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Delta Promises You Won't Have to Take a Middle Seat | Frommer's Myra Thompson/ Shutterstock

Delta Promises You Won't Have to Take a Middle Seat

Delta Air Lines has announced a new set of measures designed to conform to the world's current standards for social distancing—or at least to nod to them.

From April 13 to May 31, the airline will block the middle seat from all reservations in Economy and Premium Economy sections. By default, middle seats will now fly empty.

The concession has been made possible by the reduced number of people flying. In cases of busier routes, the airline plans to cap bookings to make room for the measure.

That doesn't put the recommended 6 feet between you and your neighbors, but it's something.

Middle seats won't be completely unusable. If you really want one—say, if you're traveling with kids or with someone who needs to be closer to you—just call Delta after purchasing your tickets to request the middle seat be assigned to you. Or you can wait until you check in for the flight. 

Sad that it took a pandemic to finally get the airlines to easily accommodate families who require seat assignments together.

But that's not all: Delta has also extended flight credits so that they're good for two years, not just one. That means customers who backed out of flights between March and May of this year but can't yet decide on a new date to travel have until May 31, 2022, to use their credits. 

We expect the world to be traveling again by then, but it's nice to have the breathing room.

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