What does this mean?

[spima3]

" ! We were unable to assign some or all of your seats. You will receive your confirmed seat assignment when you check in online or at an airport kiosk 24 hours before departure. "

Made reservations w/ United for DD17 who is travelling to Colorado; first time by herself, first time on plane.

I spent a lot of time checking layover times, departures, etc. After purchasing tickets, came up w/ only one seat assignment out of four flights. This was the message. This is a first for me, and I just need to know how this works. Don't want her having to deal w/ anything more than absolutely necessary.

I have 24 hours to cancel this, I believe.

thx, lori

 

[SC Minnie]

When this happened to me it meant the flight was over sold. I was traveling with a coworker. I ended up getting a seat on the flight but she didn't.

 

[1Mouse2RulethemAll]

" ! We were unable to assign some or all of your seats. You will receive your confirmed seat assignment when you check in online or at an airport kiosk 24 hours before departure. "

Made reservations w/ United for DD17 who is travelling to Colorado; first time by herself, first time on plane.

I spent a lot of time checking layover times, departures, etc. After purchasing tickets, came up w/ only one seat assignment out of four flights. This was the message. This is a first for me, and I just need to know how this works. Don't want her having to deal w/ anything more than absolutely necessary.

I have 24 hours to cancel this, I believe.

thx, lori

A lot of airlines are doing that now. They want to keep as many seats unassigned as possible so they can offer premium seats for an additional cost. As long as your DD gets to the airport and checks in early, she should have a seat.


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[Hannathy]

It means all the seats they have put out for pre-selection are gone and what is left is what they have held to be assigned at the gate.

 

[DopeyDame]

It means it's a full or nearly full flight, so they're reserving the remaining seats to be distributed when people actually check in. I would definitely check in at the 24 hour mark online if I were you. Given that this is her first flight, and her first flight alone, it will make things easier if she has her boarding pass with seat assignment when she gets to the airport.
If, for some reason, you get a similar message when you try to check in online, don't panic. Just have her go to the gate and talk to the agent there. They'll call her up for a real boarding pass once they have her seat assigned.
Good luck!

 

[mdsoccermom]

Only a certain number of seats are able to be preassigned. The rest are under airport control. This is nothing new in the airline industry. Seats are kept unassigned to help facilitate people such as families and special needs passengers. Check in at 24 hours and get to the airport early. She should be fine.

 

[spima3]

When this happened to me it meant the flight was over sold. I was traveling with a coworker. I ended up getting a seat on the flight but she didn't.

Well this flight is the end of August, and 90% of the economy seats were shown as available.

I did pick aisle seats. Are they "holding" them for more $.

If I go back in, can I pick other seats?

If I wait until 24 hr check in, will there be seats to pick? or is she assigned one when she gets there? Does that happen at Philly airport? or does she have to do this on connecting flights as well?

thx, lori

 

[WicketsMom]

Keep checking back in as some seats become open as people change flights. Also, if it were my first flight I would much prefer a window seat so I can see out. I'd ask your daughter what she would like. (I only gave up my window seat once my son came along and now he gets that and I take the middle beside him.)

 

[DopeyDame]

Well this flight is the end of August, and 90% of the economy seats were shown as available.

I did pick aisle seats. Are they "holding" them for more $.

If I go back in, can I pick other seats?

If I wait until 24 hr check in, will there be seats to pick? or is she assigned one when she gets there? Does that happen at Philly airport? or does she have to do this on connecting flights as well?

thx, lori

I'm confused by what you mean when you say "90% of the seats were shown available" I'm not sure how you would know that.

It doesn't have anything to do with "holding" them for more $. If there's a charge for the seat (economy plus or something) you would have been told about it when you tried to select the seat assignment.

You can go in at any time and try again to get a seat assignment for her. As people change or cancel their flights, something could open up.

At 24 hours they will release another batch of seats, so there should be seats to pick. If they are available, you'll be able to get assignments on all her flights. However, that's not a guarantee depending on exactly how full the flight is. Once she gets to the airport, they should be able to give her seats for her entire trip if you haven't gotten them by that point.

