FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - AA keep changing my selected seats
View Single Post
Old Jan 28, 2020, 5:29 am
  #10  
USFlyerUS
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Washington, DC
Programs: AA Executive Platinum/Million Miler, Marriott Titanium Elite-Lifetime, Hilton Gold
Posts: 3,152
Originally Posted by Tintin
I was supposed to fly today (1/28) JFK-LHR on AA 106 departing JFK at 8:35pm and returning on 2/3 in AA 107. Made a reservation in Economy long time ago, and requested SWUs for both legs, which (both legs) were cleared on 12/21/2019 and new ticket was issued in Business Class C. I selected seat 2A for today's flight. Yesterday about an hour before the check-in opens, I found in iOS app that my seat assignment has gone blank and seat 2A has been assigned to someone else. All "A" and "L" seats (single window-isle seats) were taken. The only available seats were middle seats ("D" and "H" seats) in the back. This is probably the reason why no seat was assigned to me. I don't know about you, but as an EXP (who flew over 120,000 miles last year) this is absolutely UNACCEPTABLE. I called EXP desk and the representative on the line was sympathetic. She tried to change my flight to another JFK-LHR flight departing today with a better seat in business cabin but "A" or "L" seats (single window-isle seats) in all 3 today's JFK-LHR flights (6:30pm, 8:35pm (original), and 10:35pm departures) were full (I was seeing that in aa.com as well). There were several other JFK-LHR non-stop flights operated by BA, but according to her, she cannot re-book me into flights operated by BA. AA don't allow her to do it, even in an exceptional situation where AA reassigned my confirmed seat to someone else without my approval and without assigning me another seat. She apologized and forwarded my call to a supervisor. The supervisor was also sympathetic to my concern. He put me on hold to speak with the seat assignment department. Seat assignment department told him that this is a "glitch" in the system but they cannot help. They cannot offer me an acceptable seat in the business class in any of today's JFK-LHR flight, despite the fact that I had confirmed seat 2A, and AA (by "glitch" or intentionally) gave my seat to someone else.

I have cancelled my reservation. I am considering moving my business to Delta. I will call Delta today for a status match. The timing is right. This is the beginning of year 2020, so I will have the entire year to earn my next year's status. Plus the annual fee for my Barclay's AA Silver Card will be due next month. Right time to cancel the card. I also have Citi's Executive Card, which will be cancelled when the annual fee is due. I have more than 1-million AA-miles which I will donate to charity before the Christmas holidays. Will cancel all existing reservations after speaking with Delta. Will not fly AA again in foreseeable future.

I will also write a letter to Doug Parker summarizing this experience. I am sure AA management at this point doesn't care at all, but writing a letter to Doug Parker is probably the last thing I can do.
So AA was able to get you a different seat in J but you still canceled the flight, are writing Doug Parker, cancelling all your AA-branded credit cards, and donating your 1,000,000+ miles? You weren't bumped back to Y or W? IMHO, while the seat change is annoying, it's hardly worth the effort to do all that and call it "outrageous". Every J seat is an aisle seat. As others have said, there could be legitimate reasons AA could not share with you that your seat got changed. And, FYI, DL also changes seats, so switching to DL for this reason won't prevent such a thing from happening again.
USFlyerUS is offline