American Airlines Seat Bookings

Hi Everyone ,

We’re flying to Puerto Rico on 7th April to start cruise. We’ve tried to pre-book seats on AA but online message states ‘unable to assign seats for Everyone. Please check back or we’ll assign seats at the airport’. Has anyone come across this before? I’m a really nervous flyer and terrified at the thought of being separated from my husband.

I have tried phoning AA but they just refer me back to the message.

Help!!

Did you buy economy basic fare?

If its not an economy basic fare, then there must be something wrong with the system or they for some reason have not picked the aircraft for the flight, which would be odd only a few months out. Keep checking.

Did you speak with someone on the phone or just an automated system?

Hi Everyone ,

 

We’re flying to Puerto Rico on 7th April to start cruise. We’ve tried to pre-book seats on AA but online message states ‘unable to assign seats for Everyone. Please check back or we’ll assign seats at the airport’. Has anyone come across this before? I’m a really nervous flyer and terrified at the thought of being separated from my husband.

 

I have tried phoning AA but they just refer me back to the message.

 

Help!!

Flymia has a good question.

If you did book Basic Economy, then you can't pre-select seats. That's one of the rules for Basic Economy

Other restrictions

No overhead bin space for carry on (only under seat in front of you)

Last boarding group

No upgrades

Flymia has a good question.

If you did book Basic Economy, then you can't pre-select seats. That's one of the rules for Basic Economy

 

Other restrictions

No overhead bin space for carry on (only under seat in front of you)

Last boarding group

No upgrades

Additionally, in event of ops issues, AA will not endorse a Basic Econ ticket to another carrier ... and AA will reaccommodate a Basic Econ passenger in the next available Basic Econ seat.

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Must be the class of ticket OP purchased. I fly AA often and always get to pick my seat...I won't fly an airlines where I can't or cheap out on this...just an important option for me. And always monitor my flights for changes.

I don’t understand. “They refer me back to the message.”

Didn’t you actually speak to someone?

Thank you all so much for your replies. We had booked economy with British Airways but are flying with AA as a partner. We are more than willing to pay for seat allocation but apparently this is still not possible. I did speak in person to someone at BA but they said I had to deal directly with AA. The person at AA said she could not help and I just had to take notice of the info on their site.

We had booked economy with British Airways but are flying with AA as a partner.

We're booked to fly into SJU the next day with AA, basic economy from Charlotte, and we were able to select our seats.

this situation probably has something to do with the OP being booked via the BA/AA One World Alliance.

Thank you all so much for your replies. We had booked economy with British Airways but are flying with AA as a partner. We are more than willing to pay for seat allocation but apparently this is still not possible. I did speak in person to someone at BA but they said I had to deal directly with AA. The person at AA said she could not help and I just had to take notice of the info on their site.

That exact same thing happened to me when I booked a ticket on United to Vienna and flew with their partner, Austrian Air. Despite multiple calls to both airlines, I was never able to book seats. They were indeed not assigned until we were at the airport. We sat together, but not at a window, which was a little disappointing as I booked months in advance. Anyway, I’m sure many others were in the same situation. I know this was an international flight and yours is not, but maybe it’s the partner thing that’s causing the problem. Maybe if you get to the airport super early it would help.

Ah ok I see.

You should be able to select a seat, it seems like both airlines are just being lazy. You need to call AA and get your AA confirmation number for that flight. Then you will need to log into aa.com with your last name and AA confirmation number and then you should be able to pick your seats. Don't mention anything to AA other than you need the confirmation number for your flight to SJU.

What is your routing?

Once again thank you all so much. I’ll give everything a try and let you know how it turns out.

Our route is Heathrow-Philadelphia-SAN Juan. Return is the same route.

I’m a really nervous flyer and terrified at the thought of being separated from my husband.

 

My wife would be thrilled to sit away from me during the flight and take a break from me. [emoji23]

On a more serious note, I work for one of the major airlines in the US. As others have mentioned, the type of fare that you purchased may be partly responsible for your inability to select seats, but I believe that, because you purchased a trip on British Airways but which includes a segment on a partner airline (American) you may have to wait until the day of travel to get your seat assignment at the airport. It’s very common to see passengers arriving from International flights getting their seat assignment for the US domestic portion right at the gate.

