No seat assignments possible - should I be worried?

[NCMtnBoys]

We have a flight on Thanksgiving morning from CLT to MIA to catch our cruise later that day. We were going to make the 13 hour drive to Miami, but I found some flights with what I consider a great price considering it is traveling on a holiday weekend - $74 each plus tax = $83.

 

At the time I booked, I was not able to select seat assignments, and still cannot. After several weeks of trying every day, I called the airline, AA, and was told they couldn't assign seats due to something about an airport hold. I guess some seats are held back to assign at the airport?

 

Anyway, it just concerns me that we don't have seat assignments and the rep I spoke with wasn't very assuring that we'd get them once we checked in. I know they oversell flights but is it conceivable that even though we booked and paid for the flight they don't have any seats for us? The strange thing was, prices were higher until the day I booked it and then the day after we booked this flight, it disappeared from the available list of flights and hasn't been back since - it's almost as if we bought oversold seats or something. The aircraft is a 50-seat Embraer RJ145.

 

Our flight is at 6:10am, and the hotel we're staying at the night before, about 2-3 miles from the airport, has a shuttle that will take us to the airport at 4:30am (normal shuttle time is 6:00am, but they make exceptions and have noted it in our reservation). I intend to hop off the shuttle and hopefully not be the last one to check in. I would assume the earlier we check in, the better chance we have of ensuring seats. But I can't see that they would bump someone else out of their seats because we checked in earlier than they did.

 

Other than an international flight and flying on WN, I've never had a situation in the past where I didn't have my seat assignments secured at the time of booking.

[Ashland]

Not being able to select my seat in advance would upset me as well..I can understand some carriers not letting you till 24 hrs. prior to flight..But I would tend not to book them..Some people may see this as no big deal..to me it is a VERY big deal...Booking on a obviously over booked flight, not sitting with your traveling companion, or YIKES..:eek:..a middle seat...I'll take my business elsewhere even if it means paying a few more bucks..IM (not so) HO.....;)

[klfrodo]

Most major airlines will not assign seats when tickets are purchased within the 90 day window

 

OR

 

if they have already assigned a certain percentage of seats (75%).

 

The rest of the seats are indeed held back until the day of the flight. This is common

 

Your best bet is to be at the airport about 3 hours prior to flight departure. Early bird gets the worm. Getting to the airport at 4:30 for a 6am flight with no seat assignment puts you at risk of being bumped and then possibly missing your cruise.

 

Airlines have been overbooking for years. They know that statistically on this flight that XX percentage of travellers will be no shows. Therefore they overbook by that many travellers so they can fly at 100% capacity. Sometimes the statisics are wrong and bad things happen.

They will ask for voluntary bumps first, but as a last resort, some people maybe involuntarily bumped. The fact that you have to be in Miami for a cruise does nothing for you. Frequent Flier / business traveller helps more.

[kenish]

My understanding with AA is the seats are locked out when a flight gets more than 90% sold. You definitely have a seat but it's important to check in early just in case the flight is oversold. Also, check the AA website routinely and sometimes seats will open up and you can put them on request. The online seat assignments get pretty fluid starting 72-48h before departure as cancellations and final arrangements are confirmed.

 

I also recommend doing an online check-in as soon as available (I don't recall how early AA allows OLCI). Then check your bags and get to the gate as early as possible. The aircraft, situation you describe, etc. could indicate an oversell situation and you *must* make that flight or you probably will miss your cruise. Hope it works out and is uneventful.

[Globaliser]

Anyway, it just concerns me that we don't have seat assignments ...

You have a confirmed reservation for the flight. Even if you had a seat allocation, that would actually do little more to secure you space on the aircraft. A seat allocation does not make it "your" seat. It's only a request. The airline can change your seat allocation at any time, for any reason, even after you have boarded the aircraft.

 

So don't worry about it. Many major airlines around the world do relatively little seat pre-allocation, and they all manage fine. In fact, some say that they manage better than the airlines that pre-allocate almost everything on the aircraft, whose passengers frequently encounter the exact problem that you have just come across.

[skf]

This happened w/ our UA flights from MHT>>YVR. My brother was a late addition, & though we had confirmed seats he did not. I even drove over to the airport & asked the agent, who said that the seat would be there but only assigned at check-in.

I do not foresee a problem here.

Steve

[alidor]

"Most major airlines will not assign seats when tickets are purchased within the 90 day window."

 

Don't know where you got that from, but that is totally untrue. Northwest is the only one that does this 90 day thing. Some of the foreign carriers (notably British Air only 24 hours prior) don't allow seat selection in coach, but that can depend on what type of fare was purchased.

 

All the major carriers allow advanced seat selection up to about 24 hours prior (some closer than that) if they are available to be pre-assigned.

[steve20832]

Most major airlines will not assign seats when tickets are purchased within the 90 day window.

 

They are traveling in 2 weeks for Thanksgiving weekend.

To the OP, are you traveling on an AA plane or a codeshare flight. If it is a codeshare, call the airline you are flying with (not the airline that is on the ticket.) Your confirmation should say something like Northwest flight 123 codeshare or flown by Delta 456 in which you can call Delta for seat assignment.

[PennyAgain]

There is no reason to get to the airport before your airline ticket counter / check in is open. Verify when that happens. Also double verify that your hotel will run the early shuttle for you now and when you check in. You may need a back up plan of having a taxi ordered for you at your hotel.

