ATA Seat Assignments - BEWARE!

[inkkognito]

Due to the re-configuration to Business Class, seat assignments on ATA are going to be VERY messed up until December. I experienced this first hand this weekend, and it was confirmed by a web check-in rep. on the phone. She warned me that it's going to be a big mess for the next three months.

Even if you have seats showing up on your online reservation, and even if you do web check-in and have boarding passes, you are NOT safe. They will reseat you in the computer, and it won't show up until you get to the airport. We lost our seats, and they would not correct the error, even though we had checked in long before the people who got them in error (5 a.m. online vs. at the airport) and even though we are Elite flyers. So if you have kids or a family and want to be sure you are together, keeping calling! Call and confirm the day of your flight...DO NOT go by what shows up on your online reservation.
Barb

[tinkerbellmagic]

Thanks so much for letting us know, Barb. I have been sweating it out with ATA seats for the past few months for our Nov and March trips. Even after the phone calls to ATA, things are messed up and from what you say, it will get worse and worse.

When should we start calling about our flights? The day before? Would showing up at the airport 2 hours before our flight leaves help?

Another thing that worries me... I called ATA because they put me and my 5 year old DGS in row 24 (according to the online reservation). I told the agent that it appears that row 24 is an exit row and DGS is only 5. I told her I would rather switch seats now, out of the exit row, than to be bumped out of the exit row the day of the flight and possibly become separated. The agent told me row 24 is not an exit row. Seat guru.com says it is. I don't know what to think anymore.

Thanks, Tink

[inkkognito]

Seatguru.com's ATA charts are not all accurate. I know their planes very well, so let me know what type it is (757-300, 757-200, or 737) and I should be able to tell you.
Call the day before AND the day of, as the web check-in person told me that they have been changing the chart the morning of the flight. And if you have a child, I would say get to the airport early rather than use web check-in, at least while all this is going on. They like those "hard" boarding passes, even when a web person has checked in before you. We are flying again next weekend, so I'll update my report. I also have a letter in to Customer Service (I only posted the Cliff Notes version of our experience, but let's just say that the flight attendant and gate agent did NOT handle it well), so I'll share any further info. with fellow ATA travelers. I'll be glad when their changeover is complete!
Barb

[DebbieB]

If they are exit seats, I'm sure there will be 2 adults together who would be glad to switch with you. People love the exit row because of the extra legroom.

[powellrj]

thanks for the update, I am now rethinking our plans and we maybe spending the night before at the airport instead of using the web-checkin. Please keep us posted. Between the money problems and now the seating issues........

[Pinnie]

Makes SWA look that much more appealing. At least you know what you in for with SWA!

pinnie

[powellrj]

after reading your post, I talked to dh and we just pricelined a room at the airport for the night before so we know we will be there!

[tinkerbellmagic]

Originally posted by inkkognito
Seatguru.com's ATA charts are not all accurate. I know their planes very well, so let me know what type it is (757-300, 757-200, or 737) and I should be able to tell you.
Barb

Our plane for each flight is the 757-300 series. We are in row 24 on the way home and row 20 on the way to Orlando. Do you know if any of these are exit rows?

Thanks so much for checking. I really appreciate it! :)

Tink

[inkkognito]

I will know by tomorrow...we just got off a newly-reconfigured 757-300 tonight so hubby will look it up tomorrow and we can tell you with both the old AND new seat numbers! I'll post it tomorrow afternoon.
Barb

[tinkerbellmagic]

Thanks a bunch to you and your husband for checking on this!
I really appreciate it.
:)

Tink

[inkkognito]

I looked at the chart but I am not as good as making sense out of it as hubby, and you're row numbers are in the "danger zone" for one of the flights if it's non-reconfigured and the other if it is reconfigured. There will be no way to know for sure whether it will be a reconfigured craft until the morning of the flight.
He has a more readable printout so when he gets home in a couple of hours, I'll let you know for sure.
Barb

[tinkerbellmagic]

Thanks again, Barb. It's so nice of you to check. The seating prospects do not look good from what you say. I guess at this point, even tho I was trying to avoid sitting in the back of the plane, which is why I wanted to straighten it out now, I will sit anywhere as long as I do not become separated from my DGS. I just want to get it out of the way, but am learning it is impossible to have seating arrangements all set and ready to go with the airlines.

