I'm not here to argue. I buy a second seat every time I fly Delta, because I agree that it's the right thing to do. What I am here to do is show you exactly what that process looks like — and ask you to help me pressure Delta to make it easier — because I'm genuinely out of ideas on how to do that alone.

Because here's the thing: Delta doesn't make it easy. I'm a frequent flyer who has done this many, many times, and it costs me two to three hours every single booking. If you've ever been frustrated by a plus-size passenger who didn't buy a second seat, I'd ask you to read this and then direct some of that energy at Delta instead.

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1. You find a flight that has two seats together. Mind you, you cannot book them online, as that is not allowed, but you at least know they exist.
2. You call Delta and wait between 15 minutes to 3 hours on hold. You can try to get them to call you back instead, but in my experience that works approximately 10% of the time. You can also try chatting, but again, it only works some of the time.
3. Despite buying a second seat for the full price it currently is offered for, you get no extra carry on or checked bags. Delta simply makes a ton of profit on your second seat. Unlike other airlines, even if the flight is not full, you get no refund.

4.You finally reach an agent and explain that you want two seats. If you are lucky, the seats you wanted are still available. If not, you will be given a random pair that may or may not have a raisable armrest between them — which rather defeats the purpose. If you are lucky enough to still have your original seats, it then takes 20 to 40 minutes to give the agent everything they need to complete the booking.

5. When you get to the airport you can't just check in. You must go to the "special circumstances desk" and wait in that line to check in instead even if you have only carry on. Sometimes that takes 15 minutes, but sometimes it takes an hour and a half, so you must leave a lot of extra time at the airport. If you are traveling with your family, that means either traveling to the airport separately or making them wait twiddling their thumbs with you.

---------------UPDATE----------------------

Thanks to cleo4546, I have found it there IS an undocumented way to do this which I will definitely will try next time I fly, as it would be an incredible time savings :-). I confirmed with Delta chat that if I did this it should work when I pasted cleo4546's exact formula. I have the chat transcript from Delta, but if anyone can find any official page saying this should work I would be very grateful. You guys rock :-)

Quote from cleo4546:

The main thing is for pax 2 to only have
First name: EXST
last name: your last name
DOB: your DOB
gender: your gender

Additionally, you MUST scan both boarding passes when boarding, I think this may be where people mess up and get their seat taken away. I fly on packed routes and have never had my seat taken away. I regularly do this when they have full flights that they are offering credit to people to take later flights and have not once had my seat taken from me.

Air France has a policy that if you book economy comfort seats they will originally let you book the seats, then quietly remove your seat assignments a few days before the flight. I don't have enough karma to post the images of the chats I had in France that confirmed this policy but I've included the transcript below (If anyone tells me a way around that probation I'm happy to post them).

Also, if anyone knows any other forums where this information would be useful, I'd love suggestions. I currently am in considerable pain as I had no choice but to fly home without the extra legroom, as last minute first class upgrades are insane, and I'd love to stop other tall plus-size travelers from making the same mistake I did. At least then it will feel like all the pain I am currently experiencing can be good for something!

P.S. As there seem to be a couple of common confusions I am addressing them here: Air France added a new "Economy Comfort" to their long-hall flights. These are not either bulkhead or premium economy seats. There is a press release about them in 2025 and you can see them if you look at Air France seat maps. These are the seats they will allow overweight people who need an extra seat to purchase with the reassurance they do have raisable arm rests, then take away the seat assignment before the actual flight.

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Air France Agent:

I have checked your booking and can confirm that you purchased:

one extra seat for comfort, and
two paid seat upgrades to Economy Comfort.
Please note that when an extra seat for comfort is purchased so that two seats are reserved for the same passenger, this is only possible in Standard seats or Duo seats. For this reason, the paid Economy Comfort seat options have been disassociated from your Paris–Atlanta flight.

Based on your current booking details, you are now assigned to seats 27E and 27F.

As for the amount paid for the Economy Comfort seat option, this can still be used as a voucher for seat payment on a future flight. The EMD (Electronic Miscellaneous Document) is valid for one year from the date of ticket issuance.

Next message after I asked to confirm they were doing this because I paid for the second seat because I was too overweight to fit in a normal seat:

I understand your concern, and I’m very sorry for the confusion and frustration this situation has caused.

Based on the booking conditions, an extra seat for comfort can only be combined with Standard seats or Duo seats. However, seat selection and paid upgrades are not automatically blocked at the time the extra seat for comfort is purchased, which is why those seats may still appear available for purchase initially.

I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused and for the inconsistent information you were given regarding your return flight.

Repost to

Location: Atlanta, GA. Round-trip US–France on Air France.

I'm 6'2", 350 lbs, with a hip condition, so I needed extra seating to manage my size and medical issue.

I was rejected from reddit legal advice because some of the actions took place in France. If the judgement of the legal community here is that it doesn't matter if the fraud happened on U.S. soil and that there are no protections against it I will accept it, but I was hoping to get a double check before giving up, as I would love to stop this from happening to the next oversized person trying to fly overseas.

