Choosing seats: online check-in vs airport kiosk
 

I will be flying Independence Air for the first time this week on an A319. Unfortunately not that many seats are available for pre-assigning right now. Do they open up more seats for online check-in (like front rows and exit rows) or do they only do that at the airport? Will checking-in online block me from using the airport kiosks? Thanks!

Did you call and try to book a seat instead of trying online. That might help, but also I think they open up more seats as your flight is near. Also, some cancellations happen which could enable you to get a seat in the exit row. But I would call and see if you can grab one right now!

So exit rows (which seem to show occupied on my flight) are simply not bookable online? I guess I assumed that the seat map I was seeing online is the same that is available to agents (like most other airlines). I will try to call them, but the hold times have been ridiculous.

I flew from IAD-LAS last night and found better seat options available at the kiosk then online. I recommend you change your seats online to something you like now and when you check in at the kiosk move to the better seat. I was able to snag an exit row.

That's exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks.

Also, does anyone know if online check-in prevents one from using kiosks? I'd like to check in online in case something happens (like getting stuck in traffic), but would like to have the option to improve my seat with the kiosk. I know when other airlines began online checkin, you could not use airport kiosks if you checked in online.

You're allowed to re-checkin at the kiosk in IAD and change your seats, so I think you'd be able to do that at the main kiosks as well but I've never tried.

I did notice that the exit row seats on my A319 flight recently seemed to suddenly become available 30 days prior to the flight, though I don't know if that was something about my specific flight or if that's a normal policy. They were completely booked before that but opened up most of them 29-30 days before (could have also been some cancellations).