# Should I Really Have to Babysit my Airline Seat Assignments



## dioxide45 (Sep 26, 2013)

We have had flights booked to Hawaii for almost a year now. I find myself always having to check our seat assignments to make sure everything is still set. Checked the other night and all was fine, nothing changed, tonight looked and seats on one of our flights had been dropped. We had no seats assigned and pickings were slim. I have had to do this several times throughout the last year, constantly watching and re-picking seats. Is this really necessary? Can't they pick a flight, a time and equipment and stick with it?


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## Talent312 (Sep 26, 2013)

Its unreasonable to expect nothing to change for a year.
OTOH, its unfair to expect passengers to stay on top of all their changes w-no notice.

They're good at taking reservations, just not keeping them... per Jerry Seinfeld (another thread).


Sent from my KFJWI using Tapatalk 2


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## artringwald (Sep 26, 2013)

I've never seen the seat assignments change unless the flight number also changes, and that seems to happen frequently when booking a long time in advance. It's good to keep checking.


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## tiel (Sep 27, 2013)

This has happened to us a lot, and we find it very annoying. Especially when we have paid for extra legroom on longer flights.  A number of times, our airline-assigned new seats are NOT the extra-legroom seats, and we have to call in to complain and get them changed.  I too dislike the babysitting, but find it necessary these days.


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## channimal (Sep 27, 2013)

sadly .. yes. You should continuously check them.  I'm a Prem Exec on United and for the past couple of years.. and the seats I have selected, when booking online, have mysteriously been "changed" on different occasions.  My guess would be non-rev employees changing into your seat or having "employee friends" changing them into the "better" seats


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## SMHarman (Sep 27, 2013)

dioxide45 said:


> We have had flights booked to Hawaii for almost a year now. I find myself always having to check our seat assignments to make sure everything is still set. Checked the other night and all was fine, nothing changed, tonight looked and seats on one of our flights had been dropped. We had no seats assigned and pickings were slim. I have had to do this several times throughout the last year, constantly watching and re-picking seats. Is this really necessary? Can't they pick a flight, a time and equipment and stick with it?


The alternate could be that seat assignments for tickets below full fare / gold status are 'assigned upon check-in' unless you pay for allocated seat assignment when you buy the tickets.  This is how BA and many other European Carriers work.
It can work well as it lowers the expectations of everyone and it means that when seat assignments are necessary, for example, I often find when I go to look for 3 - 4 seats on Jet Blue later in the booking time line, that the only option is four middle seats.  Annoying if you are all adults, impossible if you are parents with infants.  The BA approach means such problems are resolved by the airline without dissapointing those that have to move so others can be safely assigned with part of their party 

(and don't get me started on the whole well we have your party assigned as 2 seats in row 12 and two seats in row 30.  Well I know that works and that dad can sit with one and mom with the other but then the little ones want to go back and forth to see both parents and the parents need to go back and forth because they didn't pack two coolers, two snack bags, to bags of toys and distractions etc as carry on policy does not allow it  )

I've come to the conclusion / decision that seat assignment generally sucks these days so lowered my expectation to having a seat on the plane and hoping I am not sharing it with an oversized pax in the adjoining seat.


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## MichaelColey (Sep 27, 2013)

If you want to throw some money at it, I think there are some web sites that will monitor your seat assignments for you.  I know I beta tested one some years ago that would let you give your seat preferences (like prefer aisle, as close to the front as possible, excluding the row in front of the exit row) and it would either notify or automatically move you if a better seat became available.


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## DaveNV (Sep 27, 2013)

I've learned to frequently check not just my seat assignments, but the flights themselves, to make sure things stay on track. Not doing so risks a lot of hassle, and potentially missed flights.

Earlier this year we went to the Yellowstone Park area for a two week trip.  It involved a week in a timeshare near the park, followed by a second week in motels as we drove all over the Montana/Wyoming/South Dakota area.  This lengthy itinerary allowed us to plan to spend our final night in the Old Faithful Lodge, as a farewell to enjoying the Park over this excellent vacation. The next morning we would enjoy breakfast in the Lodge restaurant, and see the geyser one more time, before making our leisurely way up to Bozeman, Montana, for our flight home.