 

I wish you well flying on a very busy day which is the day of your cruise departure.

[6rugrats]

Most major airlines will not assign seats when tickets are purchased within the 90 day window

 

OR

 

if they have already assigned a certain percentage of seats (75%).

 

The rest of the seats are indeed held back until the day of the flight. This is common

 

Your best bet is to be at the airport about 3 hours prior to flight departure. Early bird gets the worm. Getting to the airport at 4:30 for a 6am flight with no seat assignment puts you at risk of being bumped and then possibly missing your cruise.

 

Airlines have been overbooking for years. They know that statistically on this flight that XX percentage of travellers will be no shows. Therefore they overbook by that many travellers so they can fly at 100% capacity. Sometimes the statisics are wrong and bad things happen.

They will ask for voluntary bumps first, but as a last resort, some people maybe involuntarily bumped. The fact that you have to be in Miami for a cruise does nothing for you. Frequent Flier / business traveller helps more.

 

What??

 

True that airlines overbook. Whether you have a seat assignment or not has nothing to do with you being the first to be involuntarily denied boarding (IVD). You do not need to be at the airport three hours before you flight to avoid being IVD. You can't choose a seat now, because your flight is sold out. This doesn't mean however, that all these people will actually show up at the airport.

 

OP's flight is not a codeshare; it's on AA.

 

OP- check in online at the 24 hour mark (at 6:10 am the morning before your flight). If an airline has to deny boarding because the flight is overbooked, they will start with the last passengers to check in. You should be able to get a seat assignment then, if not, you can get one at the airport.

[6rugrats]

This happened w/ our UA flights from MHT>>YVR. My brother was a late addition, & though we had confirmed seats he did not. I even drove over to the airport & asked the agent, who said that the seat would be there but only assigned at check-in.

I do not foresee a problem here.

Steve

 

Why did you drive to the airport? There is no way to guarantee that the OP will not have a problem. Flights are packed. His best way to protect himself is to do OLCI at the 24 hour mark.

[frugaltravel]

We have a flight on Thanksgiving morning from CLT to MIA to catch our cruise later that day.

 

I wish you well flying on a very busy day which is the day of your cruise departure.

 

Thanksgiving day is actually a very slow day for flying. I assume you mean a very busy day because they have to get up early, have to fly, have to get to the cruise, etc. But the airports that day should be relatively empty.

[Globaliser]

All the major carriers allow advanced seat selection up to about 24 hours prior (some closer than that) if they are available to be pre-assigned.

Not quite: As you yourself said, many non-US airlines have much less pre-allocation before check-in. The universal expectation of seat pre-allocation before check-in seems to be most prevalent amongst US-based airlines, who are far from accounting for "all the major carriers".

[Budget Queen]

Thanksgiving day is actually a very slow day for flying. I assume you mean a very busy day because they have to get up early, have to fly, have to get to the cruise, etc. But the airports that day should be relatively empty.

 

Actually, it's slow from mid morning/afternoon. These first out early flights are extremely popular and many times run full.

[alidor]

One can get seat assignments on many world-wide carriers - Lufthansa, Air France, SAS, Singapore (over the water), etc. It's not just the US carriers (except for Southwest, etc.).

[jshli]

As others have said, check in online exactly 24 hours in advance and you should have no problem getting a seat assignment at that time.

[Globaliser]

One can get seat assignments on many world-wide carriers - Lufthansa, Air France, SAS, Singapore (over the water), etc.

Some, but not all. And those which do often have very low limits. For example, Qantas will only pre-allocate about 25% or 35% of the economy cabin. After that, it's allocation at check-in only, unless you are a higher tier frequent flyer.

[alidor]

For some reason, I don't have a lot of issues with this. As I have a GDS, if I can't initially get a seat assignment, I can pull up the record in a matter of seconds and pull up the seat map and grab empty seat assignments as they become available. This live availability works very well.

[NCMtnBoys]

Thanks, everyone, for your replies. I will definitely check in at the 24 hour mark. I'm also going to change hotels the night before and instead of relying on their shuttle to get us to the airport at a certain time, we'll be driving ourself and leaving our car at the airport. That way WE have control over when we get there, not relying on their shuttle/driver to actually show up early and take us. I just dread trying to find a place to park there when many other people left the day before. *sigh* Early, early, early will be our motto for the day.

 

Our flight arrives into Miami at 8:15am (early!), so even if our flight is delayed a bit we will arrive into Miami plenty early. As it is, we'll be spending probably 2 hours in the Miami airport after we get there, just to kill some time before we go to the pier! I normally fly in the day before a cruise, but we're not THAT far away by flight, and the day before, in this case, is so busy and I didn't want to try and fight the "busiest travel day of the year" crowds. Our early 6:10am flight may be no better, as BudgetQueen mentioned early flights can still be full.

 

We do have travel insurance!

[skf]

Why did you drive to the airport? There is no way to guarantee that the OP will not have a problem. Flights are packed. His best way to protect himself is to do OLCI at the 24 hour mark.

Well, I wanted to check that the names on the bookings matched our passports, so I did a two-for-one trip. It's only about a 12-minute trip across the river to MHT. I can see the planes landing from my 6th-floor window.

Obviously nobody would do this if in a large city.

Steve