After numerous changes to a flight my family is doing at the end of the year, every couple of weeks, I check ExpertFlyer to make sure the flights haven't changed time, or changed plane model etc. Plus still showing my seats as blocked.

For 3 of the 4 sectors, Expert Flyer is showing what I expect it to. But for the 4th sector, the 777 flight from AKL to MEL, the seats we had booked, 3A3B & 4A4B on two different PNRs is now showing as vacant.

When I go and check the on-line seat booking tool it still shows us in 3A&B and 4A&B. In the past, when seats have automatically been assigned, they have done silly things like 2ABJK - which makes travelling as a group difficult.

It is interesting that we are in two different PNRs and all four seats are showing as available in Expertflyer. But the previous leg, LAX-AKL Seats 1AK 2AK are still showing full. (And in the on-line seat booking tool as well.)

Should I ring up Air NZ to confirm the seats? Or is Expert flyer picking up incorrect information? This is about the only group of 4 showing available on the flight, so I don't want to have our party split up.

How would you start the conversation - I am ah, looking at some web site (there answer which ones) and they show the seats as vacant, but the on-line tool shows me in the seats - can you confirm what I have got?

The other thing about the on-line tool - when you have 3 people on a 2 x 2 plane, it doesn't allow you to select 1 person across the aisle - it only ever gives you the option of 1 in front or 1 behind the other two.