Originally Posted by
BigVince76
I really wish I had stuck to UA! So I call AA, with my AA booking ref and after 45 minutes on the phone I am told that seats cannot be assigned until check in. I only booked AA because I should be able to get MCE seats on the 763 but turns out I can't, well if there are any left at check in I might but that is a longshot. I'm so cross, Why I could not have just booked direct with AA is madness. Now I'm stuck with rubbish seats on a rubbish plane flown by a rubbish airline. grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
There are usually two AA booking references for code share flights. One with the partner codes and one with the AA codes. IME you can only select seats with latter. Partner airlines (and CheckMyTrip) will usually only know about the AA record locator with the partner flight numbers. I was only able to find out the record locator with AA flight numbers by logging into my AAdvantage account, going to My Reservations/Flight Check-In and finding my reservation by supplying my name, date and the AA code for one of the AA operated (but partner coded) flights in the reservation, but NOT the booking reference. It should bring up the reservation and you should be able to select seats there, including MCE after supplying an apropriate FF number. Take note of this booking reference as well for future use.
Agents on all sides (AA, AY, BA) were just clueless and sometimes outright onhelpful.