Airfare through ABD and seat selection

[tracyz]

For the first time ever, we booked our airfare through ABD for our upcoming Egypt trip and I'm starting to think it was a bad decision. We chose to book through them because I was concerned about the possibility of ABD cancelling the trip (so much is unpredictable these days) and just wanted the refund to be as easy as possible if that happened.
However, we've been looking at our flights and the big ones (overnight, overseas) do not have seats assigned. We are booked through United but those flights are Lufthansa, and ABD said we have to call Lufthansa for seat assignments. Lufthansa says that because of the way these were booked, the flights will not be ticketed until 72 hours prior, and we can call back then to request seats. We paid a hefty sum for premium economy and are not happy about the high probability of ending up in middle seats all the way.
I'm wondering if anyone has any insight or ideas about this issue. I feel like I just may be out of luck. Did we make a mistake booking our air through ABD, or is there something that can be done I should be pushing for?

 

[sayhello]

Have you tried both United and Lufthansa's websites and/or apps? I've found that even when I booked through ABD, I could make changes on the apps/websites. Have you tried calling United?

ABD really should have told you that was a possibility. When I went to Japan, I wanted to book Premium Economy to Japan on ANA on a very specific flight. For whatever reason, ABD could not book it directly through ANA, so they offered me the same flight booked as a codeshare through United. But they *told me* they could only book it as regular Economy, and that they couldn't guarantee that I'd be able to upgrade it to Premium Economy. So I booked it myself. I just didn't want to take a chance. I'd've thought ABD would have told you you couldn't book seats in advance. That's bad on them.

Looking at Lufthansa's website, it *appears* that you can book seats ahead of time, but there's a charge for it. That seems ridiculous since you already paid for Premium Economy, but maybe see what happens if you try this (you don't have to complete the purchase):

https://www.lufthansa.com/ge/en/sitzplatzreservierung-in-der-premiumeconomy-class

When I *did* book a codeshare through ABD, the reservation actually had multiple reservation IDs on it. One was ABD's, one was Delta's and one was Air France's. I could access the flight via both Delta & Air France's websites using the ID for each airline. Check and see if yours has that.

Otherwise, I'd complain to ABD. They should have advised you of all of the conditions around your booking. Sounds like they didn't.

Sayhello

 

[clansac]

For the first time ever, we booked our airfare through ABD for our upcoming Egypt trip and I'm starting to think it was a bad decision. We chose to book through them because I was concerned about the possibility of ABD cancelling the trip (so much is unpredictable these days) and just wanted the refund to be as easy as possible if that happened.
However, we've been looking at our flights and the big ones (overnight, overseas) do not have seats assigned. We are booked through United but those flights are Lufthansa, and ABD said we have to call Lufthansa for seat assignments. Lufthansa says that because of the way these were booked, the flights will not be ticketed until 72 hours prior, and we can call back then to request seats. We paid a hefty sum for premium economy and are not happy about the high probability of ending up in middle seats all the way.
I'm wondering if anyone has any insight or ideas about this issue. I feel like I just may be out of luck. Did we make a mistake booking our air through ABD, or is there something that can be done I should be pushing for?

Unrelated to ABD, I have been fighting Lufthansa about this exact issue. I bought a United flight, with a united code and flight number. I didn't know it was operated by Lufthansa when I bought it. Now, United says you get to choose a seat with premium economy, but Lufthansa wants an additional $120 for seat assignments, per person.

I spent six hours Friday and Saturday back and forth on hold, no luck. It's infuriating that United gets away with this and that Lufthansa just says "call them or pay".

 

[starry_solo]

Unrelated to ABD, I have been fighting Lufthansa about this exact issue. I bought a United flight, with a united code and flight number. I didn't know it was operated by Lufthansa when I bought it. Now, United says you get to choose a seat with premium economy, but Lufthansa wants an additional $120 for seat assignments, per person.

I spent six hours Friday and Saturday back and forth on hold, no luck. It's infuriating that United gets away with this and that Lufthansa just says "call them or pay".

Yeah, I've been noticing a lot of codeshare flights (non-ABD). Good to know that we have to book with the airline that's actually flying vs. the codeshare...

 

[tink1970]

Honestly (and I realize it's no help to OP), when I book a non United flight through United I don't expect to pick seats because it's always a pay or else situation. British Airways is the same-even booking THROUGH them with Avios miles in business, I have to pay to chose my seats. At this point, I factor seat selection into the cost of doing business for long flights where the seat is important but on shorter flights I just roll the dice.

 

[tracyz]

Honestly (and I realize it's no help to OP), when I book a non United flight through United I don't expect to pick seats because it's always a pay or else situation. British Airways is the same-even booking THROUGH them with Avios miles in business, I have to pay to chose my seats. At this point, I factor seat selection into the cost of doing business for long flights where the seat is important but on shorter flights I just roll the dice.

