Aug 8, 2016, 12:26 pm
Last edit by: Prospero
Seat issues are not uncommon between finding, holding, booking and during the interim between booking and flying. There may be various reasons this can happen.
Seat held, changed or gone at booking: One member theorizes a held seat may be taken by a positive purchase by another passenger. But it could be due to another factor listed below.
Disability designated seat: Some seats are assigned preferentially to people with disabilities, and their companions, under the Air Carrier Access Act. Even some non-disability seats may be required for a person with a disability in some conditions.
"American blocks a limited number of seats on each aircraft to accommodate customers who identify themselves as having a qualified disability. Adjacent seats are provided, under certain circumstances, for customers with disabilities who must travel with a companion for assistance."
Flight nearly full: Once a flight has reached certain capacity guidelines, no further seats will be assigned. This leaves airport staff room to deal with the needs of persons with disabilities, no shows, delayed connections, etc.
Boarding pass scan fail: Sometimes a boarding pass scan fails (listen for the "Beep!") and your seat may register as no show, so another, later Passenger or standby gets your seat too.
Equipment change: AA Information Technology's very inefficient at these. You may have selected a Main Cabin Extra as an elite, yet a change from one aircraft subtype with differently numbered seat rows to another and you may find yourself moved from your carefully selected MCE aisle seat to a middle seat in one of the last rows. Aircraft substitutions from one type to another (77W to 772 or v. v.) or even "downgauging" (767 to 757) may occur - this will generally result in unanticipated seat changes.
Equipment malfunction: A seat may not be available on a specific flight because it was reported as malfunctioning and has not been repaired yet.
Crew rest seat: Some seats are contractually required to be set aside for resting crew, on flights of specific lengths.
Federal Air Marshal ("FAM"): FAMs are generally accommodated in the highest class of service in seats that are often popular with passengers. These accommodations may occur at any time, and by law AA must both comply and not reveal to passengers the reason for their seat loss or change. That's correct: AA is prohibited by law from telling you your seat was given to a FAM, so you will only hear implausible and made up reasons of how you lost your seat.
Other: AA might be required to seat a passenger with a small child together, displacing another passenger. There may be other reasons as well.
It is suggested you regularly check your itineraries to deal with route and flight changes (often unannounced) and seat changes (always unannounced).
Link to thread detailing use of Twitter for contact with AA (some have used for seat loss remediation)
Seat assignments Link
- We make every effort to ensure you get your chosen seat, but seat assignments are not guaranteed.
- We reserve the right to change seats for operational, safety or security reasons.
- You must check in at least 30 minutes before departure and be at the gate 15 minutes before departure or you may lose your seat.
Disability designated seat: Some seats are assigned preferentially to people with disabilities, and their companions, under the Air Carrier Access Act. Even some non-disability seats may be required for a person with a disability in some conditions.
"American blocks a limited number of seats on each aircraft to accommodate customers who identify themselves as having a qualified disability. Adjacent seats are provided, under certain circumstances, for customers with disabilities who must travel with a companion for assistance."
Flight nearly full: Once a flight has reached certain capacity guidelines, no further seats will be assigned. This leaves airport staff room to deal with the needs of persons with disabilities, no shows, delayed connections, etc.
Boarding pass scan fail: Sometimes a boarding pass scan fails (listen for the "Beep!") and your seat may register as no show, so another, later Passenger or standby gets your seat too.
Equipment change: AA Information Technology's very inefficient at these. You may have selected a Main Cabin Extra as an elite, yet a change from one aircraft subtype with differently numbered seat rows to another and you may find yourself moved from your carefully selected MCE aisle seat to a middle seat in one of the last rows. Aircraft substitutions from one type to another (77W to 772 or v. v.) or even "downgauging" (767 to 757) may occur - this will generally result in unanticipated seat changes.
Equipment malfunction: A seat may not be available on a specific flight because it was reported as malfunctioning and has not been repaired yet.
Crew rest seat: Some seats are contractually required to be set aside for resting crew, on flights of specific lengths.
Federal Air Marshal ("FAM"): FAMs are generally accommodated in the highest class of service in seats that are often popular with passengers. These accommodations may occur at any time, and by law AA must both comply and not reveal to passengers the reason for their seat loss or change. That's correct: AA is prohibited by law from telling you your seat was given to a FAM, so you will only hear implausible and made up reasons of how you lost your seat.
