Parrothead

In the past year I have arrived at the airport for my scheduled flight to find out that the airline has changed my seat reservation without my consent. This has occurred 3 times, once each on Jet Blue, Delta and Continental. Everytime it has been a change I was not happy with; aisle to center seat or forward row to rear row. With these full flights, late changes are almost impossible to come by. The ticket agents act as if it is no big deal as they inform me there is nothing they can do.

Does anyone have a safeguard for this or suggestions to proactively stop it from happening? I have an upcoming 12 hour United flight and I like my seat resv, if it is still intact!

nataliemm

No, there's nothing you can do. But when you're checking in luggage and they switch your seat again make a fuss about it. When I flew with America West I purchased the tickets in person a few months ahead w/ seat assignments on paper. When we got there the 4 of us were split up for no reason. A ticket agent gave us 4 free flight coupons up to $100 and 4 drink/movie coupons. Hopefully this will work for you, and mention this has happened more than once.

Dan

Why would the airline need your consent to change a seat assignment? And it's just that...an assignment, not a reservation. There are rules the airlines must follow if they deny you from boarding the flight and/or getting from point A to point B, but there's no "advance seating" requirements they must follow. Case in point...Southwest!

The only safeguard is to call and reconfirm your seat a day or two prior to your flight. Even then it's not a 100% guarantee until you physically check-in.

(You can also "check in" online now with many airlines, so this allows you to lock your seat assignment 24 hrs prior to takeoff!)

BayArea

As far as I can tell advanced seat assignments are a load of hooey. I don't know of any way to make the airline stick by what they tell you initially.

The only things I can think of to try and make it less painful are

a) stand in line and check in with an actual human, not the kiosk

b) check your boarding card while you are standing AT the check-in window, as this is the ONLY time that the airline will be able to do anything about it.

GoTravel

The airlines can pretty much do anything these days with your seat including a non-voluntary bump.

I have usually only encountered a change in seat assignment when the airline changes the actual plane on a route.

BeachBoi

Pre-reserved seat assignments are not covered in any airlines "Conditions of Carriage",which you can find on their respective websites.The airlines changing of a passenger's seat assignment could be the result of a number of instances:equipment change,schedule change,etc etc.I was on a plane at Ohare,starpped in.The FA informed me that I was in the wrong seat.What option did I have but to get up and move to where I was "supposed"to be?None.I did not think it an appropriate time to argue.After all is said and done, if I am the ONLY passenger out of 167 or so to be inconvenienced,not bad.....Maybe my not raising a stink was why I got a couple of free drinks!!

jd

Some airlines, such as American, allow you to print your boarding pass at home 12 hours before your flight. This has your seat assignment on it, so it can't be changed after you have printed it out. On our way home from vacation we did not have access to a computer and when we got to the airport our seat assignment had been changed even though we made the reservations 10 months in advance. See if United allows you to print your boarding pass at home.

Brooklyn_Bomber

You're going about it the wrong way, parrot. You should use the continually changing seat assignments as an excuse to sit in first class when you board the plane. If someone asks you for your ticket or claims the seat, just apologize, saying that you must have been re-assigned.

Confusion is way under-rated as a great way to advance yourself.

ccolor

Brooklyn_Bomber: I think I love you...........Thanks for the tip and reminding us that being cool is probably the best way to go.

HowardR

Suggestion #1: Always reconfirm about a week or two before the flight.
Suggestion #2: Always reconfirm your seat assignment when you carry our Suggestion #1.

jja

This only happen to me once in my last 6 years of flying (and I have flown 500,000 actual miles). Unfortunitly, I was flying with my family at the time. Booked seats 90 days in advance 6abc. One week prior I checked and no seats assigned. After 15 minutes we get two together and one apart. Day of flight, again no seats. It ended up working out but it is no way to treat customers (especially platinum elite). I wrote NWA and they sent me a $100 voucher for future travel. Wouldnt complain if it were just me, but when traveling with young children it is important to sit near a parent

ellenem

This has happened to me a few times in the past and definitely had to do with a "change of equipment"--different size plane replacing the one originally scheduled to fly. Fortunately, I always get to the airport very early, so I was able to get a similar seat.

gail

This has happened to us only once - and like a previous poster we were travelling with small kids - under age 10. Equipment was not changed, but somehow we got 4 separated seats for family of 4. We tried politely but insistently to get gate agent to change - no luck. Were told to ask flight attendants to handle it. They were nice, but could not resolve situation until 2 kind passengers offered to switch so at least we were 2 and 2. Still no clue why this happened.

However, I agree that the seat assignment is not really binding. We just wish they had been more willing to help us out considering that we had kids with us.

rb_travelerxATyahoo

Best way to get a suitable seat is to ask immediately when checking in, "What seat am I being assigned", before they have a chance to print anything. But as pointed out, it's only an assignment, not a reservation.

On business travel, I used to try to get checked in BEFORE co-workers and to get a seat AWAY from them. I like them, but see them WAY too much & don't feel any need to spend my flighttime listening to shop talk. I fail to see why being together, even with kids (unless very young) should be so important ... are they REALLY gonna get there before you? So with family travel we just take what we get.