Tink

[inkkognito]

According to my husband, the exit rows are 23 and 24 in the old configuration and 21 and 22 in the new one. Hopefully your plane will have business class...then you will be okay! Otherwise they will move you around, and knowing ATA it could be anywhere.
Barb

[lkc0538]

What is ATA-is that AirTran, or something else?:confused:

[safetymom]

http://www.ata.com/home.html

It is not Air Tran but another one of the airlines out there.

[powellrj]

I just checked our seats and we are showing a 757-200 and we are seated in row 7 both ways. We are a family of 4 so how safe do you think our orginal seats are. Will we be moved because of the new business class? Thanks, the closer it gets.....the more I have to worry about!

[tinkerbellmagic]

Barb, a big thank you to you and Tony, once again, for checking on the seats. I am crossing my fingers our planes will be reconfigured. :)
Just a note to others: we were originally booked for row 14 to MCO and row 15 for the trip back home, but were bumped online to rows 20 and 24 because they said rows 14 & 15 were reserved for elite class.

**************

Originally posted by powellrj
I just checked our seats and we are showing a 757-200 and we are seated in row 7 both ways. We are a family of 4 so how safe do you think our orginal seats are. Will we be moved because of the new business class? Thanks, the closer it gets.....the more I have to worry about!

Lol, we also have this dilema for our spring 2005 trip. They have us seated in row 5 for each leg. When I called to change that, thinking we are better off changing it now, then to get bumped to who knows where (back row, next to john, and separated from DD), they said they will leave us in row 5. Of course, the kicker is that I booked these seats 8 months in advance and paid a whopping $500 per person, and we will most likey be bumped out of our seats the day we leave. It kind of smarts when you buy tix 8 months in advance, but I am telling myself the point of the flight is to get from point A to point B. Yeah, that's what I keep telling myself. ;)
Tink

[dreams4disney]

Can anyone tell me if I should worry? To MCO we will be in rows
30 C & D 31 C & d 32 D & E

To Chicago row 13 DEF and row 14 DEF
and to Indy Row 10 & 11 ABC But this is one of the small planes.

I am worried because we will will have our 4 small children and was told the day of the flight to MCO we should be able to switch and get seats together but Now I just want to get seat close .
Should I worry? will we have to split up even more?
Thanks if anyone can help out.

Bobbie Ann

[inkkognito]

By December, all the craziness will be over, as the retrofitting with be done and there will be no "equipment changes" (they consider it an equipment change even if it's the same plane but reconfigured). But until then (at least according to the web person I spoke with), it's up for grabs! Call, call, and call again. DO NOT trust your online confirmation.
I have not seen the new configuration on the 737 or the 752, just the 753, but I'll ask my hubby if he can figure out how it might work. Basically, on the 753, the seats are all two rows closer to the front (i.e. our old favorite row 10 is now row 8), and the old exit rows have moved up accordingly. Business class is the first 3 rows.
Barb

[Bronte]

How do you check where you are sitting on an ATA Flight ... I did not know you could find out or request seats prior to ariving at the airport that day.
My husband and I will be traveling with our two children and I am sorry to say that I do get a little "scared" on airplains so it is important where we sit (once we sat in the last row and I actually thought I was going to die ... not a good reaction when you are with your kids but I can not help it and driving is not an opition for our family.)
My husband said that we would let them know when we check in that morning that we prefer to sit together and not in the last row if at all possible (the less I see in front of me the better.) Do you think this will be enough?
Bronte

[inkkognito]

Do NOT wait until the morning of your flight! When you book online, you have an opportunity to choose seats if they are available. If you did not realize that, call them NOW to see if any are available. If not, normally web check-in is your best best for getting seats, as they release a block that morning (or the night before). But with all the screw-ups lately, they might refuse to honor the web passes. Conversely, if you get seats at the airport that rightfully belong to a web check-in person, you could possibly lose them if it someone like me who raises a stink because my seats have been incorrectly reassigned 8 times now!
I know that all sounds scary, but the best thing you can do now is call, get an assignment, and call again the day of your flight (if you check your reservation on their website, it's not always right). If you do web check-in, call their help desk when you are done to make sure it worked, even if you are able to print boarding passes.
Good luck!
Barb

