upinsmoke

While I agree with the first part, I don't with the second part. I think Preferred seats should be held back until before boarding, when the GA can assign them to those that are checked in but with no seat assignments.

I do a lot of same-day-change and stand-by flying (client meetings end early/cancel dinner plans, etc), and it's a definite plus to not be stuck in a middle seat in the back because all the good seats were assigned at T-24.

fliesdelta

My Platinum status will expire 2/29.

If I purchase tickets now for travel in late March, and pick preferred seats, will the seat assignments "stick" (barring any equipment changes, perhaps)?

mikelat

There is a good chance they will stay as-is. But any schedule/equipment changes will likely bump you out of them. Nothing is guaranteed though.

dcipjr

I'm not nearly as frequent of a flyer as I was before — I've gone from 1 or 2 transcons every month to 1 or 2 per year. I used to be platinum on US, pre-merger.

Even with no status, I was used to logging on at the 24 hour mark for check-in, and switching to an exit row seat for free.

I just had my first American flight since US flights ended this past fall, and when I went to check in at the 24 hour mark, I found that changing to an exit row still required paying extra for MCE.

Am I correct that without status, it is now impossible to get an exit row seat for free, unless a GA assigns you to one?

DenverBrian

That's correct. American, just like UA and DL, places exit rows in the MCE/E+/EC category. Without status, you can't snag those seats without paying extra.

taseas

AA 104 in the Summer of 2016, looking specifically at rows 19-20. Since those are 3x3x3, are they wider seats like MCE, but less legroom?

Flight is showing as a Boeing 777-200...this is the JFK-LHR flight.

Thanks.

JDiver

Preferred seats are standard seats (unless they're exit or bulkhead row seats, in which case they're usually narrower).

I'm sorry, but I'm not really going to look up AA. 104 to determine what aircraft is used.

FWAAA

I don't believe that there's any definitive evidence that the 3-3-3 MCE or, by extension, the preferred seats immediately aft of MCE (like rows 19-20), are any wider than the 3-4-3 main cabin seats.

On the 77W, the 3-3-3 MCE seats are, in fact, wider than the 3-4-3 main cabin seats, but I don't believe anyone has measured the MCE/preferred 3-3-3 77D seats to establish their width. And seatguru is notoriously unreliable, so I would take any measurements it publishes with a grain of salt.

taseas

Thanks for the reply. I guess I was hoping that the preferred seats in the 3x3x3 config were a little wider, but without the extra legroom of MCE.

Thanks again.

skitch23

This might be better suited in a different thread, but this was the best one I could find.

I booked a RT to Hawaii last February for a flight this January (less than 2 weeks from now). In mid November I received an update saying that my flight times had changed... it was only by a few minutes, so no big deal there. I logged into my reservation at the beginning of December to verify everything was as it should be and it was. We were still in the seats I had selected in February. I just logged in today again to look at something else and see that my seat assignments for both AA legs have been changed... not only have they been changed, but now my family has been split up and I wasn't even notified.

We were originally in 8B,8C,8D on both flights (trying to gain access to the little cut out in the first row of the bulkhead so we could stretch our feet out a bit). Now we are in 8A,8B,20F on PHX-LAX and 8E,8F,19A on LIH-PHX. What could have possibly happened in the last two weeks to boot us from our seats? Why would they split us up and not find 3 seats together (20D-F & 19A-C are empty)?

I don't care so much about riding in the middle of the plane on a short hop like PHX-LAX but I do care where I sit on a freaking 6 hour flight!! It's this kind of nonsense that makes me sad to be AA Gold.

RogerD408

It seems anytime AA does an equipment change, even if of the same type, they scramble the seats. Just curious if everyone was on the same PNR or was one separate? Programs should be able to try to keep everyone together, but if on different PNRs, that would be tough. But as mentioned many times, AA does not guarantee seats, so be thankful you are getting to the destination (yeah, doesn't sound convincing when I say it either).

One trick I've heard others do is to set a seat alert on FT for your seat and then if it does come available you get notified. Not sure if that would work if they reassign someone to your seat before they do the sweep. I would imagine a real cluster **** if AA tried to send notices for any/all changes made, regardless how comforting that might be.

skitch23

Yep, everyone was on the same PNR which baffles me. I just spoke with a CSR and she couldn't even see that 19A-C were open on her end, so I just changed it on my own. I sent an email to AA just to see if they have any valid reasoning behind the switch but I doubt they'll send me anything other than a standard cookie cutter response. I'm going to set up a seat alert and see if I have any luck moving closer to the front.

Shareholder

The other day I gave my sister and her friend a pair of SWUs to upgrade their outbound flight to Ecuador. When the upgrades cleared, I went online to get them seats to ensure they were close together (no pairs left). I then checked their return, and seeing the front cabin pretty much full, decided not to request upgrades. However, I also saw that I could get them the first bulkhead row/pair of seats on their 757 for $0. I selected those of seats and no payment was requested.

My sister has not status, and though I used the aa.com site from my laptop so the cookies ID'd me, I did not sign into my account. So wondering if the system was tricked up by my ExecPlat status/cookies, or some other glitch occured that made these preferred seats free instead of the normal non-elite charge.

Any clues what may have happened? Or are these seats free for everyone on international flights, which I doubt. (The fare class was high, but not full Y).

JJJJust

So, as a non-elite I seem to have been assigned a "preferred seat" at check-in without payment and while other "regular" seats are available. Is this a normal thing?

MiamiAirport Formerly NY George

A preferred seat is not necessarily a MCE seat. Chances there were only preferred seats left so you lucked out.