Flight cancelled, rebooked, then flight uncancelled and we cannot get a seat

[AquaDame]

Airlines have had to adjust to Boeing's problems with their planes this summer, so there's been a lot of shuffling flights. Sure hope they get things resolved soon.

Not Delta... they do not have any MAX in their fleet. https://simpleflying.com/delta-737-max-benefit/

 

[MomOTwins]

The likelier culprit is all the summer storms we have been having. Feel so bad for all those people in New Orleans.

If I were you I'd show up at 6am tomorrow and tell them you want to be put on standby since you were originally on that flight and they cancelled you non-voluntarily. Airlines don't mind putting you on standby, and more often than not they do have room for folks.

 

[Dug720]

The likelier culprit is all the summer storms we have been having. Feel so bad for all those people in New Orleans.

If I were you I'd show up at 6am tomorrow and tell them you want to be put on standby since you were originally on that flight and they cancelled you non-voluntarily. Airlines don't mind putting you on standby, and more often than not they do have room for folks.

The flight was to be today. Not tomorrow. They sail tomorrow.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Delta is basically Satan. Not surprised.

 

[soniam]

I hope it works out and everyone makes the flight tomorrow

I would use another method as the entire flight can be booked, but no one has assigned their seats yet. I would suggest to look at the letter right under 'Main', in this case (H).

I was just thinking this. We recently tried to reschedule our flight from Barcelona to Chicago, because the incoming flight left 2 hours late. We were worried we wouldn't make our connection in Chicago. My husband swore to the agent on the phone that there were seats. She said that didn't mean there were tickets though. I know they can charge extra for seat assignments, but who doesn't want a seat assignment for a transatlantic flight The price can't be that much.

Delta is basically Satan. Not surprised.

Totally agree

 

[Karin1984]

Is the lettering system the same for First and Comfort+? Are there certain fare categories ineligible for one-way tickets or does it vary by flight?

Yes, it depends on the airline which letters they use, but in general all airlines use this system. About 10-12 different possible fares in Economy, 4-5 in Premium and Business class (First in domestic US) and 2 fares in First class.

Each fare comes with its own restrictions, changeable, refundable, round trip only, at least 7 days between flights etc. But also this differs per airline.

 

[Karin1984]

I hope it works out and everyone makes the flight tomorrow



I was just thinking this. We recently tried to reschedule our flight from Barcelona to Chicago, because the incoming flight left 2 hours late. We were worried we wouldn't make our connection in Chicago. My husband swore to the agent on the phone that there were seats. She said that didn't mean there were tickets though. I know they can charge extra for seat assignments, but who doesn't want a seat assignment for a transatlantic flight The price can't be that much.

You would be surprised how much pre-flight seat assignment can cost you on longhaul flights. Even if it's 'only' $25 per passenger per flight, the OP has 8 people in her group, that is in total $400 for the roundtrip. If it is free as of check-in and you do not care where you are seated, why not wait?

If you absolutely have to sit at the window, aisle, near the lavatories, near the front due to a short connection, yes, then definitely pre-select.

 

[soniam]

You would be surprised how much pre-flight seat assignment can cost you on longhaul flights. Even if it's 'only' $25 per passenger per flight, the OP has 8 people in her group, that is in total $400 for the roundtrip. If it is free as of check-in and you do not care where you are seated, why not wait?

If you absolutely have to sit at the window, aisle, near the lavatories, near the front due to a short connection, yes, then definitely pre-select.

Good point about 8 people. It's usually just the 3 of us, so we usually want to sit together and really prefer to not be in in the middle section of seats on long flights. We had a high boarding group out of MCO on Southwest once. We didn't all get to sit together. I figured someone would switch, because they wouldn't want to sit with a child without a parent. No one switched; he was 11 at the time I think. He ended up sitting between 2 grown men. They probably loved it, because he is small and doesn't take up a lot of room. Plus, he always uses headphones. When I fly with just my son, I always make sure we can sit together; it just reduces the stress of being the only parent on a trip.

 

[Karin1984]

Good point about 8 people. It's usually just the 3 of us, so we usually want to sit together and really prefer to not be in in the middle section of seats on long flights. We had a high boarding group out of MCO on Southwest once. We didn't all get to sit together. I figured someone would switch, because they wouldn't want to sit with a child without a parent. No one switched; he was 11 at the time I think. He ended up sitting between 2 grown men. They probably loved it, because he is small and doesn't take up a lot of room. Plus, he always uses headphones. When I fly with just my son, I always make sure we can sit together; it just reduces the stress of being the only parent on a trip.

That should be the airline's responsibility to switch people around to make sure families with children can sit together. Especially with young children. 11 years old is a bit of a grey area, I think. If your son behaved like a mature 11 year old, the gate & flight crew probably thought let's not get into the uncomfortable hassle to ask people to change seats (which I think they should anyway with underaged children, so always notify them). Also depends of course on the flight time. A 2 hour domestic flight is not the same as a 6 hour transatlantic.

 

[disneylove69]

That should be the airline's responsibility to switch people around to make sure families with children can sit together. Especially with young children. 11 years old is a bit of a grey area, I think. If your son behaved like a mature 11 year old, the gate & flight crew probably thought let's not get into the uncomfortable hassle to ask people to change seats (which I think they should anyway with underaged children, so always notify them). Also depends of course on the flight time. A 2 hour domestic flight is not the same as a 6 hour transatlantic.

Southwest will not make people move for children. They offer family boarding between A and B groups for those with children I believe under 8. Older then that they can sit alone. I k ow I would not give up my window or aisle for some one who didnt pay to board earlier.