Somewhere along the way, Alaska Airlines decided to radically change the flight time of our return flight, from a convenient late-afternoon departure, to one leaving at 7:00 AM.    Not only did they not tell me about the schedule change (another serious bone of contention), but in order to make that flight, we'd have had to get up in the middle of the night to check out, drive to the airport and turn in our rental car, and still leave time to make it through security, and then board on time.  It was completely unworkable.

Thanks to a creative Alaska ticketing agent, we were able to reschedule to a better departure time, although it changed our nonstop flight to a one-stop with a 90 minute layover. It wasn't the best plan, but at least it saved our final night in the park. What a PITA.

Since then I'm diligent in checking frequently, to make sure things stay on track. Part of the travel game, I suppose. 

Dave


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## vacationcrazy (Sep 27, 2013)

We flew to San Francisco last Saturday to celebrate my 60th birthday. We flew business class and I had our seats all booked. When we checked in the agent told us our seats changed because it was a different plane and we would not be sitting together. When we got on the plane it was chaos with everyone trying to change their seats so they could sit with the person they were flying with. Eventually, everyone did get to sit with who they wanted to, but the flight attendants were going crazy because no one was where they were supposed to be. I don't know how they screwed up the seating so bad! Hopefully, we will not have this problem again when we fly home tommorrow.


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## channimal (Sep 27, 2013)

^ yup.. aircraft changes throw everything out the window... flyertalk taught me to be hypersensitive to flight routing and even tail numbers of United's 777 and 767 fleets.  For a few years I flew quarterly to Sao Paulo Brasil and during certain schedules they would fly 777 and other "seasons" 767.  Because of the seating configs a change in plane would reduce the size of business seats.. and if you were on an upgrade you'd find your business seat gone and would be issued an economy plus ticket at the gate.  To add to the confusion, there was a time when not all of United's 777 fleet were converted to lie-flat business class.  So tracking tail numbers were the only way to try and get the good business seats


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## eal (Sep 27, 2013)

I book flights well in advance and check the seat assignments about once s week - why? Because I have to, otherwise we would always be sitting in row 33 in front of the washrooms!  I don't know why it happens but it does - a lot.


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## mjm1 (Sep 27, 2013)

Thanks for the reminder.  We had this happen to us with Alaska for an upcoming trip.  We had direct flights to the Big Island, but now our outbound flight is through Seattle.  It was either that or fly out the next day.  No way did we want to lose a day in Hawaii.  They did give us 8,000 miles for the inconvenience of having to leave earlier than originally scheduled and arriving a little later.

I better check our seat assignments again.  Less than 30 days to go!:whoopie:


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## Ken555 (Sep 27, 2013)

Would you prefer Southwest, with no assigned seats at all?


Sent from my iPad


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## geekette (Sep 27, 2013)

Talent312 said:


> Its unreasonable to expect nothing to change for a year.
> OTOH, its unfair to expect passengers to stay on top of all their changes w-no notice.
> 
> They're good at taking reservations, just not keeping them... per Jerry Seinfeld (another thread).
> ...



I guess I've been lucky and I don't ever check up on seat assignments.  True, it's just not that important to me, but so far I have never had the Seinfeld pseudo-reservation issue.  So long as I'm on the flight I booked, or a reasonable facsimile, I'm happy.


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## Blues (Sep 27, 2013)

Ken555 said:


> Would you prefer Southwest, with no assigned seats at all?



Yes!  I love Southwest's style of (no) seat assignments.


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## lvhmbh (Sep 27, 2013)

I have to say I have (don't let this be a jinx) had AA change my seat assignments.  Just checked my flights for Tuesday and they are just as when I booked the flights.  Even my 16 year old asked me NOT to book him on Southwest because the "adults" push and shove him out of the way to get their seats.


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## dioxide45 (Sep 27, 2013)

Ken555 said:


> Would you prefer Southwest, with no assigned seats at all?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad



They don't fly to Hawaii.

The problem is no notice at all. Seats just drop. What happens to everyone else that doesn't bother checking at all until they go to checkin at the airport counter?


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## Timeshare Von (Sep 27, 2013)

I always babysit my seat assignments that I've selected as sometimes the flight numbers don't change, but the aircraft (and therefore the seating configuration) does.

The worst is when you pay for your seat and they start their hi-jinx with the seats you've paid for.  Airtran did that to us once and it was a hassle to get our seats fixed, but eventually they did change to what we wanted without an added fee.