Now that I know this is a thing, great. I would happily pay $100 to be sure I'm not stuck with a middle seat on a 10 hour overnight flight. But Lufthansa says I can't even do that because my flight won't be ticketed until 72 hours prior.

 

[tink1970]

Now that I know this is a thing, great. I would happily pay $100 to be sure I'm not stuck with a middle seat on a 10 hour overnight flight. But Lufthansa says I can't even do that because my flight won't be ticketed until 72 hours prior.

That stinks and I'm so sorry. I've been on my share of overseas flights in the middle and I don't blame you for wanting to avoid it (and now that I think about it, that's probably why I don't trust anyone else to schedule my flights now!)for good seat luck 72 hours out...

 

[AquaDame]

I have no advice to offer, but I can definitely commiserate!

We've had this same issue with flights booked through tour operators as well. Sometimes we don't even know what seats we have until we show up at the airport and we have absolutely had the worst seats on the plane before. Looking at you, 'very last row on a 31 year old plane that still had ashtrays with no window, no recline, the tapering of the plane meant the seats were narrower, and less leg space than every other row'!

 

[tracyz]

Just an update, the ABD Air team came through! It was days of back and forth, and we kept having additional problems as flights got moved or cancelled (and I don't think they would have noticed if I hadn't gone into the reservation and noticed change after change....double check your reservations regularly, folks!), but I think they felt bad about all the trouble and did something to see that the flights got ticketed early so we could get seats assigned. A little Disney magic! <3
When all is said and done, I will book my own flights in the future.

 

[sayhello]

Just an update, the ABD Air team came through! It was days of back and forth, and we kept having additional problems as flights got moved or cancelled (and I don't think they would have noticed if I hadn't gone into the reservation and noticed change after change....double check your reservations regularly, folks!), but I think they felt bad about all the trouble and did something to see that the flights got ticketed early so we could get seats assigned. A little Disney magic! <3
When all is said and done, I will book my own flights in the future.

Glad you got it all worked out. I haven't booked through ABD in quite some time, and I don't know that I will going forward. Things like this, and the fact that they are closed on the weekends just make it too risky. (Plus I heard it's taking them many days to actually book tickets these days, so a deal you passed to them to book could be gone by the time they get to it! )

Sayhello

 

[Mathmagicland]

double check your reservations regularly, folks!

Definitely!! Every reservation I have/had the last year or so has been changed at least twice, and most often there is no notice from the airline.

 

[sayhello]

Definitely!! Every reservation I have/had the last year or so has been changed at least twice, and most often there is no notice from the airline.

My reservation for my New England ABD that goes in September has been changed NINE times (so far). It's ridiculous, and NOTHING like it looked when I first booked it. I'm constantly checking it.

Likewise, my reservation for the wedding I'm going to in October has been changed three times so far. I'm always checking the website now, because most times, I don't get any notification.

Sayhello

 

[Mathmagicland]

My reservation for my New England ABD that goes in September has been changed NINE times (so far). It's ridiculous, and NOTHING like it looked when I first booked it. I'm constantly checking it.

Oh no! Unfortunately, you win the prize for the most changes. That is ridiculous! My flights for the NE AbD in October have only changed twice thus far…but still time for them to change again.

It almost becomes another decision to make - book early & then wait for the changes to roll through and no way to really plan for or around them, or book later and possibly/probably at higher prices.

 

[sayhello]

Oh no! Unfortunately, you win the prize for the most changes. That is ridiculous! My flights for the NE AbD in October have only changed twice thus far…but still time for them to change again.

It almost becomes another decision to make - book early & then wait for the changes to roll through and no way to really plan for or around them, or book later and possibly/probably at higher prices.

This is so true. I'm looking at booking my flights for my Portugal ABD in May, and I'm really torn as to when to book it. It's really a no-win situation these days.

What airline are you flying to NE on?

Can I skip the prize and just not get any more changes?

Sayhello

 

[Mathmagicland]

This is so true. I'm looking at booking my flights for my Portugal ABD in May, and I'm really torn as to when to book it. It's really a no-win situation these days.

What airline are you flying to NE on?

Can I skip the prize and just not get any more changes?

Sayhello

We’re on United, because it gives me a longer leg across the country and then a shorter leg next from/to NE. The last leg home has changed twice and keeps getting pushed back.

And you’ve already won the prize - let’s hope it doesn’t get to double digits! I’m curious - which airline has changed 9 times already?

 

[sayhello]

We’re on United, because it gives me a longer leg across the country and then a shorter leg next from/to NE. The last leg home has changed twice and keeps getting pushed back.

And you’ve already won the prize - let’s hope it doesn’t get to double digits! I’m curious - which airline has changed 9 times already?

I'm flying Delta. Delta has been seriously bad about changing flights, even before the pandemic, but nothing like this! It's really a new record for them by quite a bit!

