Sorry to bring up an old thread, but figured better than starting a new one.
Been a while since I've flown AC and needed to pay for seats (I've mostly been flying with the kids, so they take care of those). If I pay for a seat assignment in advance, I understand they are non-refundable (unless AC moves me), but what about changing to a different seat? Is the value retained? So let's say I pay for an aisle in row 20, and want to move to an aisle in row 15 later (seats cost the same?). Will they use the value of the payment to cover that? What about if a preferred seat becomes available. If I paid $25 for my regular seat, but want to move to a preferred seat near the front that costs $40, will they just charge me the $15 difference?
Also, thinking about potentially booking this via an agent (may want to use some Chase points). After confirming the booing, can I select/pay for seats on the AC site, or will they not allow that on 3rd party bookings?
Appreciate any insight.