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## MichaelColey (Sep 28, 2013)

Even if you book well in advance, babysit your seat assignments, and have everything right, you can get hit by this at the last minute.

Earlier this year, Iberia changed our TNF-MAD-MIA flights so that instead of a 3 hour layover in Madrid, we had a 45 minute layover.  I made sure all seats were together again, near the front of the plane, and checked with the airline to make sure the layover wasn't too tight.  They insisted it was fine and wouldn't change it.  Needless to say, the flight out of Tenerife was late (and instead of making up time in the air, they lost even more time!) and our gates were at opposite sides of the (HUGE!) Madrid airport.  We sprinted from one side of the airport to the other (with three kids in tow) and arrived at our gate 10 minutes before departure, but they had already released our seats and refused to let us on the plane.  The only route they could find to get us to Miami was connecting through Lima, Peru.  They put us near the back of the plane from Madrid to Lima, in three separate rows, with kids 9, 7 and 2.  Some passengers were willing to trade seats and we were able to get four seats that were close, but one was still several rows away.  My wife sat next to the 2 year old, with the 7 year old and 9 year old close.  I was in a middle seat a few rows away, so I was no help to her.


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## lvhmbh (Sep 28, 2013)

British Airways only lets you book your seats 24 hours ahead (unless you are elite or something of course) unless you pay for it.  In our case it was $32 each way.  I realized that, if we didn't do it, I would have to do something 23 hours and 57 minutes ahead or so.  Flights were Heathrow to Istanbul and back from Rome to Heathrow.  We paid as we would be on tour 24 hours before the return.   BUT......it says they reserve the right to change your seat if they have to - they'll give you your money back but.....  We'll see how we do!


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## dioxide45 (Sep 28, 2013)

lvhmbh said:


> British Airways only lets you book your seats 24 hours ahead (unless you are elite or something of course) unless you pay for it.  In our case it was $32 each way.  I realized that, if we didn't do it, I would have to do something 23 hours and 57 minutes ahead or so.  Flights were Heathrow to Istanbul and back from Rome to Heathrow.  We paid as we would be on tour 24 hours before the return.   BUT......it says they reserve the right to change your seat if they have to - they'll give you your money back but.....  We'll see how we do!



AirTran also allows one to select a seat ahead of time for a fee. We always did that, but also had to continually babysit the seat assignments as they too were often dropped.


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## falmouth3 (Sep 28, 2013)

Check within 24 hours of flight time.  Often you'll see more seating options open up.

When we went to Aruba in Feb., we were on the same reservation.  When I went online to check in for our return flight home, they had broken the reservation into two different ones.  I just selected seats together for our flights.  I didn't think it was a problem until we landed in Chicago and discovered that our flight to Boston was canceled because of a blizzard.  I had been booked on a flight the next day (silver preferred member), and DH was booked 2 days after that.  Luckily the customer service agent got us both on the flight I had been booked on - and we were sitting together.


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## jehb2 (Sep 29, 2013)

WE always buy our tickets (FF & $) 9-12 months out. Often our children are seated away from us by the time we actually check-in.  Sometimes we have to wait until we get to the gate for the problem to be fixed. And even then we have to rely on the kindness of strangers.  

Last trip, I was traveling alone with my two little ones.  We got up at 3am in Vancouver, changed planes twice with an 8 hour layover in Seattle.  By the time we got to the 3rd leg of our trip (Seattle to Honolulu) we were all pretty tired.  The agent was able to seat us together in the very last row in front of the bathrooms.  I told her if my choice was to sit in front of the bathrooms or sit apart from my kids, I choose to sit apart from my kids.*   She was so sweet.  She got us decent seats together.

Just for the record I really wouldn't have done that.


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## MichaelColey (Sep 29, 2013)

Other passengers are usually very understanding about switching seats so that you can be near your kids.  Or maybe it's just the way I ask.

"Would you prefer to sit next to my 3 year old, or would you mind switching seats with me?"


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## presley (Sep 29, 2013)

MichaelColey said:


> "Would you prefer to sit next to my 3 year old, or would you mind switching seats with me?"



Ha! I love it!


