Air2Sea-seats assigned?( and other questions.)

[olya1972]

I am looking into booking NYC to Anchorage tickets for an Alaska Southbound cruise via Ait2Sea RCI program. There is some, but not significant, difference in price given the cost of the tickets versus booking through any other site.( RCI is currently running a promo of $200 off per person for Economy class Alaska tickets, but from the prices I see on Air2Sea, there is a total difference of $200 for two tickets making the cheapest option $1,250 vs 1,450. ) It is not clear to me if we can chose our seats as we would do have we booked tickets elsewhere. Can someone who used the service please share your experiences? What are the advantages of booking Air2Sea ( other then possibly cheaper price)? Thank you.

[drjohn4]

I have been able to have Air2Sea select seats for me at the time of booking, but it is possible that this may vary depending on airline.  Often you cannot make any changes on the airline's web site until the flights are actually ticked sometime after final payment.

[olya1972]

1 minute ago, drjohn4 said:

I have been able to have Air2Sea select seats for me at the time of booking, but it is possible that this may vary depending on airline.  Often you cannot make any changes on the airline's web site until the flights are actually ticked sometime after final payment.

Does that mean that we don’t get actual tickets at the time of reservation, but only after final payment date? ( which means that seats are also assigned only at that time?)

[jean87510]

31 minutes ago, olya1972 said:

I am looking into booking NYC to Anchorage tickets for an Alaska Southbound cruise via Ait2Sea RCI program. There is some, but not significant, difference in price given the cost of the tickets versus booking through any other site.( RCI is currently running a promo of $200 off per person for Economy class Alaska tickets, but from the prices I see on Air2Sea, there is a total difference of $200 for two tickets making the cheapest option $1,250 vs 1,450. ) It is not clear to me if we can chose our seats as we would do have we booked tickets elsewhere. Can someone who used the service please share your experiences? What are the advantages of booking Air2Sea ( other then possibly cheaper price)? Thank you.

I used for Alaska in May 2022.  The price was cheaper.  We were not able to pick our seats on Delta out and American back until reservation was paid in full and then we were able to request air2sea for our reservation to be ticketed.  Once that happens, you can pick your seats.  I dont use a TA. Just did the same on Celebritys air2sea.  Hope this helps

[olya1972]

1 minute ago, jean87510 said:

I used for Alaska in May 2022.  The price was cheaper.  We were not able to pick our seats on Delta out and American back until reservation was paid in full and then we were able to request air2sea for our reservation to be ticketed.  Once that happens, you can pick your seats.  I dont use a TA. Just did the same on Celebritys air2sea.  Hope this helps

Thank you.

[whitshel]

My experience is Delta, Alaska and United you can get seats at time of booking.  American you need to wait till you pay for the tickets.

 

You can always reserve them and see if you can get your seats.  Most tickets are changeable/refundable til final payment (because you don't pay for them til final payment)

[twangster]

In my experience tne ability to book seat assignments varies one booking to another.   It all depends what the fare class they book with the airline for that specific trip. 

 

I wouldn't book on the website.  Do it on the phone and ask them.  You can search on the website but call and talk to A2S.  if you don't like the answer thank them and don't book it. 

 

Most times I can get seat assignments well before final payment but they have to do it.  I can't always pick my own seats myself so I look at the flights, see what's open and ask them to grab the seats I want. 

[grandgeezer]

We’ve used Air 2 Sea over a dozen times, all pre pandemic, and have been able to choose our seats every time. When you get your conformation, they’ll show, I think it’s called Record Locator, or something similar. You go to the airline’s website, enter the number and pick away. This has worked with American, Delta, and Air Canada.

[jean87510]

6 hours ago, olya1972 said:

Thank you.

Just to clear any confusion, you can first create your booking online, THEN choose your seats over the phone with A2S if you dont want a random seat assignment  BUT if economy, you will be in a certain section and can choose from there (eg row 30-40).  IF you want to MOVE your seat up to a better spot you can do this once it is paid in full and ticketed.  So sorry I wasn't clearer earlier.  

[HicksRA]

I’ve found that if you go ahead and pay for the flight at the time of booking (not waiting until final payment date), you can have full control of your seating, i.e., picking seat, moving seats, upgrading seating.  I’ve done this to get the earliest, best choices before the plane is filled up. 

[Jbluebird]

We're using Air2Sea for our flights.  We got nonstop flights both ways to Europe with Delta and we were able to pick our seats.  While the cost is not a lot less than if we booked ourselves, I wanted the peace of mind to know if something happens to our flight, Air2Sea will help us out. The payment is due at the time of the final cruise payment so we can cancel or modify our reservation up until final payment.

[taglovestocruise]

15 hours ago, grandgeezer said:

We’ve used Air 2 Sea over a dozen times, all pre pandemic, and have been able to choose our seats every time. When you get your conformation, they’ll show, I think it’s called Record Locator, or something similar. You go to the airline’s website, enter the number and pick away. This has worked with American, Delta, and Air Canada.

We have had the same experience on Air France, Virgin and Lufthansa flying from Los Angeles.

[SilkySal]

We are flying from Indianapolis to Vancouver in September for our cruise on Celebrity Solstice to the Hawaiian islands, ending in Honolulu, staying there for 5 nights, and then flying from Honolulu to Chicago and on to Indianapolis. I had trouble booking it on-line myself, so called A2S for help. Got everything booked quickly and got our seat assignments. Flight costs were added to final payment. Not sure if flying First Class (first time for us!) had anything to do with it. Reservations are with Delta and American. Good luck!

[long4acruise]

Most of our flights - domestic and international - are on United. When using Air2Sea, I provide them with our Mileage Plus loyalty numbers.  Within minutes of completing the booking, my reservation is listed in my account or I add it using the "Missing flight" link. I'm always able to immediately select our seats and complimentary upgrade.  YMMV

[olya1972]

Thank you all for the replies. We have booked Air Alaska and United( but operated by Air Canada). I was able to select seats immediately on Air Alaska website, however when trying to do so with United, I was redirected to Air Canada that didn’t allow seats selection stating that tickets were booked through travel agent and TA should be contacted for seats assignment. I will call A2S to try to get seats on that return flight. At the end the price was almost $200 per ticket less then if booked on our own, as was advertised on A2S website. As always, CC is an invaluable resource.