whimsey21

I'm about to fly AY for the first time: JFK-HEL on an economy ticket booked through AA (fare class K). When I first booked I went to the website to see what seats were available- I started going through the seat selection process and then the website crashed. Although I didn't reach the point of being asked for payment, it looks like the seat assignment somehow got into the system-- the seat I had picked shows up on both on my itinerary on the AY website and when I look at my itinerary on the AA website. I also talked with a finnair phone agent who was able to see the seat assignment in her system (but who also commented that she didn't see any payment records). Does the fact that it shows up in the system mean I'm set and have lucked into a seat assignment, or is this likely to suddenly disappear? I do want the seat, so I could call and tell them I want to pay for a reservation for the seat I already appear to have reserved (I assume they can find a way to take my money). Any thoughts? (and for what it is worth, I'm only OW Ruby, so no free seat selection for me via status)

intuition

When it comes to Airline IT solutions, all bets are off...

But my guess is, if it really is like you suspect and the seat reservations are connected to a non-finalized flight reservation, then the seat reservations ought to be released at the same time as the reservation. And that ought to happen within 24 hours or so.

I remember once when there was some trouble with payment (reservation and ticketing had gone through). AY called me and asked for new payment details, and said it really was a hurry otherwise the system would release my reservation automatically.

whimsey21

Sorry- I wasn't clear. The ticket is fully booked and paid-- I went in to the website after ticketing and tried to do a seat assignment, which is when the website crashed on me. So only the seat reservation process was interrupted...

intuition

Aha, you meant before paying for the seat. Well, if it is visible on MMB, I'd guess it is yours. I don't think they will try to charge you later on.

Gnopps

So is it possible to reserve a seat on AY-operated AA-coded flight? I've got HEL-MIA/JFK-HEL booked with AA-codes and can't find any way to select seat. A year ago I was able to with the same conditions.

I'm travelling with an infant and would really like to get a bassinet reserved...

HJP

I have reserved seats for our HEL-JFK through AY MMB. The AY record locator is mentioned in AA Electronic ticket e-mail, and using that it was possible to select seats in AY website. Though the site says that it's in some kind of error mode, the selected seats can still be seen in my trip review.

whimsey21

The AY site always tells me that my booking is in an"invalid state" as well- I'm guessing that is due to booking through aa. I'm wondering if it will let me check in at the 36 hour mark, or if it will choke for the same reason and I'll have to wait and check in through aa at the 24 hour mark.

HJP

The "invalid state" was same as in my case, but I managed to get seat allocations by following the first link for adding TSA information and selecting seats through the following page that opens up. But for sure, the site is not acting like it should with these AA-reservations.

Finnair check-in: Please note that check-in for flights to the USA opens 24 hours before departure.

whimsey21

The flight I'm concerned about is actually leaving the US (JFK-HEL) -- am I correct in thinking that one has the 36 hour in-advance check-in?

Courmisch

At least 11 months ago, JFK-HEL had 36 hours check-in (with free Y seating in mini-J :-o)

whimsey21

Great! Thanks for the tip - I'll look out to see if the mini cabin is available. My main concern is always legroom, so that would be a huge bonus.

HJP

Note-to-self: This information in AY website is incorrect, OLCI for AY5 opened 36 hours before scheduled departure time. Unluckily there were some issues with our ticketing and we just missed the unoccupied Eco Comfort seats...

whimsey21

To answer my own question, for future readers in the same situation, the seat I had been preassigned without payment was selected for me when I checked in online at the 36 hour mark. Luckily a bulkhead seat was open as well, so I grabbed that as instead and am now happily ensconced with lots of legroom. No mini J cabin on this flight...

Gnopps

I called AY in Sweden (not wanting to use the Finnish pay-number) and was able to purchase a seat reservation for my flights. They asked for my social security number (personnummer) to process the payment, something I found strange and was hesitant to give.

Bassinets apparently couldn't be reserved but would be handed out on the flight (?).