Originally Posted by
wpcoe
The most bizarre part to me is that (initially) he had a seat assignment on NH. The NH reservations system cannot issue a seat assignment without a confirmed reservation, could it? And, then later the flight was no longer confirmed? Something seems off...
This is a bit of a tangent, but you generally don't need a confirmed reservation for a seat assignment. You just need a PNR.
For example on AA, which allows free 24hr holds (or 5 days for awards) you can select your seat and it's held in the reservation. I've never used UA's farelock but I assume it's the same. In general, on most airlines, you select your seat before you pay. Once you select your seat you usually have an on-hold reservation with a seat assignment. On some airlines (eg AA) if you exit the flow before paying, you will actually see the on-hold res in your trips, complete with the seat assignment, until they cancel it (or you go back and purchase it)