Passengers seated in the front cabin (or front of the cabin in single cabin and class aircraft) may occasionally find themselves displaced from their seat without any notice or comment, displaced to a less favored seat or even downgraded to the next lowest class of service. Contacting AA may provide answers as to "why" that don't make sense, multiple or non-specific reasons. These will often mean your seat has been requisitioned by a Federal Air Marshal (FAM).
Q. Why won't AA tell me why I lost my seat?
AA is prohibited by law from telling you your seat was requisitioned by a FAM or otherwise revealing there is a FAM on board or where they might be seated. FAMs are supposed to blend in with passengers. At best, you may be told "it's a security issue"; that's usually a confirmation of a FAM seat requisition.
Q. Can I get "unFAMed"?
There is no way to recover your original seat if it has been requisitioned by a FAM; you have no recourse other than to work with the AA system to seek a better available seat, or even reaccommodation on another flight with available and similar seating.
Q. Can I get compensated for losing my seat?
You can request fare differences, compensation and certainly get upgrade instruments reinstated if you were displaced to a lower class of service. You will not be eligible for compensation if your seat was changed within the same class of service (even if you are now separated from travel companions), however, as if you book a specific seat, a specific seat is not guaranteed by American Airlines.
Q. What is a FAM, anyway?
A Federal Air Marshal is a specially trained plain clothes anti-terrorism law enforcement officer of the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS), "a United States federal law enforcement agency under the supervision of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)." (Wikipedia)
Q. What is a FAMs specific job?
"The Air Marshal Service is meant to promote confidence in civil aviation by effectively deploying federal air marshals (FAMs) to detect, deter, and defeat hostile acts targeting the United States." (TSA)
Q. Why won't AA tell me why I lost my seat?
AA is prohibited by law from telling you your seat was requisitioned by a FAM or otherwise revealing there is a FAM on board or where they might be seated. FAMs are supposed to blend in with passengers. At best, you may be told "it's a security issue"; that's usually a confirmation of a FAM seat requisition.
Q. Can I get "unFAMed"?
There is no way to recover your original seat if it has been requisitioned by a FAM; you have no recourse other than to work with the AA system to seek a better available seat, or even reaccommodation on another flight with available and similar seating.
Q. Can I get compensated for losing my seat?
You can request fare differences, compensation and certainly get upgrade instruments reinstated if you were displaced to a lower class of service. You will not be eligible for compensation if your seat was changed within the same class of service (even if you are now separated from travel companions), however, as if you book a specific seat, a specific seat is not guaranteed by American Airlines.
Q. What is a FAM, anyway?
A Federal Air Marshal is a specially trained plain clothes anti-terrorism law enforcement officer of the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS), "a United States federal law enforcement agency under the supervision of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)." (Wikipedia)
Q. What is a FAMs specific job?
"The Air Marshal Service is meant to promote confidence in civil aviation by effectively deploying federal air marshals (FAMs) to detect, deter, and defeat hostile acts targeting the United States." (TSA)
It is suggested you regularly check your itineraries to deal with route and flight changes (often unannounced) and seat changes (always unannounced).
Link to thread detailing use of Twitter for contact with AA (some have used for seat loss remediation)
AA seat assignment loss / change / glitch / problem / FAM (master thread)
May 5, 2016, 1:59 am
#46
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Orange County, CA, USA
Programs: AA (Life Plat), Marriott (Life Titanium) and every other US program
Posts: 6,411
To be clear, Those are just the first few threads that came up on an advanced thread search. There are many more.
I've also never had AA change one of my seats out from under me, but anecdotally it seems to be a rather regular occurrence based on the sheer number of threads I've seen on the topic over the years.
I've also never had AA change one of my seats out from under me, but anecdotally it seems to be a rather regular occurrence based on the sheer number of threads I've seen on the topic over the years.
#1 - change of equipment per the OP
#2 - apparent computer error at booking
#3 - Weight & balance as stated in the title
#4 - Not flying on AA, even though booked through AA
#5 - Told it was EXP (which would support your proposition), but review of the thread (and anecdotal information from a few hundred EXP's here who don't claim they have the power to take the [occupied] seat of their choice would tend to indicate otherwise
I will stand by my statement. There is no good support for the proposition that AA is worse than any other airline about taking away assigned seats without a reason. It is almost always: equipment change; FAM; disabled person.
