How to get seat assignment on portion of flight that is thru another carrier?
 

Bought our tickets thru Delta’s website, flying into Rome and out of Florence. I chose our seats at the time of purchase. When I printed out the tickets, the portion of the flight that is on Air France (Paris to Atlanta) did not show our chosen seats. So I finally called AF today to get seat assignments and was told she could not see us in AF reservation system and that I needed to call Delta for seat assignments since the tickets where bought thru Delta. Called Delta and was told I had to call AF for seat assignments. Now what do I do? On a long flight I certainly want to sit next to my sister and hopefully on an aisle seat, not to mention AF claims they do not see my reservation.. Thanks

Did you call Delta back and tell them that Air France says that they can't see your reservation?

I am booked with Air Canada and Lufthansa. From Halifax to Toronto is Air Canada and from Toronto to Frankfurt-Toulouse is Lufthansa. Air Canada did the seat selection on their portion and I called Lufthanasa to do the Transatlantic portion. They weren't able to assign the flight from Frankfurt to Toulouse which is fine.

I don't know what the agreement between Delta and Air France is but as a Travel agent of 20 years it makes me nervous that Air France says that they don't see your reservation. Did you ask to speak to a reservation supervisor at either airline?

Two years ago, we booked thru Delta for a flight from Venice to Atlanta that involved a leg on Air France from Venice to Paris. We were not able to get seats on the Air France leg until we arrived at the Venice airport. They told me it was because the flight was on another airline, originating in Europe. It bothered me too - but it seemed there was nothing I could do about it - and it worked out fine. We got to the airport early and got good seats. I would be concerned that Air France says they can't see your reservation. I believe they told me they could see mine, but could not give us seats. Definitely double-check with Delta and make sure you have copies of everything with you. Have a great time.

They usually can't do the inter European flights but should be able to do a transatlanic flight from Paris to Atlanta. I would press the issue with one of the two airlines.

Hi P,

>Did you call Delta back and tell them that Air France says that they can't see your reservation?<

((I))

If you don't like the answer, call the next day and keep calling until you reach someone who is sympathetic to your plight or at least can give you a reason why you can't book the seats.

I have had good luck calling late at night or in the wee hours of the morning when reservationist have to be bored out of their minds ;;)

Good luck, Deborah

I'm having a similar issue. We are going to Japan in October. Half of the trip (Charlotte to Chicago) is with American, and the other half (Chicago to Tokyo) is with Japan Airlines. I booked through American and they assigned us seats but I'm hoping to change them. I just assumed that I would call American, but I guess I may have to play this game as well.

Good luck!
Tracy

I'm flying 'free' business class through AA next month, going with Iberia, CDG -> MAD -> MRS.

I was given bulkhead seats, which is not great in business.

I called Iberia directly, gave them the names of the traveling passengers, and they pulled up the Iberia locator record.

Try the same thing with AF. If AF allows you to select seats online, then the locator number will be your key. If they cannot, use the locator number and request the seats you want.

Check www.seatguru.com before you contact the airline, as you want the best seat for you.

We had a Delta reservation confirmation # on an Air France flight and could not get seat assignments. Eventually, we reached a Delta employee willing to help us and she was able to give us an Air France confirmation #. I called AF with the number and got seat assignments.

I'm not sure when you've tried to do this, but I just purchased our tickets to Italy yesterday on Delta/Alitalia and was told to call back Monday. Apparently on weekends, they cannot make assignments on the European flights due to the computers and them not being synched or something. I'm going to try tomorrow, so, hopefully, it will work.

Three years ago we booked through Delta and had an Air France flight on the return trip. I eventually got someone at Air France on the phone who was willing to give me seat assignments. However, when we got to CDG to check in, we did not have seat assignments. Seats were being assigned in the order in which you checked in for the flight. We were given seats in widely separated parts of the airplane. The flight attendants very nicely rearranged people until they got us back together.

So I wouldn't count on the seat assignments, even if you get them, and I would get to the airport earlier than I normally would.

That was then. This is now.

I don't think Delta is being very helpful and they probably don't know what they are doing. I fly Air France about once a year and have no problem getting seat assignments, but I don't book through Delta. Since you bought from Delta, I think you should have called them first, anyway. However, I don't think you can book seats online on the Air France website any more, in any case, whatever reservation number you have, so I don't think that is a solution. I have no idea what arrangement Delta has with AF, so don't know how that works with AF being able to recognize you in their system. I would have thought a name and date should do it, though, but sometimes these things are mysteries.

Hi tcreath...I used to be that Japan Airlines would not allow us to do seat selection for our clients in advance. I don't know if they've changed that policy or not since I've not been on that side of the industry for several years.

I've done a Delta/AF flight twice and each time I had to call AF for the seat assignments on their flight. All I gave was my name, date, and flight number and they found me in their system.

It's possible , if you are flying coach, that they don't assign seats until you arrive at the airport or only within a certain timeframe. We flew BC both times which might have made the difference.

I'd be more worried that they can't find you in their (AF) computer system.

Just be aware.

In my experience, Air France seat assignments are not a gurantee. I have had them "move" me several times from my Aisle seat to some random seat. The only thing that saved me was that I had my print out of the seat assignment. (Which really upset the AF agent...... How dare the customer refuse to agree with her? LOL!)

CRAZY4TRAVEL, thank you for your response. I think I'm just going to go ahead and keep the seats that they automatically assigned to us. I found a seatmap and although the seats are a little farther back than I usually prefer they aren't too close to the lavatory so I think we'll be fine. Or at least as fine as one could be sitting in a coach seat for a really long flight!

Tracy

No seat assignment on any airline is guaranteed, not just AF.

Delta might have a note of the AF booking reference #.

Thank you all for your replies and tips. I will keep trying using some of your suggestions. I guess if we have to wait until we check in at CDG, I will just have to live with it. At least we will be there 5hr before the flight due to a layover. One of my fears is being stuck in the middle row in the middle seat. I have to get up alot. Thanks again. Only six months until my first trip to Italy :-)

You should absolutely not wait until you get to the airport.

I got my seat assignments for my trip in May, last October.

With 6 months to go. Keep trying until you succeed. It's an 800 # and all it takes is your time.

Once again, www.seatguru.com is the site to visit. Have the plane's seating chart up on your computer when you make your call(s)