 

[Karin1984]

Southwest will not make people move for children. They offer family boarding between A and B groups for those with children I believe under 8. Older then that they can sit alone. I k ow I would not give up my window or aisle for some one who didnt pay to board earlier.

That's the downside of low cost carriers. And why with regular airlines gate agents / flight attendants start to ask these questions to people who havent paid for their seats, and why it gets uncomfortable when they ask people who have paid.

Even if you do not want to change because you have paid for a specific seat (which you totally are entitled to do so), would you want to sit next to a child whose parents are sitting somewhere else? If the child is misbehaving, do you want to keep moving back and forth between parents or flight attendants to get the child to behave? If a specific seat isnt really necessary, personally, I would change, and ask the airline for a refund as I would get more annoyed by a misbehaving child than that the money of the seat is worth to me. Depends of course on the length of the flight, and where I am going, etc.

 

[soniam]

Southwest will not make people move for children. They offer family boarding between A and B groups for those with children I believe under 8. Older then that they can sit alone. I k ow I would not give up my window or aisle for some one who didnt pay to board earlier.

It's actually 6 years old for family boarding on SW. Lufthansa allows family boarding for up to like 16 or 18 years old. In fact, they are pretty militant about insisting the families board first. They pulled us out of the crowd with our son going to Germany once. We thought family boarding was only for little kids, like th US carriers do. Lufthansa was actually pretty nice. I don't expect anyone to accommodate us if we aren't willing to pay extra/ensure that we can sit together. We got caught off guard on that flight, because it was so crowded. Our previous flights for MCO on SW weren't that crowded. We have since started paying for A boarding group, just for peace of mind, when we all travel together. If I fly domestically by myself, I could care less.

 

[TestingH2O]

Southwest will not make people move for children. They offer family boarding between A and B groups for those with children I believe under 8. Older then that they can sit alone. I k ow I would not give up my window or aisle for some one who didnt pay to board earlier.

Southwest actually ends family boarding for kids over 6. And they sell so many early bird add ons that you aren't even guaranteed a spot in the A group. Also, if the flight is a connection with a large through count, it's possible to not get seats together even if you check in right at the 24 hour mark and have a good B number.

I'm all for the idea that companies have to make a profit, but asking a 7 year old to sit alone is absurd. Then again, even with Early Bird (which we really only do at the holidays or going through MCO,) we still usually save money flying Southwest.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Southwest will not make people move for children. They offer family boarding between A and B groups for those with children I believe under 8. Older then that they can sit alone. I k ow I would not give up my window or aisle for some one who didnt pay to board earlier.

I will share one of my favorite "kid on Southwest" stories. I had an A boarding group thanks to loyalty priority. My husband and son took window-center in aisle 5, and my daughter (age 6!) and I right behind in 6. Obviously, both kids were on real tickets, because lap size is 2 and under.

Two lovely solo fliers who saw "haaay, close front aisle seats, score!" took those.

The LAST woman onto the flight, like, literally THE LAST, walks on. She looks at my daughter, announces "She can sit in your lap, that's my seat." Which: No. And also: NO.

The flight attendant, it being Southwest, wasn't even nice about it and marched her back to aisle 30whatever, center, ha, and came back and promised my daughter a cockpit visit mid-flight.

So they also won't make children move for the entitled of the universe. Ha.

Southwest actually ends family boarding for kids over 6. And they sell so many early bird add ons that you aren't even guaranteed a spot in the A group. Also, if the flight is a connection with a large through count, it's possible to not get seats together even if you check in right at the 24 hour mark and have a good B number.

My experience is that usually someone on SW will be chill about moving around for a younger kid, especially if as parent you're willing to take a center seat. Most people don't want to babysit on the flight.

 

[Dug720]

One time on JetBlue I got a complimentary upgrade to an exit row AND free alcoholic drinks to move from my seat so a mom and small child could sit together. They had either booked too late to get seats together or had not selected and all that was left was the middle seat next to my original one and an exit row. I happily took them up on that offer when they called me to the podium and asked if I would switch.

 

[lklgoodman]

Southwest will not make people move for children. They offer family boarding between A and B groups for those with children I believe under 8. Older then that they can sit alone. I k ow I would not give up my window or aisle for some one who didnt pay to board earlier.

I understand wanting to keep your seat when paying for the early check in. We always fly SW and pay for the early check in also. We've had flights cancelled due to bad weather, we've been able to get on different flights, but end up with high B or C boarding group. We've had to sit away from our dd and it wasn't because we didn't want to pay the extra. It was due to having to take a different flight, so don't assume the parents are just trying to save money.

 

[TestingH2O]

My experience is that usually someone on SW will be chill about moving around for a younger kid, especially if as parent you're willing to take a center seat. Most people don't want to babysit on the flight.

I agree that most people aren't jerks. I don't see how a parent can avoid being in the center seat. I have accepted my situation for the foreseeable future. Ha!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

I agree that most people aren't jerks. I don't see how a parent can avoid being in the center seat. I have accepted my situation for the foreseeable future. Ha!

Sometimes it's not a "parent" thing. I'm pretty much always in a center seat since my husband prefers aisle seats. I love the planes that have 2/4/2 seating, that way I get a window.

 

[hrhdhd]

Sometimes it's not a "parent" thing. I'm pretty much always in a center seat since my husband prefers aisle seats. I love the planes that have 2/4/2 seating, that way I get a window.

DH and I sit in aisle seats across from each other, or, because we're both on the same plane, in aisle seats away from each other. Better than either of us sitting in a center seat. Yuk.

 

[jdb in AZ]

DH and I sit in aisle seats across from each other, or, because we're both on the same plane, in aisle seats away from each other. Better than either of us sitting in a center seat. Yuk.

Yup. DH and I have mobility issues, so those middle seats are literally a pain to deal with.