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?

 

[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