Keep checking, but don’t be surprised if you do need to wait until then. With that said, gate agents do try to keep passengers in the same group seated together or close to each other, although there may be times when a flight is very full when there will be no choice but to separate them. If that’s the case, don’t be shy about asking fellow passengers when you get on the airplane to see if they’d be willing to swap seats with you.

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Flymia is correct. You need your AA confirmation number to select seats. Try that before giving up.

If you contact British Airways hopefully they can give you your American Airlines Record Locator and you can log on to AA to see if you can make the seat assignments.

When we book an AA flight but BA is actually the operator of the flight I either call AA and ask for the BA record locator or I call BA and have them look it up. It is only that way that I can make my seat assignments.

It's worth a try.

Keith

If you contact British Airways hopefully they can give you your American Airlines Record Locator and you can log on to AA to see if you can make the seat assignments.

 

When we book an AA flight but BA is actually the operator of the flight I either call AA and ask for the BA record locator or I call BA and have them look it up. It is only that way that I can make my seat assignments.

 

It's worth a try.

 

Keith

Actually that has changed a bit, at least from the AA perspective. I am flying MIA-LHR-CPH-LHR-MIA in August, booked the ticket on AA. All but the MIA-LHR flight are operated by BA. I can actually easily pick (and pay because its BA) for my seats on the BA flights through AA.com. It was not always this way though, certainly a nice change. It just takes me out of AA.com to some British Airways seat selection popup.

For the OP as others have said its the other way around. The OP needs to get the AA record locator and then he will be able to book the seats. AA should have the information.

Flymia, glad to hear that.

When I booked my most recent flight last October I couldn't do that so glad to hear you now can.

Just saves time and also avoids the need to go to multiple sites.

Keith

Our route is Heathrow-Philadelphia-SAN Juan.

Just above the flight details, you should see a line that says something like:-

 BOOKING REF : AMADEUS: XYZ123, AIRLINE: BA/XYZ123

If you can also see something that says AA/ABCDEF then the ABCDEF should be your AA booking reference.

It may not work, but it's worth a try. You can also try going to https://classic.checkmytrip.com/plnext/XCMTXXNS/StartOver.action;?LANGUAGE=GB&SITE=XCMTXXNS to see whether that gives you the information, but I trust it a little less than the first of those sites.

On the details that you give, it looks likely that you're on AA1529 PHL-SJU (possibly sold as BA6729). If so, this is what the seat map for that flight looks like in economy. After you've allowed for the seats that seem to be reserved for higher-tier frequent flyers, it looks like it's quite heavily pre-allocated already, but I don't know whether that might trigger some AA seat allocation limiter.

Seat Map Search:
Departing PHL on 07/04/18 for SJU
Flying AA flight 1529 in Business/2-Cabin Domestic First, Economy

       A   B   C       D   E   F   
7       -   -   -       X   X   #       
8       #   #   #       #   #   #       
9       #   #   #       #   #   #       
10  W   #   #   #       #   #   #   W   
11  W   #   #   #       #   #   #   W   
12  W   #   #   #       #   #   #   W   
13  W   -   +   +       -   +   +   W   
14  E   #   #   -       #   #   #   E   
15  E   #   #   #       #   #   #   E   
16  W   #   #   #       #   #   #   W   
17  W   #   #   #       #   #   #   W   
18      X   X   X       X   X   X       
19      -   -   P       -   -   -       
20      -   -   P       P   +   +       
21      -   +   P       P   -   -       
22      +   +   P       P   +   +       
23      -   -   -       -   -   -       
24      -   -   -       -   -   -       
25      -   -   -       -   -   -       
26      -   -   -       -   -   +       
27      +   +   +       +   +   +       
28      +   +   +       +   +   +       
29      -   -   -       +   -   -       
30      X   X   X       X   X   X       
       A   B   C       D   E   F   




Seats
Premium Only             P                        
Available                +                        
Handicap-Accessible      H                        
Paid & Premium           #                        
Occupied                 -                        
Blocked                  X                        
Lavatory                 L                        
Paid                     $                        

Location
Exit Row                 E                        
Wing                     W                        
Upper Deck               U                        

From personal history, if an AA flight is overbooked, or nearly so, they stop allowing early seat assignments. Those can only be made at the gate.

