t325

Not sure if this belongs in the Qantas or AA forum, mods, please move if I chose the wrong one.

I booked the cheapest economy fare with Qantas. The return trip is MEL-LAX-STL, the LAX-STL leg being on AA obviously. When I went to select my seats, Qantas let me choose an MCE seat on the AA leg - Seat 7A on an MD80 that AA charges $61 for if I go to their website to just book the LAX-STL flight. Will I actually receive this seat selection, or is it going to be changed on me when I check in? AA still shows the seat as available, but I just made the selection a few minutes before, so it could just be that it takes a bit to update.

Additionally, my outgoing flight is STL-DFW-SYD, and Qantas does not let me select a seat on STL-DFW. I could choose a window or aisle preference, but not an actual seat. Not that I care too much, being an hour and a half flight, but it is interesting. STL-DFW has an AA flight number, LAX-STL has a QF flight number on my itinerary, maybe that makes a difference?

Dave Noble

maybe it is due to the QF flight number and QF not distinguishing between the seats

To select a seat for the AA flight number, if you phone AA or QF and ask for the AA record locator, you can use that on the AA site to select seats for that flight

TPJ

Unless you are oneWorld Sapphire or Emerald, MCE is not be assigned for free. I think AA will cancel your seat assignment unless payment is received within a certain period of time.

Dave Noble

I doubt it given that the passenger is booked on the QF codeshare flight number and has selected seats based on QF seat availability

madrooster

You will find that seat selection won't correctly stick. It's a bug with QF MMB's seating selection where if you select a seat that you aren't entitled to, it won't stick and it won't tell you that either. QF's MMB should obey the seat blocking and show these seats as unavailable but that may be an issue between Sabre (AA) and Amadeus (QF).

You can confirm this by calling QF and asking for the AA record locator and using this to select a seat directly on the AA site.

If you pick a seat that you can normally freely select on AA's site, then the selection works fine.

Beware that you will have two AA record locators - one for the QF codeshare on AA, and one for the flight that is not a QF codeshare.

t325

Ugh, I just called Qantas to get the AA record locator, ended up speaking to a rep in Timbuktu with more static on the line than the first radio transmission from Neil Armstrong on the moon. She had absolutely no idea what I was talking about and after about 5 minutes of dead silence on the line while she was "looking for it" - which I imagine was really her playing Solitaire to see who would give up first, she told me to call AA.

Is there something else I should be asking for? Two people here said "AA record locators" so that's exactly what I asked for, and she was completely clueless. I guess just call back at another time and try my luck with a different rep?

Dave Noble

Phone AA ; speak to agent and give person the AA flight details and ask for the booking reference. Should be quite painless that way

TPJ

Ask him/her to do RL/enter/ entry (RL = Record Locator) - AA SABRE Record Locator/reservation number should then be displayed, full Amadeus User Guide here: http://www.softsuitcase.com/Sabre/Amadeus_Guide.pdf

TPJ

Even if they are not canceled they will show up in DCS (Departure Control System = check-in system) as an unfulfilled ancillary and kiosk/agent will request payment. My suggestion would be to choose a decent free seats rather than hope paid seat is offered on complimentary basis. AA flights are so full these days that OP might get a middle seat next to the lavatory, if tries to play the game...