Newbie question re. seat assignment on United
 

Hello,

Yesterday my boyfriend got a r/t ticket from LAX to NRT on United using his FF miles. At the same time I was on the phone with my Awards Center getting an awards ticket on the same flights. Neither of us bothered to request specific seating because we thought we could just go online and reselect our seats after we made our reservations. Of course, when we tried to do this, we found out that the only times we can request a seat assignment is when the ticket is purchased and 24 hours before departure. Ironically, we're in the same row on each flight (n/s to NRT, chg planes in Seattle on return), but on exact opposite sides of the planes (we each have a window seat).

What are our chances of being able to get 2 seats together 24 hrs before departure?

Thanks.

Have you tried calling United?

The only time you can use the website to get a seat assignment is at the time of reservation or check-in (which you will not be able to do online at 24 hours prior because UA does not allow online check-in for international flights). However, if seat assignments are available (i.e., the flight isn't so full that all remaining seats are under airport control), you should be able to do it at any time over the phone. The only complication might be if one of you has MP elite status and is eligible for Economy Plus seating and the other doesn't. Technically, the the elite is allowed to bring one other person into E+, but this sometimes can be problematic with separate PNRs.

Did you try calling UA? Make sure you have both PNRs. I have this strange feeling that you will get seats together during the phone call.

Good luck!

Thank you. No, I didn't call United. I just read their seat assignment information on their website. So, I will try to give them a call.

btw, what's PNR?

Thanks again.

passenger name record

Since both of your are in the same row I would wager that neither of you have Premier status. In any case, ask for seats in Economy Plus (rows 36-43). There are some seat pairs in the back of the UA 747 in rows 59-61. See seatguru.com and look at the 747 seating.

Thank you. I've got my fingers crossed that we won't have any problems since we're flying under two separate reservations, rather than two on one reservation. But, it was the only way that we could each get a free ticket. If the worse thing we encounter is that we can't sit together, I'll still be happy.

Will UA seat non-elite passengers with economy FF tickets in Economy Plus? That seems odd to me, considering that those seats cost more than regular economy.

KT - for a standard economy award, yes; for a saver economy award, no.

Darn--I always get saver awards. Makes sense, though. Thanks.