Priceline seat assignments?

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  #1  
in31122 , Jan 9, 2004 10:12 am
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I've just booked a weekend trip in early February using Priceline. I tried calling US reservations just now to change my seat assignments to "preferred" seating, but the agent said that was not permissible because I was on a Priceline ticket. I pointed out that I am a UA Premier Exec member, but she said that doesn't matter because she can't input the FF number into a Priceline record, thus those seats are not available to me. It's not the end of the world if I can't change, because the flights are not particularly long, but I do prefer to sit towards the front of the cabin if possible. Is this agent correct, or did she feed me inaccurate information? For what it's worth, she sounded fairly experienced.
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  #2  
in31122 , Jan 9, 2004 3:42 pm
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Just a friendly bump...does anyone have an answer? It seems silly that just because it's a Priceline ticket US won't seat me further forward in the same cabin.
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  #3  
dsingerUNC , Jan 9, 2004 4:56 pm
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I think she is correct, as the system won't allow them to give your special benefits to you without the FF number in there.

For example, I can't book exit row seating in advance or queue upgrades without my CP number in. The computer won't release the seats.
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  #4  
tekelberry , Jan 11, 2004 1:21 am
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That's correct. Priceline works for airlines just like hotels: NO frequent traveler points or benefits.
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  #5  
MikeLaw , Jan 11, 2004 1:42 am
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Quote:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by tekelberry:
That's correct. Priceline works for airlines just like hotels: NO frequent traveler points or benefits.</font>
My experience is that Hyatt accrues points and benefits on PL stays and Hilton sometimes gives stay credit and points for incidentals charged to the room.
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  #6  
BillMorrow , Jan 11, 2004 7:03 am
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Didn't Seigel say several months ago that US would no longer give seats to 'opaque' sellers like Priceline? I seem to remember him saying that.
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  #7  
Beckles , Jan 11, 2004 8:44 am
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Quote:
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by BillMorrow:
Didn't Seigel say several months ago that US would no longer give seats to 'opaque' sellers like Priceline? I seem to remember him saying that.</font>
He said they were going to lessen their dependence on them I believe. Note that I don't think it would be advisable for any airline to pull out from such channels totally, worst case you'd list inventory at the same or just a few dollars less than is available through other channels. Priceline and Hotwire do so much marketing, you'd probably end up selling a few seats through them even if the prices were the same as through other channels.
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