With luck , BA may well be able to give you your seats for the San Juan flight when you check in at LHR, which will be earlier that US passengers checking in domestically. Or , you may have to wait until PHL! Hopefully getting your AA numbers will solve it.

If that’s the case, don’t be shy about asking fellow passengers when you get on the airplane to see if they’d be willing to swap seats with you.

I'll take it one step further: Don't be shy about asking someone to switch, BUT... don't get upset if they refuse! They may have chosen their assigned seat specifically for whatever reason, paid more to be able to choose, etc. They have the right to keep their assigned seat, so don't get upset if they say no. And if you do ask someone to switch, try not to ask someone to give up a window or aisle to trade for your middle seat. If one of you needs to move, you'll have better luck if you can offer a window or aisle to someone for their middle seat. If sitting next to your travel partner is what's most important, you should be willing to accept a "lesser" seat in order to do so. ;)

Actually that has changed a bit, at least from the AA perspective. I am flying MIA-LHR-CPH-LHR-MIA in August, booked the ticket on AA. All but the MIA-LHR flight are operated by BA. I can actually easily pick (and pay because its BA) for my seats on the BA flights through AA.com. It was not always this way though, certainly a nice change. It just takes me out of AA.com to some British Airways seat selection popup.

 

For the OP as others have said its the other way around. The OP needs to get the AA record locator and then he will be able to book the seats. AA should have the information.

That’s good to hear; I was wondering if we could reserve seats in the initial booking. May I ask how much the transatlantic seat portion was? Is it a standard price irrespective of which cabin class you are booked in? Looking at SFO to LHR in business with BA, outbound flight would be AA.

That’s good to hear; I was wondering if we could reserve seats in the initial booking. May I ask how much the transatlantic seat portion was? Is it a standard price irrespective of which cabin class you are booked in? Looking at SFO to LHR in business with BA, outbound flight would be AA.

To select a standard coach seat on the transatlantic flight on BA it is $39/per-seat and $18/per-seat on the regional leg. IIRC it is $89/per-seat for business! Which is insane that an airline would charge for selecting a seat in business. Its a shame they charge to select a seat period, and more the reason why I avoid AA and BA as much as possible. Domestically I am flying JetBlue so much more now, even though I live 15-mins from MIA and used to fly AA all the time.

I could not reserve seats in the initial booking, but I could a few days later when the ticket was confirmed.

To select a standard coach seat on the transatlantic flight on BA it is $39/per-seat and $18/per-seat on the regional leg. IIRC it is $89/per-seat for business! Which is insane that an airline would charge for selecting a seat in business. Its a shame they charge to select a seat period, and more the reason why I avoid AA and BA as much as possible. Domestically I am flying JetBlue so much more now, even though I live 15-mins from MIA and used to fly AA all the time.

 

I could not reserve seats in the initial booking, but I could a few days later when the ticket was confirmed.

AA does not charge for a seat assignment, just extra for certain seats depending on your status. No charge ever on AA for a Business or First Class seat. I understand why you would not want to fly on BA, but not AA. (Unless you are referencing Basic economy, which I would never fly either).

AA does not charge for a seat assignment, just extra for certain seats depending on your status. No charge ever on AA for a Business or First Class seat. I understand why you would not want to fly on BA, but not AA. (Unless you are referencing Basic economy, which I would never fly either).

Yes, I am well aware of that. My response was regarding BA seat selection.

As to AA, you got it right, Basic Economy is a fraud. Besides why would I fly AA when I get more legroom, better service, and better fares on JetBlue.

I was wondering if we could reserve seats in the initial booking. May I ask how much the transatlantic seat portion was? Is it a standard price irrespective of which cabin class you are booked in?

To select a standard coach seat on the transatlantic flight on BA it is $39/per-seat and $18/per-seat on the regional leg. IIRC it is $89/per-seat for business! Which is insane that an airline would charge for selecting a seat in business. Its a shame they charge to select a seat period ...

Which is a reason why I love the BA policy: I get a better choice of seats on BA than I would if I flew another airline. :D

If you book through the BA website, you should be able to choose and pay for a seat pre-allocation as part of the booking process. However, that may be linked to the fact that the ticket will be issued immediately; normally, you do need to have an issued ticket in order to pay online for a seat pre-allocation, although it can sometimes be done over the phone even if you haven't yet been ticketed.