Airplane seat selection?

Im trying to book a flight, and when Im looking through the different flights, and click on seating chart, sometimes it will show unoccupied seats. Then when I go to book the flight and choose my seat, it shows that they are all taken. What does this mean? It will still let me buy the ticket, but there are no seats available!!

well i work for an airline and they "hold" a lot of the seats and dont assign them till at the airport in case theres families traveling together, people with disabilities who need special seating etc...

It means you are on reserve. If someone on the plane decides not the fly that day, you will be given the seat.

This happens to me a lot. Usually when you check in at the airport they will assign you a seat then.

hmm...never happened to me before. answers above may be right with families, disabled persons, minors ect....what I would do is that if you want a particular seat like a window or aisle, check in at the airport as soon as check in opens then they can accomodate your choice most of the time....I have done it before and I got the last window on the plane!

I prefer calling the airline to make reservations over the phone instead of online. In my experience, they can be helpful with your seat selection and you can ask them any questions you might have about your itinerary etc.