[phauxpaw]

I was shocked to check in today for my flight tomorrow on Delta for the Thanksgiving holiday. Even though I'm a Gold Medallion flier, for the first time ever, with no warning, Delta apparently has instituted a brand new $29 fee just to choose any kind of decent seat, other than the seat they auto-assigned me to at the back of the plane. I'm sorry, but if you're going to gouge even your best, most-loyal fliers like this, what kind of business is that? I'm not sure there's much that can be done to fight these kinds of new nickle-&-dime strategies. But I assure you I will take these fees into consideration, as I do baggage and other fees, in choosing future flight options.