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## Jimster (Sep 29, 2013)

*seats*

No, you dont have to babysit your seat assignments.  You dont have to lock your doors at home.  You dont have to put gas in your car.  HOWEVER, then you have to suffer the consequences of inaction.  The simple fact is the airlines often change their aircraft for any number of reasons- many of them are economic or mechanical.  Since the substitue aircraft often dont have the same seat configuration and since reassignment is done by computer, the new seats will not be the same as the old seats.  Add in people travel on differnt PNRs and are thus not identified as traveling together and you have the formula for problems.
It is prudent to lock your doors, put gas in your car and monitor your seat assignment.  If you dont want to do that, then suffer the consequences.  I dont think the people who are more prudent will have a great deal of sympathy for you.


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## HookdonWDW (Sep 29, 2013)

MichaelColey said:


> Other passengers are usually very understanding about switching seats so that you can be near your kids.  Or maybe it's just the way I ask.
> 
> "Would you prefer to sit next to my 3 year old, or would you mind switching seats with me?"



Fastest way to guarantee that I WON'T switch seats with you...


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## dioxide45 (Sep 29, 2013)

HookdonWDW said:


> Fastest way to guarantee that I WON'T switch seats with you...



So you prefer to sit next to Michael's three year old? What if the seat you were switching to was beside a 25 year old...?


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## Ken555 (Sep 29, 2013)

Jimster said:


> No, you dont have to babysit your seat assignments.  You dont have to lock your doors at home.  You dont have to put gas in your car.  HOWEVER, then you have to suffer the consequences of inaction.  The simple fact is the airlines often change their aircraft for any number of reasons- many of them are economic or mechanical.  Since the substitue aircraft often dont have the same seat configuration and since reassignment is done by computer, the new seats will not be the same as the old seats.  Add in people travel on differnt PNRs and are thus not identified as traveling together and you have the formula for problems.
> It is prudent to lock your doors, put gas in your car and monitor your seat assignment.  If you dont want to do that, then suffer the consequences.  I dont think the people who are more prudent will have a great deal of sympathy for you.



Well said. 

On a related note, I expect less from the airlines every year.


Sent from my iPad


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## dioxide45 (Sep 29, 2013)

Jimster said:


> I dont think the people who are more prudent will have a great deal of sympathy for you.



I am definitely prudent. Babysitting seat assignments every couple of weeks. In this cast there was only a span of a few days between when I saw we had seats and when we didn't

What percentage of flyers are as prudent as us? Even if it is 25%, there are 75% of the flyers out there in bliss thinking that they have decent seats together likely to find out otherwise come checkin.


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## falmouth3 (Sep 29, 2013)

dioxide45 said:


> What percentage of flyers are as prudent as us? Even if it is 25%, there are 75% of the flyers out there in bliss thinking that they have decent seats together likely to find out otherwise come checkin.



And some flyers don't make sure they have seat assignments.  They get to the airport on an oversold flight and they may not get on the plane. I've seen it happen.


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## SMHarman (Sep 30, 2013)

falmouth3 said:


> And some flyers don't make sure they have seat assignments.  They get to the airport on an oversold flight and they may not get on the plane. I've seen it happen.



A seat assignment does not stop you from being bumped.  If I get to the airport with a full Y priced ticket and no seat assignment and you are a solo traveller on the cheapest ticket they sold but have a seat assignment, I know which one of us is getting bumped and who is sitting in your assigned seat.


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## Timeshare Von (Sep 30, 2013)

SMHarman said:


> A seat assignment does not stop you from being bumped.  If I get to the airport with a full Y priced ticket and no seat assignment and you are a solo traveller on the cheapest ticket they sold but have a seat assignment, I know which one of us is getting bumped and who is sitting in your assigned seat.



I really do not believe that is how it works, especially since I've seen many variations of the "bump" first hand.

First they deny boarding to anyone not at the gate when the doors close (I think the policy is 10 or 15 minutes before scheduled departure).  I had a full fare ticket bought on short notice where this happened because my inbound flight was 15 minutes late. They were closing the jetway door well before the scheduled departure time and I was on the outside looking in . . . and denied boarding w/o any compensation.

If at the time it's time to board they don't have enough people anticipated to miss a connection (like me in the above example), they will ask for volunteers next.  Even people who paid zero (flying on FF tickets) may score a paid bump.  I've done it often.

