Ok, folks - need some help from the experts here. Flying to Vienna (via Germany) from Boston next Wed (Oct 6) at 8 PM on Lufthansa. We current;y have great seats (for us) - an aisle and a window all by ourselves).

I am 4.5 months pregnant and do not want to get reassigned. I cannot check-in until 23 hours before flight time.

So do I:

1) call Luftansa now and ask to make sure I keep my aisle seat?

2) check in at 9 PM on Oct 5?

Why do you think you might be "reassigned"? I'm no expert, but I've never had that happen to me.

We were reassigned at the gate by Delta and refused to accept them. They gave us our original seats back.

I wouldn't bother calling. I tend to check back every day or so, more to check if there are even better seats than what I have, before flight time. And then do online check-in at the earliest time possible, again, to grab whatever good seats that were blocked earlier.

I agree with checking my reserved seats very frequently. I've had them suddenly changed due to computerized shuffling! I did not like my new assigned seats at all; and I would not have known about it had I not been keeping an eye on the situation. I would have discovered the change when checking in! Just keep an eye on your seats.

If they make a change in aircraft, your seats may be changed. You need to check regularly, and then frequently as your trip approaches.

I do the same - check online periodically and then more often as the trip approaches. I've had seats reassigned in the event of a scheduling change - sometimes they seem to just randomly place people in those cases, even if the plane is the same rather than giving everyone their same seats again. And of course if they decide they are going to use a different plane, everything gets moved around. So you just pick new seats.

In the event that your seats do get reassigned and you can't get an aisle seat online, you can plead for one when you arrive at the airport. A lot of times seats that were blocked will be freed up, and the agents at the ticket counter can assign them.

Would arriving to the airport earlier help to keep the seats and give time to change if needed?

Check right now and every day this week to see if your seats are the same. Call instantly if you see they've been changed. And yes, check in the moment you can.

In some cases - although I'd be a little surprised if you could do it with Lufthansa on an international flight - I've requested a note in our record that seats should not be changed, and it was done. Delta's a separate case, however. Be glad you aren't flying Delta.