Hello,

This is not frequent flyer/dividend miles related, but I'm hoping you can help me. It is related to US Airways and their booking/seat assignment procedures. Has anyone heard of an airline requiring a passenger who buys multiple tickets with one reservation to call and request that their seats are neighboring?

I booked a cruise through a travel agent with airfare purchased through the cruiseline. I was told my travel agent would receive the flight information approximately 60 days before the flight. Sure enough, I contacted him then and received my flight information. I have two tickets to fly from CHS to CLT, then CLT to MIA with one reservation number.

The travel agent tells me it is my responsibility to request seat assignments. I look up the flights online and see that the plane is not currently full and that the plane is laid out with three seats on each side and one central aisle. Since the flights are relatively short and my husband and I don't travel enough to know which are the "good seats", we decided not to call to request specific seats. Also, he prefers aisle seats and I prefer window seats and we figure this way we'll get one or the other and not have to decide who "wins".

Fast forward six weeks. Two weeks before the flight I called US Airways to ask for our seat assignments. I'm just curious to see where we'll be. At this point I am told that we do not have seat assignments and that there are only two seats left on the plane and they are not together. What!?! I was told these are popular flights and I should have called sooner and all I can do now is check in online 24 hours before the flight and hope something opens up.

Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would need to call and request that my two tickets be used for neighboring seats. I don't care where the seats are - front, back, middle, left, right, whatever. I just want to be sitting next to my husband and not wedged between two strangers. Shouldn't their reservation system have some method of assigning seats for people who don't call with requests and shouldn't that system keep multiple fliers on the same reservation together? As I said, I'm not a sophisticated traveler, though. Was this a faulty assumption or is US Airways jerking me around? The flight wasn't full when I booked, so that shouldn't have been an issue. Does the fact that I booked through a cruise line have any bearing? Is there anything I can do?

Thanks for any and all insight, information and assistance.

The travel agent tells me it is my responsibility to request seat assignments.

The travel agent's "value add" here is breath taking...

You were told the truth by the airline. Airlines don't assign all seats automatically. There is a pecking order and infrequent travelers on excursion fares are pretty much at the end of the line.

Not much you can do now, that's what can happen when you book cruiseline air. Your cruise agent should have called as soon as your flights were assigned or you should have called and did it yourself.

But that's to late now, consider it a learning experience. Only thing you can do now at this time is wait it out until you get to the airport, I doubt even 24 hours ahead of time online you will find 2 seats together.

What you should do is when you get to the airport ask the person at the gate that you would like to sit next to your husband. Most likely the gate agent will ask one of the single passengers to move to one of your seats 2 seats, that's the only chance you will be sitting together.

Most of the times they can make it happen, just be sure to get to the gate EARLY so the gate agent knows well ahead of time and has time to ask people to move.

Good luck and enjoy your cruise!

Jimbo3

if you post your flight details, perhaps one of us can also check availability of seats, including any that may be blocked for preferred travelers to give you an idea of your changes of snagging 2 together if you check in online 24 hrs prior.

Actually the gate agent is very unlikely to move anyone. That's about as rare as hen's teeth unless there's a handicap or very small child involved. They will advise you to "ask around" and broker a deal yourself. If you have two middle seats you haven't got much to work with -- these trades work best when you have an aisle or a window to offer to someone who is stuck in the middle.

Thank you everyone for your input.

I figured at this point there really wasn't going to be anything I could do to get the seats changed, but I did want to know if this was a normal policy so I can prevent this from happening in the future. I also sent an email to US Airways asking that they add something to this effect in their FAQ on seat assignments, because I can't be the only naive traveler who believes that if you purchase 2 tickets, you'll automatically have two seats together.

Based on what I've seen on Travelocity and Expedia, both flights are very, very full so the chances of getting a seat change are extremely slim. Because the flights are so full and I don't have an actual seat assignment, do I need to worry about getting bumped?

The flights are:
5/1/05
Flight 895 from CHS to CLT, Dep 7:45, Arr 8:40 and
Flight 1067 from CLT to MIA, Dep 9:45, Arr 11:45

Thank you again,

Melanie

On full flights you can always worry about being bumped, but I don't think having a seat necessarily makes you more likely to be bumped. I hope you booked an early enough flight that even if you take a later flight through (ie a later CHS-CLT or CLT-MIA flight) you can still make your cruise. If not, just hope for the best, there's really nothing you can do other than see if you can go a day earlier (and pay the possibly higher fare and change fees)...

I missed the fact that the flights haven't occurred yet.

Use online check-in 24 hours out. That might enable you to grab two seats that are together if people get upgraded and seats are released.

Also call at the upgrade windows -- 7 days, 3 days and the day before departure. As upgrades clear seats may open up. It doesn't hurt to keep trying.

The flights are:
5/1/05
Flight 895 from CHS to CLT, Dep 7:45, Arr 8:40 and
Flight 1067 from CLT to MIA, Dep 9:45, Arr 11:45

Thank you again,

Melanie

The flights are sold out in coach (maybe over-booked), take those middle seats. However, the flight CLT-MIA is still showing F9 (9 seats for sale in First) and the CHS-CLT is showing F2. Thus, I would definitely check for new seats at the 7/3/1 day windows as Tom suggested, and also make sure to check in online at 24 hours before your flight.

Assume that an aisle seat opens up at the 7-day window as someone is upgraded - take it! Then you can trade your other middle with the middle next to the aisle when you are on the plane.

CLT-MIA still shows 2 middle seats open
CHS-CLT shows 1 middle seat.
Advise you take those for now - call them.