Lastly, they will involuntarily bump/deny boarding based on having an assigned seat or not.  If you have a seat, I do not believe they will remove you from it to give it to another passenger . . . regardless of what you paid or what they paid.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I seriously doubt that happens.


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## Timeshare Von (Sep 30, 2013)

falmouth3 said:


> And some flyers don't make sure they have seat assignments.  They get to the airport on an oversold flight and they may not get on the plane. I've seen it happen.



Me too . . . it does happen that way. If there are no seats, there are no seats.


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## channimal (Sep 30, 2013)

and then.. there are some of us who will actually look for bump opportunities.. and profit from it  Some cash in pocket, free r//t tix and a seat in FC on next avail flight


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## SMHarman (Sep 30, 2013)

Timeshare Von said:


> I really do not believe that is how it works, especially since I've seen many variations of the "bump" first hand.
> 
> Lastly, they will involuntarily bump/deny boarding based on having an assigned seat or not.  If you have a seat, I do not believe they will remove you from it to give it to another passenger . . . regardless of what you paid or what they paid.  Maybe I'm wrong, but I seriously doubt that happens.


That's down do the airline.  I'm reading that often they will start kicking people off from the last checked in (highest Sequence Number) on some carriers but not others.

I'll still stand by my point that having a seat assignment on your reservation does not prevent a bump.


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## MichaelColey (Sep 30, 2013)

Involuntary bumps are so rare (about 1 in 10k passengers) that it's really a moot point.  And I have a feeling things vary from airline to airline, and may not even better very consistent on a single airline.  Having a seat assignment should help.  Having status with the airline should help.  Having a higher price ticket might help.  Checking in early might help.  Boarding early might help.  But you never know.  And it'll probably never matter.


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## Timeshare Von (Sep 30, 2013)

channimal said:


> and then.. there are some of us who will actually look for bump opportunities.. and profit from it  Some cash in pocket, free r//t tix and a seat in FC on next avail flight



<<perk>>

Who are you getting bumps from that are paying cash?

Free ticket vouchers, yes.  Meal vouchers and maybe even an overnight hotel voucher . . . sure.  But cash?


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## jehb2 (Oct 1, 2013)

Timeshare Von said:


> <<perk>>
> 
> Who are you getting bumps from that are paying cash?
> 
> Free ticket vouchers, yes.  Meal vouchers and maybe even an overnight hotel voucher . . . sure.  But cash?



Many years ago when I was going from the US to Japan I volunteered my seat.  In return I got $300.00.   They actually gave me 3 crisp $100 dollar bills.  I guess because it was an international flight.  Plus I got a breakfast and lunch voucher for the airport, a hotel room and dinner at the hotel, and a flight out the next morning.  

Since it was so early in the morning I spent an awesome day in San Francisco.


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## LisaRex (Oct 1, 2013)

It's October 1st, so time for me to check on my January SXM flights!  The flight out has already changed once, which required me to accept the minor time change and book new seats.  I agree that it's a PITA to have to do this, but it's the way of the world.  I would definitely advise signing up for auto notifications for flight changes, if it's offered by your airline.  At least you'll get emailed should a plane change, so that you can take action.

I'm so glad my kids are in college and we're able to sit wherever they scatter us. It makes traveling far less stressful.  I've learned first hand over the years how nervewracking it is to have to scramble to get seats together after your well-laid plans get ruined, so now I do check on seat and flight assignments regularly. Oh, and I'm extremely sympathetic to families with young kids and am quite willing to give up my seat if it'll help.  Treat others as you'd have them treat you and all that.


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## Jimster (Oct 1, 2013)

*not so sympathetic*

I am not so sympathetic about giving up my seat.  I am a big guy and I like the aisle.  Last year a couple got on the plane before me (not easy to do) and they had taken over my aisle seat and offered me the middle seat in the row in front.  They said "we're already settled"  I said I booked this seat specifically and there is no way you are going to fit me into the middle seat. 
 I guess it was a happy ending though because the guy in front of me on the aisle moved to the middle seat and I obliged and sat on the aisle in the seat just in front.  If he hadnt volunteered to go to the middle, however, I would have insisted on the seat I reserved.   So, I dont think people should assume that others will be so understanding-especially when it comes to a middle seat.


