United lost seat assignment?

[Huff]

For our upcoming trip I had to make separate reservations for the 3 of us as we're coming from different cities and meeting up at a connecting flight. For the common legs I was sure to select seats so we're all seated together. I have confirmation emails back from United showing seat assignments. A few days ago I decided to double check our reservations and make sure everythings good. On two of our reservations seats were fine but mine showed no seat selection made. Luckily the seat next to my family was still available so I selected it, got a new email and all is good....maybe. Today I checked and once again my reservation shows no seat assignment. I once again selected it but what could be happening? I called United and they have no idea why it keeps bumping me from my seat.

 

[JEWLSVERN]

For our upcoming trip I had to make separate reservations for the 3 of us as we're coming from different cities and meeting up at a connecting flight. For the common legs I was sure to select seats so we're all seated together. I have confirmation emails back from United showing seat assignments. A few days ago I decided to double check our reservations and make sure everythings good. On two of our reservations seats were fine but mine showed no seat selection made. Luckily the seat next to my family was still available so I selected it, got a new email and all is good....maybe. Today I checked and once again my reservation shows no seat assignment. I once again selected it but what could be happening? I called United and they have no idea why it keeps bumping me from my seat.

We had this happen to us very often on flights. We choose our seats but when we check in they are gone or moved all over the plane. We have young kids in car seats so we must be together. We always end up in the last few rows of the plane so we can sit together. It really frustrates me. I always end up at the gate trying to rearrange our seats even after we chose seats or paid to choose seats. Just because we have kids shouldn't relegate us to the back.

United was always the worst.

 

[Huff]

What may be happening is that all 3 of our reservations are booked separately, not linked together. United told me there is no way to link separate reservations and flights. United's system would not know there are 3 of us wanting seats together. Would this make United more likely to shuffle us around to make rows available for people with linked reservations? We have one child and its important that she can at least sit with one adult.

 

[dis_guy]

As the pp said with separate reservations the system has no way of knowing you are together. We occasionally have this happen even on the same reservation when the schedule gets changed or the type of plane changes. The only solution I've found is to keep checking and correct any weirdness as soon as you see it. In their defence, the UA phone agents are generally quite accommodating.

 

[anonymousegirl]

A lot of people bash Southwest for not having assigned seats but I love it for just this reason. Seats often can get changed or lost, especially this time of years with weather delays, plane equipment changes, overbookings. I like not having to worry about my seats; I buy EBCI or check in exactly at 24 hours, and don't have to think about my seating. Just board and sit.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

What may be happening is that all 3 of our reservations are booked separately, not linked together. United told me there is no way to link separate reservations and flights. United's system would not know there are 3 of us wanting seats together. Would this make United more likely to shuffle us around to make rows available for people with linked reservations? We have one child and its important that she can at least sit with one adult.

There you go. That is why UA cannot link the reservations.

What I don't understand is you say you have a child, but are all traveling from separate cities and meeting in the connecting city. If the child can travel on her own for part of the trip, why not on the second part?

 

[bumbershoot]

There you go. That is why UA cannot link the reservations.

What I don't understand is you say you have a child, but are all traveling from separate cities and meeting in the connecting city. If the child can travel on her own for part of the trip, why not on the second part?

In a previous thread Huff said that the child's parent is bringing her to the airport (and will be getting a pass through security with the child) to meet up with the other adults coming in from other cities. The layovers for Huff and someone else don't allow them to come out of the secure area to meet up with her. So she's actually NOT flying in for the flight where they all meet.

I think it's good that Huff knows that weird things can happen, because it will get him/her to check OFTEN. Especially with those shorter layovers, if anything changes it's going to cause problems, especially if they don't find out about them quickly.

 

[Huff]

There you go. That is why UA cannot link the reservations.

What I don't understand is you say you have a child, but are all traveling from separate cities and meeting in the connecting city. If the child can travel on her own for part of the trip, why not on the second part?

My wife is flying PHX-IAH-MCO. She is picking up our niece at IAH on a connecting flight. I have business in Orlando earlier in the week and will already be there. We'll be returning on the same flight MCO-IAH, dropping her off and wife and I continue to PHX. That is why the flights are not linked. None of us are flying on the same round trip route.

I still don't think its good practice for United to keep moving us around after we've made seat selections.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

My wife is flying PHX-IAH-MCO. She is picking up our niece at IAH on a connecting flight. I have business in Orlando earlier in the week and will already be there. We'll be returning on the same flight MCO-IAH, dropping her off and wife and I continue to PHX. That is why the flights are not linked. None of us are flying on the same round trip route.

I still don't think its good practice for United to keep moving us around after we've made seat selections.

All airlines sometimes change your seat assignments; yes, it is annoying. I assume it works for the airlines. Their goal is to fill seats.

 

[DebbieB]

One of the dangers of separate reservations happens when there is a delay or cancellation. For example, I was flying PIT-PHL-JAX one time. The PIT-PHL flight was delayed and I was going to miss my connection. They rerouted me PIT-CLT-JAX. They would have not known if I was meeting someone in PHL for the second flight.

 

[Lizard Valley]

Same thing happened to a friend who was travelling from Montreal to a wedding in Hawaii. He was picking up his niece at LAX along the way. His bad luck, it was the day there was a shooting at LAX. It took him 2 extra days to get there because he absolutely had to go through LAX to get his niece, and couldn't accept any other routing.

In any case, if the seat assignments keep getting lost, there are always no-shows, or missed connections, and that will allow OP's wife to change seats so that at least 2 of them have seats together.

For my upcoming trip to MCO, I didn't even bother to pay the extra $ to get the seats together - I think my seat selections have changed for every flight I have ever booked with them, and that was with us being on the same itinerary. I'll take my chances, and if that doesn't work, then the kids will sit separately. It won't be the first time.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

.....

For my upcoming trip to MCO, I didn't even bother to pay the extra $ to get the seats together - I think my seat selections have changed for every flight I have ever booked with them, and that was with us being on the same itinerary. I'll take my chances, and if that doesn't work, then the kids will sit separately. It won't be the first time.

On United Airlines, you don't pay for seat selections or to sit together in regular economy.

 

[dis_guy]

We were on one UA/Continental (during the merger) flight where their computers went down and we nearly didn't make the flight. When we finally got to the check-in counter I asked if we were seated together. He said that all they could guarantee was that we were on the plane. He made it clear that seat reservations were a convenience, nothing more. Once we got to our connection in Denver, they more than made up for it by putting our family in Economy Plus seats in an exit row, no less.