Originally Posted by
sightseer
Hi! New to AA with no status. Would appreciate experts who can help us.
We are on paid AA international roundtrip tickets flying in 10 days with only middle seats currently showing on AA's seat map unless we pay almost $100 per person per flight (that's $400 extra!). We care most about seating together but do not need the premium seats.
We called AA to see if the seats where you currently have to pay extra will be released free to the public within 24 hours of departure when online checkin is open and can't get a clear answer. In fact, we were told if we don't have seats already, we won't be able to use online checkin. And if we select a free seat (only middle left), we won't be able to change it during the 24-hr online checkin period even if other seats are available then. The service rep's suggestion is to go to the airport 4 hours ahead of our flight to try to get seats together.
In your experience, can you checkin without seat assignment online within the 24 hour period before flight and be able to select seats that were previously costing extra or hidden from view of those without status? Thank you!!!
In general, more seats do usually become available at the online check-in window. If most of the seats are taken by that point, however, then you may find yourself without seats nest to each other. You'll also usually be able to change your seat assignment right up until a couple hours before the flight, when the airport staff takes control of the flight.
Having a seat assignment should have no bearing on whether or not you can use online check-in. What would affect that ability is whether you need to have your documents checked by an airport agent. That all depends on where you are going, the passport you're traveling on, and if there are any visa requirements/proof on onward journey implications. But, again, at that point, if there are more seats available, you should be able to select them.
What flight are you traveling on, and on which dates?