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## dioxide45 (Oct 1, 2013)

Checked our seats again today, and the seats on our last flight were changed. All over the place, at least this time there were some great seats still close together, but this is becoming a real pain.


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## vacationcrazy (Oct 1, 2013)

vacationcrazy said:


> We flew to San Francisco last Saturday to celebrate my 60th birthday. We flew business class and I had our seats all booked. When we checked in the agent told us our seats changed because it was a different plane and we would not be sitting together. When we got on the plane it was chaos with everyone trying to change their seats so they could sit with the person they were flying with. Eventually, everyone did get to sit with who they wanted to, but the flight attendants were going crazy because no one was where they were supposed to be. I don't know how they screwed up the seating so bad! Hopefully, we will not have this problem again when we fly home tommorrow.



Well, we did have a problem again:annoyed: I got a call from American that they had changed equipment again and we no longer could be in business class but could be in coach.  We had planned this special trip a long time and we really wanted to fly in business or first class.  I argued with them to no avail but they said we could take the next flight which would leave nearly three hours later.  We decided to take the next flight. It was frustrating because we did not get home until 2 am because of the change. I contacted American and they did reimburse us 8000 miles each for the inconvenience which I was happy with


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## Timeshare Von (Oct 1, 2013)

jehb2 said:


> Many years ago when I was going from the US to Japan I volunteered my seat.  In return I got $300.00.   They actually gave me 3 crisp $100 dollar bills.  I guess because it was an international flight.  Plus I got a breakfast and lunch voucher for the airport, a hotel room and dinner at the hotel, and a flight out the next morning.
> 
> Since it was so early in the morning I spent an awesome day in San Francisco.



I thought it might have been "many years ago" as I don't any (American) airlines are giving cash.

Back in 1995, I was bumped on the 11am from Detroit home to MKE.  They put me and three others (a newlywed couple and an unrelated DDS) on the next flight which (whoops) was also already oversold.  All four of us ended up riding that bumping all day for four flights worth.

We got home to MKE near midnight but had $1,050 each (3@$250 + $300 for the last one) in travel vouchers.  I used mine in 1996 for my first international trip (Munich).  SWEEEET!


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## LisaRex (Oct 2, 2013)

Jimster said:


> I am not so sympathetic about giving up my seat.  I am a big guy and I like the aisle.



FWIW, I'd happily give up my aisle seat for you if you didn't have one reserved.  I'm 5'5" and normal sized so I can sit just about anywhere and be equally uncomfortable.


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## Former Cruiser (Oct 4, 2013)

Our seats were fine going to Kauai, but on our flight home they split us up.  We thought it was probably because we had different reservation numbers, and someone else was looking to sit together.  We complained and complained until they put us in the exit row.


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## lvhmbh (Oct 19, 2013)

We just flew home from Rome to London and then next day London to Miami.  There was a general strike announced for that night and the next day so BA was really happy to see us get to the airport early.  She told us we would have random seats until I pointed out that I had paid for the seats I requested (the extra to book ahead) and she moved some people for us.  They don't want to give you your money back .


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## DebBrown (Oct 19, 2013)

We've rarely had any trouble but I do check about once a month and more frequently close to the flight date.  OTOH, I've heard plenty of complaints at the airport.  

We were on a flight and the two men behind us in the exit row were both complaining because their wives were in middle seats elsewhere on the plane.  Of course, they both thought they'd be sitting with their spouses.  One was pretty vocal but I noticed he didn't give up his exit row to sit by his wife.  

Deb


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## LisaRex (Oct 22, 2013)

I saw this thread yesterday and thought I'd better check on my flights to St. Maarten again.  Sure enough, there was a notification that I had to call and re-book my flights.  They'd changed my return flight and the layover departed before I arrived.  So I re-booked and sent an email to the 6 friends flying with me that they had to call and get on the new flight.

The joys of babysitting our flights!


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## matbec (Oct 29, 2013)

I immediately thought of this thread when I checked our Spring Break flights (return) to Orlando with Air Canada. The plane configuration had changed and the "preferred seats" we'd paid for (extra leg room) were no longer available. Seats on both flights were mostly booked, except for the front row seats, in coach. I was told that the airline would have called me 60days in advance of the flights, but that would have been too late, all the seats would have been assigned, and our family of 5 would have been assigned seats all over the plane. 

Must remember to keep checking!


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