United has cut back on their service our of PHL a lot lately, so it's not totally suprising that you're running into this. Don't worry - it will all work out!

 

[spima3]

I'm confused by what you mean when you say "90% of the seats were shown available" I'm not sure how you would know that.

When booking on their website, it showed seats that were available, and those already occupied.

I chose a seat that was listed as available. After purchasing, I then got the message.

So the seats I was told to select from, as available, really aren't????

Then why do they show them as such?

 

[DopeyDame]

my best guess is that those seats aren't assigned, but they are clearly being held in reserve. I'm guessing that premier members and people with a full-fare ticket would have been able to select them. Each flight will have a different percentage cut-off for when general people can select seats in advance.
Like we said, you can try again over the next few weeks, and if all-else fails, just make sure to check in at the 24 hour mark.

 

[spima3]

my best guess is that those seats aren't assigned, but they are clearly being held in reserve. I'm guessing that premier members and people with a full-fare ticket would have been able to select them. Each flight will have a different percentage cut-off for when general people can select seats in advance.

So then they weren't truly available.

Glad we don't normally fly; I find this stuff incredibly irritating.

Thx for the info, but again, does she get to pick seats at 24 hours out, for all flights? Or are they assigned to her? at each airport?

 

[DopeyDame]

Yup, they weren't truly available TO YOU, and yes, the whole airline process can be terribly frustrating and annoying!

"Thx for the info, but again, does she get to pick seats at 24 hours out, for all flights? Or are they assigned to her? at each airport? "

I have no way of predicting that.
At 24 hours they will release most of the seats on the airplane - but they will still hold a small percentage back so they can deal with day-of issues. Most likely, when you checkin at 24 hours out, she'll be able to pick seats for all of her flights (outbound, not return). She may even have already-assigned seats by that point, but you'll be able to change it if you want.

If the flight (either her initial flight or her connecting flight) is really full or oversold, though, she may not be able to get a seat assignment at 24 hours for one or all of her flights. In that case, at the Philly airport they will almost certainly - but not 100% guaranteed - be able to take care of all of her flights.

Just leave yourself plenty of time, ask for help if you need it, and go with the flow.

 

[Fly4free]

Keep trying and maybe try different seats. You can always call the reservation dept. and request seats. You may get them, if you explain your DD is young and traveling alone.

If not, just be sure to check her in early, as soon as 24 hr window allows.

 

[DebbieB]

I would call and see what they say. You are better off trying to get an assignment now, if you wait she may end up with a middle seat.

 

[Becky2005]

I did pick aisle seats. Are they "holding" them for more $.

Actually this is possible. A friend of my posted a news article regarding that airlines were thinking of now charging a premium price for window & aisle seats.

I don't think all airlines do it but some were starting to. I didn't think United was one of them because we are going on a flight in July & it let me pick our seats (not the extra cost ones though -- although throughout the whole process if it went like previously when we flew, it continually asked us if we wanted to upgrade to the better seats), however, I read this article after we had already booked our flights.

Here was the article http://www.montereyherald.com/rss/ci_20677814?source=rss

 

[chloelovesdisney]

This recently happened to me. I purchased the ticket online and was able to choose a seat when booking it. It allowed me to choose a seat, charged my credit card and sent me a confirmation email including the seats. Shortly before my flight, my seat was changed to unassigned.

The day of my flight I was able to get a seat assignment, in order to get the very same seat I had previously booked, they wanted another $35. Not sure how you can buy something at one price, then have it taken away and only given back for an additional charge.

I ended up with a window seat (originally had an aisle) further back. It was fine but I was annoyed by the whole process. I don't mind if they want to charge more for some seats, but don't sell it to me for a cheaper price in the first place. Bait and switch. I check the seats available prior to purchase and will book a different carrier or time to get a seat I like, so I do not appreciate the change.