[HappyLawyer]

i agree i called and was able to get row 5 there and back, i hate always being last off the plane, now i am one of the first

[Bronte]

I booked our flights for late October a few months ago ... we called this morning to see about where we were sitting ... going down there ATA said that our flight is "first come first serve" as far as the seat assignments and comming back we are row 38 (that does not sound good either.) Northwest is sounding better and better ... they just opened up direct flights from Indy to Orlando starting Oct. 31 (does not help for this trip but perhaps next time.)
Bronte

[Tay N Evie's Mom]

Is what you're talking about only if you didn't receive a seat assignment at the time you booked or are you saying that they are reassigning seats on all their flights. We're going to WDW Nov 6-13 and we're flying ATA out of Chicago. I was given seat assignments for my entire family for flights coming and going when I booked the flights. Do I need to call and reconfirm my seats, are they in jeapordy, or am I OK since I already have seat assignments?

[inkkognito]

Bronte, that is not the norm with ATA at all...it's this reconfiguration thing. Try to do web check in the morning of your flight rather than waiting until you get to the airport. And before that, KEEP CALLING. You can get five different answers if you speak to five different people. I had one phone agent tell me there was no such thing as the Elite program and that I would have to fly an airline like American to get something like that!
Tay N Evie's Mom,
Normally, you don't have to call. But for anyone fly up till December, I DEFINITELY would call.
Barb

[ibidforit]

Hey Barb, or anyone else who might know? When I made my reservations for December for my flight from IND to MCO I chose seats 6 ABCD. This is a 757-300. I went to check my reservations, and they have changed my seating assignment to 23 ABCD. Should I assume that this is because this plane will be reconfigured. Otherwise, wouldn't row 23 be an exit row?

Gretchen

[HappyLawyer]

Well after reading this thread i called to double check to see if they had changed our seats, for dec flight and my seats are still row 5

[Bronte]

thanks Barb ... I will be calling and checking and trying to relax ;)
Fourteen more days till we leave and we can't wait :Pinkbounc :bounce: :Pinkbounc :bounce:

Bronte :earsgirl:

[dislvr75]

I know it was said that the reconfiguration would be done in january, or by January. But if we bought seats a month ago for May, and chose seats, wouldn't we still be in jeopardy of losing seat assignments if the planes are reconfigured???

I know there's plenty of time to get it changed, I was just curious why it seemed like you were saying those of us flying after January would be spared??

Let me know if you think I should call anyway. We are a family of four who flies 2 and 2, seats A & B in two sequential rows.

Thanks!

[inkkognito]

Good point...I didn't think of the impact down the road, as we don't hold any tickets beyond Dec. so that's all I've talked to ATA about. Business class will change all of the seat numbers and lessen the rows. Hopefully they took that into account, but if not, this is going to be an interesting ripple effect.
Tonight we were on a very old, unreconfigured plane, so our seats were safe. We saw people getting shuffled around...not sure if there were problems or if they were just trying to keep families together.
Barb

[dislvr75]

Thanks for responding inkkognito! I'll call and see what they say!

I'll post and let everyone know what happens just in case there are others out there holding tickets way into 2005.


*UPDATE*

I called ATA and as it turns out, much to my dismay, I never chose seats for our May 2005 trip! So unfortunately I don't have an answer whether those flights for next year are affected or not. I was able to use the phone rep to go ahead and chose our seats though, he did say that some planes had already been retrofitted and others had not been yet.

Sorry for those that hoped I would have an answer!

[tinkerbellmagic]

Here is an update on our ATA flights for Nov/Dec and March. Thanks to this board, I know to check on my flights for changes.
ATA has changed my flight times on both the Nov/Dec flights and the March flights. In both cases, we are flying out to Orlando a half hour later, and flying home 40 minutes earlier.

It's not a big change nor a bad change, but I did need to let my towncar service know so we wouldn't be charged for the waiting times. Of course the flight times could change again, but at least I know from these boards to keep checking the virtually there dot com site from my online reservations.

