Hi all,
Booking through Orbitz with AA I am able to pick seats. I noticed exit rows are available and would love them for myself and my 16 year old son. Will I actually get those or will those be held until AA actually sees the person in person to determine if they can handle the responsibility in case of an emergency...should I not even bother with those seats in case and select other ones instead?

Thanks,
Angela

Like most airlines, AA only lets elite members of its frequent flyer program pre-select exit row seats.

Whether or not they'll be available is a bit of a long shot, but if you get to the airport early (and check in on line before that) your chances will be slightly improved.

A 16 year old is ok per regulations as long as he is capable of helping during any evacuation procedures.

That said, I'm a AAFF and I have never heard of AA offering exit row seats to anybody, during reservations, unless they have status.

So, my question is, Do you have status?

Also, AA.com offers a lowest fare gurantee, why would you want to pay extra $5-10 bucks to Orbitz for their service?

Just curious........

AAFrequentFlyer,
Glad you posted!

Reason for reserving through Orbitz is because I am going from SFO to Seville Spain..on AA's site the fare is $10.00 cheaper than Orbitz but doesnt allow me to pick my seats for the Iberia part..JFK-Madrid..As I am traveling with just my son we really want the 2 seats on the side of the plane...no one to bother us and we cant bother anyone either..do you know if there is a way to reserve these seats through AA's site?

Seats on Iberia might be showing available on Orbitz but I'd suggest you call them direct to confirm. I did book on Orbitz once and it seems the seats are a actually only requested and Air France didn't even show a request.

And like AAFrequentflyer said, you might as well forget the exit row seats unless you have frequent mileage status.

jlillberto,
I went to AA'S website and they don't show the seats available so I take it Orbitz is wrong.
Thanks!

Orbitz may not be wrong -- AA blacks out seats it doesn't want the public to have access to, even if they're not sold. There's a considerable difference between what I see as available when I log in as just me and what is shown when I log in as gold-status DH -- many more seats shown there.

HOWEVER, just because Orbitz shows them and you request them doesn't mean -- forgive me -- squat. The airlines ignore or override what Orbitz does routinely. And if you get into trouble with the reservation or the connection, you're supposed to deal with Orbitz, which means the airline will be able to do whatever it wants first and then worry about the Orbitz-booked seats.

(I've oversimplified this a little, but you get the point.)

I've learned to take seating with a grain of salt too, I've had equipment changes where everyone is shifted anyway, sometimes to your advantage sometimes not.

HKP is right, it's a lot easier to deal with AA direct than Orbitz if something goes wrong.