What happened, in order:

1. 13 May 2026 — I called Air France from Atlanta to arrange and pay for the extra seat. On that call they assured me I'd keep those seats. (I didn't record the call, so I can only attest to it — but the same assurance was later repeated in writing, see below.)
2. Tue 16 Jun 2026 — I found they'd reassigned/removed those seats. In chat (first transcript) I asked why, they said it happened for "unknown reason". I stated that my tickets were refundable, and said I would cancel rather than fly without the extra-legroom seats. They confirmed I'd keep the seats and restored them.
3. 26 Jun 2026 — I discovered the extra seats on my return flight had again been reassigned.
4. 27 Jun 2026 — After trying to reach someone for a full day, I finally got an agent in chat (second transcript). The agent stated it is policy: they allow people of size to buy premium seats with more legroom and then automatically reassign them.
5. 29 Jun 2026 — My return flight. I was downgraded to worse seats. I flew in significant pain because of my hip.

So this wasn't a one-off. They assured me twice I'd keep the seats — and restored them on the 16th after I pointed out my tickets were refundable and that I'd cancel — then on 27 June an agent admitted it's standard policy to reassign these seats before the flight.

I have full chat transcripts recorded.

Questions:

• Most important question: Because some of the fraud happened in France, do I have any legal recourse at all?
• Does this pattern — selling the extra seat, assuring me I'd keep it, restoring it after I said I'd cancel a refundable ticket, then reassigning once cancellation was off the table — amount to a deceptive or unfair business practice (FTC / state consumer-protection law / DOT's authority over unfair and deceptive airline practices)?
• Does the disability dimension (hip condition; obesity as a possible impairment) open any additional avenue, e.g. under the Air Carrier Access Act?
• Realistic remedies — refund, compensation, DOT complaint? I am much more interested in getting them to stop this behavior then any monetary compensation, as while my hip is killing me today, I am hoping it is only inflamed and will settle down in the next couple of weeks, as a month ago I was finally able to stop Physical Therapy as it had healed enough to walk without significant pain, so I am really, really hoping that the pain I am currently in will not be permanent :-(

I'm 6'2", 350 lbs and have abad hip. I did it all "right" on a round-trip US–France: called ahead, paid for an extra seat for the legroom I need because of my size, was told it was mine.

Outbound: Seat gone. Got on chat, said I'd cancel my refundable ticket rather than fly crammed in. Then they gave it back.

Return: Gone again. This time the agent admitted it's their policy — let "people of size" buy the premium extra room, then auto-reassign it. They didn't fix it. I flew home with my hip constantly getting jostled.

The r/legaladvice moderators have told me I have no legal recourse as the actual harm happened in France, so they can legally continue to discriminate this way with no consequences. If anyone else knows of any other forums that are likely to have plus size travelers who might make the same mistake I did, I'd love to warn them to avoid my mistake!

I unfortunately don't have enough flair to post the actual screenshots but below was the wording used.

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Air France Agent:

I have checked your booking and can confirm that you purchased:

one extra seat for comfort, and
two paid seat upgrades to Economy Comfort.
Please note that when an extra seat for comfort is purchased so that two seats are reserved for the same passenger, this is only possible in Standard seats or Duo seats. For this reason, the paid Economy Comfort seat options have been disassociated from your Paris–Atlanta flight.

Based on your current booking details, you are now assigned to seats 27E and 27F.

As for the amount paid for the Economy Comfort seat option, this can still be used as a voucher for seat payment on a future flight. The EMD (Electronic Miscellaneous Document) is valid for one year from the date of ticket issuance.

Next message after I asked to confirm they were doing this because I paid for the second seat as a person of size:

I understand your concern, and I’m very sorry for the confusion and frustration this situation has caused.

Based on the booking conditions, an extra seat for comfort can only be combined with Standard seats or Duo seats. However, seat selection and paid upgrades are not automatically blocked at the time the extra seat for comfort is purchased, which is why those seats may still appear available for purchase initially.

I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused and for the inconsistent information you were given regarding your return flight.

We bought their comfort plus seats to go to France, where I reserved an extra seat for myself. Three days before I was supposed to leave, my seat assignments were both removed, while my husband’s seat assignment was not touched. Ten hours later we finally got it resolved after escalating and filing a complaint with the US department of aviation as they definitely resisted firmly giving my seats back.

While in France, I have been checking my seat assignments pretty regularly and, sure enough, three days before my flight, one of my two seats mysteriously was unassigned. Again, of course course, my husband’s seat was not touched.

When I was on the phone the first time, one of the agents said they deliberately release extra seats if they are in a premium location. At the time, I thought she was just coming up with BS reasons why my seats were given away, but now that it’s happened on the way home as well, I am starting to wonder if Air France is doing this deliberately, so I’d love to know if anyone else has had a similar experience.