May 5, 2016, 2:06 am
#47
Suspended
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Canada, USA, Europe
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 31,452
In the grand scheme of things, is this really a reason to generate all this anxiety and become an unhappy passenger? If you were moved from 1A to 25B I could understand, but an aisle/window swap in F? Come on.
May 5, 2016, 5:49 am
#48
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: jfk area
Programs: AA platinum; 2MM AA, Delta Diamond, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 10,291
PAID FC, one might be annoyed if seat were tinkered with(?)
If this were a flight to LAS, maybe the seat chosen was his LUCKY seat...
[I seem to do better at slots on flights to LAS when I see HOOVER DAM from my window seat.
]
If this were a flight to LAS, maybe the seat chosen was his LUCKY seat...
[I seem to do better at slots on flights to LAS when I see HOOVER DAM from my window seat.
]
May 5, 2016, 7:33 am
#49
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: DFW
Programs: AA EP 3MM, UA Silver, Bonvoy LT TIT, Hyatt Explorist, HH Silver, Caesars PLT
Posts: 7,259
May 8, 2016, 9:55 am
#51
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: MSN
Programs: AA, BAEC Gold
Posts: 3,926
I booked 2H+J on a 2-2-2 767 a while back. In the meantime the equipment changed to 1-2-1 seating and we were allocated 2+3J. This was still true at OLCI yesterday but today we were back to 2-2-2 and still in 2+3J, however 2H was available. I thought that I had to call up to change it but the agent told me that I could still do it myself (and that it was difficult for her). To my surprise I was able to change seats (about 7 hours before flight time) and AA.com just sent me straight to the print boarding passes screen.
May 13, 2016, 10:14 am
#52
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: NYC-BNA
Programs: Lifetime Plat/4mm miles, Starwood, HiltonHonors
Posts: 657
website won't show FC seatmap (to merge)
Been trying to book BNA-LAS for two days. Booking outbound in coach and return in FC. When I hit continue, I get a come-on screen asking if I want to upgrade. Since I've already indicated I want to buy FC for the return, I just hit continue. When presented with the seat map, it won't show FC seats, only coach. Called customer service, they cannot explain. Anyone else having this issue?
(I did also try accepting the FC come-on, but it just adds FC to the outbound.)
(I did also try accepting the FC come-on, but it just adds FC to the outbound.)
May 21, 2016, 4:23 pm
#53
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 989
Hi guys, quick question. I had a confirmed SWU J seat DFW-NRT for 3 months, since feb 15. When I checked in from my connection at LGA, I had boarding pass in hand with 8H, aisle seat. When I tried to board, it beeps and I was changed to 12E (middle seat). As I have a medical condition and needs to go use the restroom a lot, this caused a great deal of inconvenience and discomfort as I didn't want to bother my seatmates and just suffered through it as much as possible. When I asked the gate agent why my seat was changed, I was told that they made a mistake and gave my seat to someone that had a similar name to me. When I walked by the seat, I noticed it was an asian women, I don't even know how that happens, did they check her in instead of me and then realized their mistake and let her keep the seat? Is this basis for a complaint? Should I even bother?
Last edited by babypuwet; May 21, 2016 at 4:26 pm Reason: info
May 21, 2016, 7:28 pm
#54
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: South Florida
Programs: AA LTG (EXP), Hilton Silver (Dia), Marriott LTP (PP), SPG LTG (P) > MPG LTPP
Posts: 11,329
Hi guys, quick question. I had a confirmed SWU J seat DFW-NRT for 3 months, since feb 15. When I checked in from my connection at LGA, I had boarding pass in hand with 8H, aisle seat. When I tried to board, it beeps and I was changed to 12E (middle seat). As I have a medical condition and needs to go use the restroom a lot, this caused a great deal of inconvenience and discomfort as I didn't want to bother my seatmates and just suffered through it as much as possible. When I asked the gate agent why my seat was changed, I was told that they made a mistake and gave my seat to someone that had a similar name to me. When I walked by the seat, I noticed it was an asian women, I don't even know how that happens, did they check her in instead of me and then realized their mistake and let her keep the seat? Is this basis for a complaint? Should I even bother?