I'm not even going that far - from Ohio to NE - so there's really no "short leg" or "long leg". There's just no direct leg. I just wanted enough time between flights so that if the first leg is delayed (or, shudder, cancelled) I don't miss the second leg. Especially coming back, since there aren't that many options flying out of Bangor. They keep shortening my layover coming back, over and over. The flight there is mostly minor changes (plane changes, etc) but it's been enough that I've lost my seat assignment multiple times. And most times, it's completely different flight numbers, like they are consolidating flights or something. At one point, my layover was 40 minutes at LaGuardia, which is a huge "nope!" Fortunately, Delta is currently letting me make changes with no fees, because there's no way I'm accepting a change like that. It's just infuriating. If I'd wanted a 40 minute layover, I could have purchased that, and paid less! (Because they sure as heck don't give you a refund for doing that!)

Sayhello

 

[AquaDame]

Delta unceremoniously swapped us 18 days beforehand from a nonstop to Hong Kong for a stopover via Seoul back in 2018. Instead of landing at 5:50pm it shifted to 11:10pm, and the next day was our only day for HK Disneyland. They said we could cancel it if we didn't like the change, but by then it would have been insanely expensive to fly with anyone else.... so we plowed ahead. So yeah, I'd agree they played with schedules before covid too!

To commiserate about current air schedule wonkiness... we booked airfare to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) at the end of December when they announced they were reopening... and the day we booked for hasn't been for sale since. They disappeared within a week after we booked it. We called and they insist it is still a go, even though by all other accounts they are only flying on Thursday and Saturday now (we are booked for a Monday flight). With no notice we found a couple weeks ago they moved our flight from 9:30am to 6:30pm that day at some point by checking in from time to time, but the schedule everywhere still only shows Thus/Sat. I guess despite their own schedule online they are still insisting its a go...

 

[sayhello]

Delta unceremoniously swapped us 18 days beforehand from a nonstop to Hong Kong for a stopover via Seoul back in 2018. Instead of landing at 5:50pm it shifted to 11:10pm, and the next day was our only day for HK Disneyland. They said we could cancel it if we didn't like the change, but by then it would have been insanely expensive to fly with anyone else.... so we plowed ahead. So yeah, I'd agree they played with schedules before covid too!

To commiserate about current air schedule wonkiness... we booked airfare to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) at the end of December when they announced they were reopening... and the day we booked for hasn't been for sale since. They disappeared within a week after we booked it. We called and they insist it is still a go, even though by all other accounts they are only flying on Thursday and Saturday now (we are booked for a Monday flight). With no notice we found a couple weeks ago they moved our flight from 9:30am to 6:30pm that day at some point by checking in from time to time, but the schedule everywhere still only shows Thus/Sat. I guess despite their own schedule online they are still insisting its a go...

Delta has done that to me multiple times (changed a non-stop to a flight with a stopover, adding hours and hours to the trip -- but never for a trip as far as Hong Kong!!) The actual flights have all been good, but the back office part often sucks.

Can you fly a different airline for that Monday flight? Personally, I TOTALLY would not trust that that flight is going to happen, and would want to book something else with a better chance of actually going. Because it sounds like they aren't going to be helpful if they *do* cancel it!

Sayhello

 

[*WDW*Groupie*]

My flight coming back from Singapore via Taipei in October was changed from the 6th to the 7th (just the leg from Taipei to Toronto was changed). The issue is that Taipei isn't open to tourists, which would've left me sitting inside the terminal for 30 hours (luckily EVA Air sent me 2 text notifications of the schedule change). I called Air Canada (flights are on EVA Air, but booked through AC) and they initially offered me the 5th. That didn't work, so they offered me both legs on the 7th. This works, however flight to Taipei is now with Singapore Air (instead of EVA). The Taiwan government website states that transiting passengers must be on the same airline, but I called EVA and they insist that I will be okay, which I seriously hope to be true! The silver lining here is that I was able to book "Book the Cook" with Singapore Air and I have reserved myself Boon Tong Kee Chicken Rice, which was a Michelin star award dish! So yay!

 

[purpliequeen]

My flight coming back from Singapore via Taipei in October was changed from the 6th to the 7th (just the leg from Taipei to Toronto was changed). The issue is that Taipei isn't open to tourists, which would've left me sitting inside the terminal for 30 hours (luckily EVA Air sent me 2 text notifications of the schedule change). I called Air Canada (flights are on EVA Air, but booked through AC) and they initially offered me the 5th. That didn't work, so they offered me both legs on the 7th. This works, however flight to Taipei is now with Singapore Air (instead of EVA). The Taiwan government website states that transiting passengers must be on the same airline, but I called EVA and they insist that I will be okay, which I seriously hope to be true! The silver lining here is that I was able to book "Book the Cook" with Singapore Air and I have reserved myself Boon Tong Kee Chicken Rice, which was a Michelin star award dish! So yay!

Singapore Airlines is truly an incredible airline, and in my opinion - best in the world. I was fortunate to travel "suites class" on my honeymoon (husband + I saved points for years to make it happen) and I would say it was one of the best parts of our honeymoon. Changi Airport is also incredible. Have an amazing journey!