American-Reserved Seats...Not!

[valvzb]

I'm leaving for Orlando next Tuesday. I booked my airline reservations back in February with reserved seats 23, a, b, c, d, and e. I went online this morning to check if the times had changed at all and I noticed that our seats had changed to 23 a, 23 b, 13 c, 23 d and 23 e! After speaking to 4 reservationists at American they told me that due to the time change (5 minutes) the computer changed the seats and sometimes when they change the seats not everyone can be together! I asked why the person in 23 c couldn't be switched to 13 c so my daughter could be seated with us and they said that there was no one in 23 c; the seat was reserved for the airline at the airport because they required a certain number of seats under their control so they could handle special circumstances, like making sure that families sit together etc.! So they split up MY family to leave open a seat in case another family needed to sit together? What?
I was so aggravated but I'm a little calmer now. They told me if I arrive at the airport early and explain the situation they might be able to switch my daughter back to 23 c. Arrghh!

 

[Pinnie]

All the more reason I love flying SWA. No false sense of security thinking we will have seats together. We have to be proactive and get to the airport early enough for that to happen!

pinnie

 

[Eeyore1954]

Originally posted by valvzb
I asked why the person in 23 c couldn't be switched to 13 c so my daughter could be seated with us and they said that there was no one in 23 c; the seat was reserved for the airline at the airport because they required a certain number of seats under their control so they could handle special circumstances, like making sure that families sit together etc.! So they split up MY family to leave open a seat in case another family needed to sit together?

Gotta love the airlines "logic" -- at least I think that's what they call it.

 

[ducklite]

That seat is possibly handicapped accessible, thus a handicapped person gets priority (movable armrest?). I wouldn't worry too much though, if it's empty, you should still be able to get it. Just get there early.

Anne

 

[sgtdisney]

That is very strange indeed. That explanation doesn't make a lot of sense to me since they are trading off seats. If you look at the seating chart on American's website maybe you can see if what ducklite mentioned is what is happening. (handicap seats)

If I were you I would call back and talk to another person. There is no really good reason to me, especially if 23C is still open, why they can't switch them. Sometimes if you get a different operator on the phone they will do things that others can't or won't. It is worth a shot.

 

[gallaj0]

If you know what kind of plane you are going on, check seatguru.com, they will tell you exactly what every seat is like, and if there is anything special about it.

 

[CarolA]

All an airline reservation gurantees you is a seat, not the seat of your choice.
If the airline can't move you, you can ask whoever is in 23 C to move. I would move for you, it's a good trade one aisle seat for another and 13 is closer to the front!

 

[valvzb]

Thanks for all the insight! I checked seatguru.com (very handy website by the way) and it looks like both 13c and 23c are standard seats, not handicapped accessible. I'm not going to fret too much, it's only 2 hours, it's just incredibly annoying. I've already talked to 4 different reps so I'll just let it go and remember it the next time I'm ready to book a flight, most probably with a different airline!

 

[sgtdisney]

American airlines website also lets you change your seats online if you booked through them. Maybe there are 5 other seats next to each other that aren't blocked that you could switch too as well. Just another thought that may be worth a try.

I always try to use American because of their 'more room thru coach' seating and have never had a problem. Sorry to hear that you have been having these issues.

 

[Dznypal]

on our family reunion trip/sons wedding to Hawaii we booked 16 people at the same time.

some got seats at the travel agency and some (on the itinery) said seat assigned at check in.

there was no rhyme or reason to seating

my brother-in-law had one seat my 2 nephews (5 and 8) were by themselves and my sister said seat at check in!!!!

the rest of us were scattered throughout the plane some together others by themselves


not good. so I called United and was on the phone for over half and hour but he could get us seats at least by couples with my sisters family together.

the agent I got was terrific very patient and efficient

good luck getting your seats together

 

[Familyof14]

Although I would be upset as well if I had already reserved seats, it isn't all that bad. Just switch seats with your daughter so that she doesn't have to sit alone. We have to do that all the time...no big deal.

 

[hercamore]

Yes, did you try changing your seats online?

also, if you do online checkin, you should be able to swtich seats.

herc.

 

[valvzb]

The plane is almost full and the seat my daughter had has been reserved for the airline at the airport so I can't switch seats before I get there. Worst case I'll be sitting by myself.

 

[NotUrsula]

In my recent experience, when AA blocks aisle seats for their own control, the primary reason is actually to reserve space for aircrew who are being repositioned for their flights. Don't be surprised if you find a uniformed pilot or FA sitting in that seat.

 

[Bethshaya]

A few years ago we went with Delta and booked our seats. This was our second trip to Disney with our only child. He was five at the time and he was looking forward to the trip. We arrived at JFK at 7:30 Am.

When we arrived at the check in counter, they did not have our seats recorded.

To top that off, the flight was overbooked, and because we didnt have our seats confirmed, we were bumped from that flight.

That flight was scheduled to leave at 9 AM. We were bumped from that flight...

...and the flight after that
...and the flight after that
...and the flight after that.

Finially, at 8 PM, we were able to find seats on a flight from JFK to Boston and from Boston to Orlando.

We arrived at our hotel with a sleepy but very patient 5 yr old at 1 AM. Our baggage had gone ahead of us.

It was the worst experience I have ever had on an airline and have never flown Delta since.

Lesson learned: Verify your seats and get paper tickets, not e-tickets.

Take nothing for granted with airlines.

 

[Jestocost]

Originally posted by Bethshaya
Lesson learned: Verify your seats and get paper tickets, not e-tickets.

Take nothing for granted with airlines.

I agree that you should take nothing for granted, but paper tickets would not really help in today's world. A few years ago you could get your boarding passes well in advance and, theoretically, would have more "proof" that you had an assigned seat. Today, the earliest you can get your boarding pass (on American, at least) is 30 hours before your flight.

Also, in many cases you need to pay an additional fee to get a paper ticket.

 

[curlyjbs]

i booked our trip on AA.com almost 5 months in advance and changed our seats myself 2 or 3 times. We did get the seats i chose. check online and do it yourself. it's easy.

curly

 

[NotUrsula]

AA now charges $50/ticket if you want paper. (They don't like doing them for US residents, and they don't do them if the flight is less than 5 days from date of purchase.)

SWA, JetBlue, AirTran and Frontier don't issue paper tickets at all.

If AA won't give you a seat assignment at the time you purchase the flights, know that you won't get more than 2 seats together, and you are probably looking at nothing but center seats. If you can get an aisle, then take it, even if it is nowhere near the center seat you've put the other person in. You are more likely to find someone willing to trade for that aisle seat.

I fly AA on fairly short notice all the time, and in the last year I've only managed to get a seat assignment once when buying less than 60 days out. On that occasion, I was flying alone and paying a very high fare; about twice the usual coach-fare from here. For the lowest-fare seats, you need to just know that it is probable that you will get no seat assignment if you buy less than 90 days out.

 

[HockeyDadof2]

The same exact thing happened to us for our trip that was supose to be last week. The seperated us because they changed the flight time by 5 minutes. It worked out for us as we needed to cancel our trip, and I was able to get a full refund solely because of the changes. We had originally just planned on saving the tickets and paying to go somewhere in Novemeber.

 

[georgina]

Originally posted by Bethshaya



It was the worst experience I have ever had on an airline and have never flown Delta since.

We had a VERY bad experience with Delta last weekend trying to get from LA to Pittsburgh. Spent 2 days sitting around in airports due to equipment problems and missed connections. I'll never fly delta again either!