becket5

Flew in row 17 on a 767 300 for the first time last week (completely full flight JFK-BGI). Seatguru.com only gives this row an amber rating due to the noise of the galley/lavs plus the potential lack of a TV screen. It's true about the noise but my seat area had a screen as well as all the crew rest luxuries such as a recline which felt at least as good as Business, foot rest, padded centre armrest, lumbar control and a curtain (not sure if the FAs would allow you to close it though). I don't think it's possible to reserve these seats in advance (they are treated as bulkhead) but I'm certainly going to request them at check in. Are there any rules around requesting these seats and have I missed any other downsides?
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Seats 17 A, B, H and J are are better padded semi-recliners (not quite flat) with different (higher, no head "wings") seatbacks with often inoperable lumbar support, headrests and foot rests, in their own "minicabin". HJ side has a bit more pitch (legroom) than AB side. Tables are built into the armrests. Though there is a curtain, it is generally considered not for passenger use. There is no in-seat power, nor is there underseat stowage. They are galley and lavatory close, but many thing the differences from the usual Y seats are well worth it. (On the 762 / 767-223ER three class aircraft, 17 A and B were replaced with normal Economy seats.)

On the 767-323ER (two class) these seats are designated crew rest seats, and positively so on flights of eight hours duration or longer (APFA-AA contract and government regulations are involved here); see here ("Flight Attendant Duty Time Act"). On significantly shorter and US domestic flights, they may be available to passengers - usually assignable by a Gate Agent (on aa.com they usually appear as blocked); they will generally not be available not from a counter Ticket Agent (excepting some oversold flights under 8 hours). In more recent times they have appeared as Preferred seats online, but not with any consistency. GAs often prefer assigning these seats to commuting crew, NRSA and family. Asking an Admirals Club agent to book one may result in their contacting a Gate Agent - but if they do not do so and assign, it can add to the occasional GA / AC agent conflict at some airports and you do not want a Gate Agent upset at you; remember these folks have a lot of titular power.

You can not call the (800) number for Admirals Club and ask for row 17 as a Club member; they will refer you to the airport Gate Agent.

If you snag these seats on a tanscon or midcon (or rarely a Hawai'i flight), you may rarely find a member of the domestic cabin crew seeming a bit shirty if s/he feels these seats should be reserved for crew at all times and not wasted on a revenue passenger, but most are more professional than that; they may even claim it is "their" seat - it's not. But if the flight is 8+ hours duration you really should not be seated there.

See posts #2 and #164 (new count ) for photos of these seats.

Note: Older posts can be read here: 763 / 767-300 coach Row 17 (archived)


photos c/o The Points Guy https://apple.news/Az6Q_HKmgS6q__ecTcfRuCg

unclemasa

We were on HNL-DFW AA8 yesterday. (7.5 Gate to Gate time)

The AAngels at HNL informed us that policy has recently changed (union was brought up) and they are no longer able to assign Row 17 from the club. It has to be assigned by the GA. In the past they were able to do T-24hours.

I was also clued in that the seats won't be given to PAX unless the flight is completely full (as ours was).

canyonleo

This on a flight scheduled for under eight hours would really be news... I hope others can post their similar situation stories (under eight hours, not a full flight, asking for row 17 both in the lounge and at the gate, etc.).

Bournetofly

Well checked in online on 10th Oct 13 for flight from Tampa, Florida to Manchester UK via Chicago. Had booked seats 17A & 17B for Chicago - Manchester. Checked in & all pre-booked seats still showing. However upon arrival at Tampa when printing out boarding passes seats had been changed to 13A & 13B. When i asked the gate agent why he stated that the plane had been changed & showed me a seat plan with NO row 17! We did get free MCE but upon boarding the plane there was a row 17 & guess who used it? Yes the flight attendants although it was only a 7.30 hr flight. Will be e-mailing AA to ask their thoughts but not holding out any hope of a helpful response. Will keep you posted.

HNL

Appreciate you reporting back, but did you really expect to keep row 17 seat assignments? You got row 13 MCE seats - what's to complain about?

Bournetofly

Well yes i did expect to keep seats that were showing as assigned when checking in online 24hrs before. Don't think thats too much to expect. What i don't expect is gate agents who lie by stating that the aircraft has been changed when they know full well it hasn't. Anyhow where does it look like i'm complaining? Just stating what happened.

seawolf

Seat assignments not guaranteed. I don't even bother with 17 anymore; just take MCE instead. Just today row 17 appeared avail on my flight to ZRH a good 12 hours to departure. When I checked again 90 min to departure, they are now blocked. Even if you nabbed it, AA will move you.

UAPremierExec

My friend and I have 17AB on MIA-LAX tomorrow... friends at AA said we should be OK, and I do "qualify" for it being Alaska MVP Gold.... so lets see!

canyonleo

Please report back!

UAPremierExec

so far, so good.... according to Sabre the other 17's are reserved and checked in. Interesting to see that row 24 is a 'hard' block.

UAPremierExec

Well we made it.. no gate dragons, and the folks in the other 17's were non-frequent fliers, so obviously someone helped them out. The purser ended up yelling at the young folks for closing the curtain ^_^

elc2414

Having flown on 763's to LHR and HNL multiple times, I have a question about row 17. How does one "score" row 17? It never shows up as available on the seat maps, and I've read on FT it is only available at the airport. Our next trip on 763's will be to LHR with return from DUS in April, and would really like to be the ones everyone is walking by and being jealous of having all that extra room! We will be leaving out of XNA to ORD to catch the flight to LHR, so would it be possible to get those seats assigned at XNA or does it have to be done at ORD? I'm thinking since we have to take a connecting flight to ORD, the extra time might be to our advantage if we can get the assignment at XNA....

austin_modern

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ameri...idated-15.html

There's a whole thread dedicated to it.

ESpen36

Row 17 is not available on longhaul flights (over 8 hours block time) because those seats are reserved for FA crewrest. The only time they make exceptions are in the case of oversales, in which case only one side of row 17 (such as AB) will be made available, while the other (HJ) will remain blocked for FAs. But most of the time, 17ABHJ are not available on IFS or midcon HFS flights.

On shorter (sub-8-hour) 763 flights, such as domestic, AFS, LFS, and possibly ex-Cali HFS flights, row 17 might be available, but ONLY by asking the gate agent moments before boarding. Club agents and ticket counter agents are no longer supposed to release those seats.

All of this info is in the other thread--mods please combine.

elc2414

Thanks for the link to the thread. I tried a search before I posted this question, but evidently my searching abilities need honing because I couldn't come up with anything dedicated to this subject.

Having said that and after reading the entire thread now, I am officially giving up any hope of scoring those seats. I'll just have to be content with what we have. At least both flights are daytime and I won't be sleeping anyway. Always come back from HNL in FC because I've never been able to sleep sitting up - just don't see how people do it!