at Delta given you that number and if so, are you still unable to pick seats because the flight shows as full? I was able to do "find your trip" on both AF and KLM websites with that number and book seats, including paid upgrades on KLM. All those seats are now showing when I look at our booking under "My Trips" on Delta. I've done the "just ask for your seat at the gate" thing before and it was very stressful.

Thanks again everyone for all the suggestions! I’ve tried almost everything suggested. Spoke to Delta again and they told me KLM has control of these seats. Spoke with a KLM agent, he told me this is unusual and we should be able to select seats, but that he couldn’t open the seating chart and to call back in a week. So I called back today and another KLM agent told me that because this is a codeshare flight the seats need to be selected thru Delta! So back to square one.
We have paid for tickets that include seat selection, so this is strange.
Anyway I will try again as the September trip gets closer, but it looks like we will be asking for seats at the airport when we check in at the gate. Im also wondering if not having seats will prevent us from getting our boarding passes ahead of time online. Keeping fingers crossed that this goes smoothly!