Do report this to AA so they can look into it to see who did what and maybe keep it from happening to others. You might have asked one of your neighbors, they may have been willing to give up the aisle to keep from having someone always interrupting them. Most times a polite request will be granted.
May 21, 2016, 10:33 pm
#55
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Orange County, CA, USA
Programs: AA (Life Plat), Marriott (Life Titanium) and every other US program
Posts: 6,411
May 22, 2016, 4:58 am
#56
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: South Florida
Programs: AA LTG (EXP), Hilton Silver (Dia), Marriott LTP (PP), SPG LTG (P) > MPG LTPP
Posts: 11,329
That's fair. I was looking at it if the OP is going to be getting up often as it is, then that middle seat would be like an isle seat by not having to crawl over him when I want to get up. But that's my thinking. I guess maybe too many would be focused on being on the isle.
Jul 18, 2016, 3:17 pm
#57
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: SFO
Programs: UA MMGold, HH Diamond, Marriott Plat
Posts: 1,263
Booked an AA ticket, called today to change the frequent flier number to BA so the trip can be credited to my BA account.
After the call, I saw some more preferred seats are opened up and want to make a change. I clicked the new seat selection fine but the seat did not get changed after hit the "submit" button.
The new seat I selected appears to be available and free of charge for Ruby members.
Tried the mobile version, same issue. Thanks for any suggestions before calling customer service.
After the call, I saw some more preferred seats are opened up and want to make a change. I clicked the new seat selection fine but the seat did not get changed after hit the "submit" button.
The new seat I selected appears to be available and free of charge for Ruby members.
Tried the mobile version, same issue. Thanks for any suggestions before calling customer service.
Jul 30, 2016, 6:01 pm
#58
Join Date: Jul 2016
Programs: AA
Posts: 69
seat taken away by AA
So I purchased three seats in first class back in February 2016 through an AA representative on the telephone. I only did this because i purchased one additional seat using reward miles and wasn't sure how to do it online and wanted to make sure my wife, 2 daughters and i sat together on the flight.
The departure date is August 13 and i just learned that one of my seats, for my adult daughter, was combined with my seat (we are now both listed as having the same seat number). The initial email confirmation shows the correct seating arrangement, it's only now when i went online to chose my "meal" (after receiving an email to do so) that i see the seating issue.
When i called questioning this the online system now shows her seat as unassigned as there are no available seats on that flight in first class. The representative said she has no authority to remove someone else from their seat to re-assign my daughter to the seat she was initially assigned to and we had paid for.
Also when i purchased these seats there were plenty of open seats at that time. The supervisor told me that she can only place my entire family on a connecting flight to fix the issue.
I'm hoping someone can help to point me in the right direction as to who to call to resolve this issue. My daughter has a terminal respiratory issue which is why we fly first class and chose this flight because it is the only non-stop flight to Turks and Caicos. The entire trip is actually booked around the fact that AA only flies non-stop on Saturdays.
Thank you for any help you can offer.
The departure date is August 13 and i just learned that one of my seats, for my adult daughter, was combined with my seat (we are now both listed as having the same seat number). The initial email confirmation shows the correct seating arrangement, it's only now when i went online to chose my "meal" (after receiving an email to do so) that i see the seating issue.
When i called questioning this the online system now shows her seat as unassigned as there are no available seats on that flight in first class. The representative said she has no authority to remove someone else from their seat to re-assign my daughter to the seat she was initially assigned to and we had paid for.
Also when i purchased these seats there were plenty of open seats at that time. The supervisor told me that she can only place my entire family on a connecting flight to fix the issue.
I'm hoping someone can help to point me in the right direction as to who to call to resolve this issue. My daughter has a terminal respiratory issue which is why we fly first class and chose this flight because it is the only non-stop flight to Turks and Caicos. The entire trip is actually booked around the fact that AA only flies non-stop on Saturdays.
Thank you for any help you can offer.
Last edited by bgmspd; Jul 30, 2016 at 7:24 pm
Jul 30, 2016, 6:55 pm
#59
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: NYC
Posts: 9,118
Do not worry. This happens all the time and there will be someone willing to move if you explain your situation. A seat may also open up in the mean time so check, check in on-line and ask again at the gate. If that fails it will be resolved on board.