Preferred seats for OW Sapphire?
Nov 30, 2014, 11:44 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum
Posts: 3,702
Preferred seats for OW Sapphire?
Is it complementary? According to OW policy, we get "Preferred seating (where offered)".
My AB (Gold) # is on the reservation, but preferred seats are not showing (I do see them on a dummy booking, so they are available). Status is new but AA.com already recognizes it.
My AB (Gold) # is on the reservation, but preferred seats are not showing (I do see them on a dummy booking, so they are available). Status is new but AA.com already recognizes it.
Dec 1, 2014, 10:19 am
#2
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: COS
Programs: AA EXP, MR Silver
Posts: 148
OW ruby, sapphire and emerald are supposed to have "access to preferred or pre-reserved seating" on AA according to AA's benefits chart here: http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/pr...r-benefits.jsp.
Since anyone can access those seats at extra cost already, I presume the complimentary to be implied. It was for my US DM Gold preferred on my recent trips, though that may not be a valid comparison to AB sapphire, given the merger. A call to AA may be in order to verify.
Since anyone can access those seats at extra cost already, I presume the complimentary to be implied. It was for my US DM Gold preferred on my recent trips, though that may not be a valid comparison to AB sapphire, given the merger. A call to AA may be in order to verify.
Dec 1, 2014, 10:39 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum
Posts: 3,702
OW ruby, sapphire and emerald are supposed to have "access to preferred or pre-reserved seating" on AA according to AA's benefits chart here: http://www.aa.com/i18n/AAdvantage/pr...r-benefits.jsp.
Dec 1, 2014, 10:59 am
#4
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: COS
Programs: AA EXP, MR Silver
Posts: 148
Since the airlines are still run on separate systems, AA.com recognizing your OW sapphire is no guarantee that the US website will, too. In my experience, it can take over a week for status changes on one site to be updated on the other.
So you *should* be able to select complimentary preferred seats on US, but if you can't, the US website must not yet be recognizing your new status.
Dec 1, 2014, 11:46 am
#5
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Philadephia, PA
Programs: AA Platinum, Marriott Titanium/Lifetime Titanium, Hyatt Globalist, UA Silver, Hilton Gold, Hertz 5*
Posts: 477
Here’s the generic warning US elites usually end up giving when talking about seats: there are preferred seats which should be available to elites and then there are “choice” seats that everyone, even Chairman’s Preferred (US’ Emerald level elite) pay for. No actual difference in seat pitch or comfort, just location in the cabin.
Also haven’t found any documentation that officially says US offers this benefit to OW elites in a quick search of the US website but pretty sure they do follow standard OW policy in allowing access to the seats.
Also haven’t found any documentation that officially says US offers this benefit to OW elites in a quick search of the US website but pretty sure they do follow standard OW policy in allowing access to the seats.
Dec 1, 2014, 12:48 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum
Posts: 3,702
Here’s the generic warning US elites usually end up giving when talking about seats: there are preferred seats which should be available to elites and then there are “choice” seats that everyone, even Chairman’s Preferred (US’ Emerald level elite) pay for. No actual difference in seat pitch or comfort, just location in the cabin.
Any non-US, non-AA OW S able to select Preferred Seats online?
Dec 1, 2014, 1:20 pm
#7
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: PHL/EWR
Programs: AA MM; UA-S; HH-D; Marriott-LTP
Posts: 223
Similar thing happened to me upon earning a new status tier. Saw the open seat on line, but was unable to select it at no charge. I phoned the airline who verified that they saw my accurate status tier, still the agent was unable to slip me into the seat. She placed me on hold to speak to tech support, and a few minutes later the glitch was corrected and I was able to obtain the seat selection I was aiming for. She couldn't quite explain it, but she did get it fixed.