I hope the times do not change drastically before we leave. I think I have some options with ATA if they do, but I will have to find out what those options are. I think I read them here somewhere.

So thanks for the info Dis'ers! :)

Tink

[Captain Blue Sky]

WOW!

Just imagine, if all of you were flying SouthWest, you wouldn't have to worry about seating as they don't assign ANY seats! You just show up for the 'cattle call' and hope for the best!

ATA is without a doubt a great airline! And if you haven't seen the new Business Class seating, you are in for a treat! The 50% off sale ended yesterday, for Business Class, but you still might be able to find coupons for 50% off Business Class upgrades circulating around.

The seats are HUGE and very comfortable, with extension foot rests, huge tray tables, and those now famous articulating head rests. Treat yourself to something special by flying Business Class on select ATA flights.

:wave2:

[delilah]

I had written on an earlier thread about our recent aggravating experience with ATA. We went to Orlando in July so I could attend a conference. There are three of us, mom, dad and 6yo. My only request was that the three of us sit together, three across, in one row. They split us up. It was most aggravating because I made my reservations in April or March, and were told we had to get seats assigned when we got to the airport. Then, when we got to the airport, two hours before the flight, we were split up, and were told the flight was totally booked, we couldn't be assigned together. When we got to the gate, we were nearly the first passengers there, and there was nobody at the gate desk. We hoped to trade with the third person in our row, but, it turned out to be an adolescent girl whose mom wanted to sit next to her as well--so much so she hijacked the seat next to her, and refused to move when confronted by the flight attendent. Obviously, somebody got to pick seats before arriving at the airport. I was by the window, my son next to me in nearly the last row of the plane, and dad was in the front section. My son kept wanting to get up to see dad. Oh well.

[inkkognito]

We have seen the new business class seating on two of the 753s now, and upgrades were only $20. We didn't bite, as we had our favorite exit row, which actually has more leg room (no footrests tho'). But we got a free upgrade coupon when we reached Elite status, so we'll pop it next time we're stuck on a 737.
Our Dec. flights have all had time changes. I was surprised that ATA didn't call, as they are normally very good about that. It wasn't earth shattering changes so we won't need to switch our flights around, but check if you're flying around that time.
Captain Blue Sky, no matter what, I prefer ATA to the cattle call any day! I just hope that nothing else new gets implemented...first it was the online check-in and then the retrofitting that goofed up the seats. I will be happy when everything settles down again.
Barb

[Captain Blue Sky]

Inkkognito, hold onto your horses as ATA will be servicing Europe next summer!

Just think, being able to 'hop the pond' and travel to Europe for very little money!

And wait until you hear of the destinations that ATA will be servicing to Europe! You will flip-out!

Look for service to begin in Summer 2005!

:wave2:

[inkkognito]

Oooooo :D
We are due for about a zillion free tickets with our frequent flyer miles, so I will be excited to see if we can use some of those like we can for Hawaii. That would be so cool! We rack them up quickly because we fly at least every other week. That's another thing I love about ATA...the very generous FF program.
Barb

[bujuni]

I am now confused and very worried. I was under the impression that most people who use air tran usually buys the web special fare, thus - not allowed to check in untl within 24 hours of travel. Are you saying that EVERYONE can check in months in advance. I am worried because there seems to be some people that feel that it may be a problem for a family to have seats together. I have only used air tran once a couple years ago. I was able to get the seats I wanted with on-line check-in 24 hours prior to departure. Is it more difficult now? Are more people paying for advance seating fares? Thanks

[inkkognito]

Air Tran is not the same as ATA, which is American Trans Air. ATA only allows check in no earlier than 24 hours prior to your flight.
Barb

[bujuni]

I know. I just called AirTran and told me that am not allowed to check in until 24 hours prior to departure. I think you being an Elite member you can check in anytime(maybe).

There are usually 3 choices for each flight when I reserve on-line:
1. Coach -------this fare does not offer advance seat assignments
Lowest Fare

2. Coach----------usually cost 100 -150 US dollars more than above
Advance seating

3. Biz Class--the works