Linking flights

Can flights be linked like cruises link dining ?If Delta should change our scheduled aircraft I want my daughter to still be beside me.

I called Delta and was told not to worry

When you buy a ticket, you are buying a seat, but without any guarantee where that seat will be. When you book two seats on separate PNRs (booking numbers), there is ABSOLUTELY NO guarantee they will be together. Delta might help you out...it might work. It might not. I wouldn't be holding my breath.

I would just call Delta.

 

Keith

Can flights be linked like cruises link dining ?If Delta should change our scheduled aircraft I want my daughter to still be beside me.

You have no guarantee of that even if you're on the same booking. As CruiserBruce says, you have a reservation for the flight and not a particular seat on board - but that doesn't even guarantee that you will be on that flight, let alone in the seat that you have been pre-allocated.

 

If you are really concerned about this, then one thing to do is to pay for an ExpertFlyer subscription, and set an aircraft change alert. This will then send you an email if the aircraft type or cabin configuration changes, so that you can immediately set about checking where your new seats are and changing them if you wish.

 

If there is some medical need for you to be next to your daughter, then talk to the airline about it. Delta may then be able to make special arrangements.

 

However, if this is just a "would like to be" situation, don't expect too much from whatever the airline does when you ask. In many airline systems, different reservations can be linked - but this often consists only of a manual comment in each booking record basically saying "This passenger is travelling together with passenger XXX on booking record YYYYYY." If there is an aircraft change or if there are irregular operations, someone may happen to see this comment. Or they may not. Even if they do see it, they may not be able to act on it. Nice things can happen (and have happened to me in similar situations), but don't expect that they will.

 

Finally, if there is an aircraft change or if there are irregular operations, as you are on separate bookings there is an increased chance that not only will you not be sitting together, you may even be put onto separate flights. That may or may not be fixable by the airport, if it were to happen. There's not much you can do now about this, except to make sure that next time you are booked together on the same booking.

Want to be together? First step is book the tickets together.

 

And even then, it's not a guarantee. Seat assignments are a convenience to the passenger and are not assured.

 

Except with NetJets.

Can flights be linked like cruises link dining ?If Delta should change our scheduled aircraft I want my daughter to still be beside me.

I called Delta and was told not to worry

 

When Delta "links" 2 separate PNRs, it simply means a comment was added to the notes screen as someone described above. In the event of a change in aircraft/itinerary, the computer would automatically rebook/reseat everyone, and the computer has no way of reading or responding to a manually entered comment. Thus, there is no guarantee that you'd be re-seated together or be re-booked on the same flight. Keep monitoring your reservation so if an undesirable change is made you can call and try to get it fixed sooner than later.

Exact same question asked twice, 14 hours apart?

Exact same question asked twice, 14 hours apart?

 

Didn't like the first set of answers??

I always book my wife and my tickets Together on the same ticket and confirmation number. She has a different last name. I have multiple experiences on both AA and UA, in both BC and Economy, of being split up. Sometimes we can get seats back together (or near) other times not. We’re adults and can handle being separated for a few hours. She doesn’t need to hold my hand on the plane!

There are a number of reasons for booking on separate PNRs. Our common one is I generate a moderate number of FF miles...which are frequently used to acquire DW's tickets when we fly. Hers are free, I pay for mine on a separate PNR. As they are usually in First, not too challenging to stay seated together.