Advanced Seat Selection for AC Codeshare Flight on LH
 

All

I have booked a ticket on aircanada.com to Europe - flex outbound in AC, tango return via LH (AC codeshare)

I did what I always do, and called LH to get seat assignments for the return flight (I have done this many times over the years, last did this maybe 2 years ago). But LH turned me down flat - no seat assignment possible. They did not care that I am AC*SE (ie a top level Star Alliance participant)

Is this really how it is? Anyone got a work around?

As I understand it, only certain classes of LH fares get seat assignment in advance these days. Tango fares parse over into an equally low LH fare class - Economy Saver or Economic Basic (and thus no seat assignment). Only once you get to Economy Flex does LH provide advance seat selection.

Star Gold Status doesn't change anything in your favour, unfortunately (outside of additional luggage allowance etc).

I would recommend doing online check-in as close to the 24-hour window as possible, because otherwise you're liable to be stuck in a middle seat for the whole flight if you leave it too late.

Its a little more complicated.

Anything in V and under (LH fare class) is only allowed advance seat assignments for a fee, kind of like AC does for Tango fares. So theoretically, if booking on LH in a lower fare class, you should be able to call in and pay $X for an advance seat assignment.

However, the complicating factor is the codeshare - if the ticket is on non-LH stock, LH apparently can't do an advance seat assignment at all on these lower fares, as they can not allocate the cost to a ticket that is not theirs.

There's a big thread in the UA forum on this issue. So not limited to AC codeshares. I could be wrong, but I think there might be a similar issue for someone who buys a ticket on UA-codeshare, AC-operated flight when it books into Tango.

Thanks. I called AC and they seem to know nothing, were going to put in a "request" for an aisle. Then I went over to the UA board, saw the threads there and on the LH boards, wow! It's an LH IT schmozzle. Stories of top tier UA pax not being able to book even 24 hours in advance, or even at check in, but getting middle seats only at the gate.

I cancelled and will rebook elsewhere.

This is costing AC real money, and they don't even seem to realize it's going on.

Just book a AC flight outbound and a LH return. Problem solved.

How? The websites show them as codeshares.

TATL one ways are $2500 or something, vs $500-600 each way in a return ticket. You can't book them in flex or tango.

nothing forces you to purchase from aircanada.com

You can also call AC after you booked online and request to change the LH flight from AC codeshare to an LH medal; maybe able to book it that way since you may be given a LH booking reference #. AC doesn't like to do it but if you're buying a Y/B fare on LH you can use your Aeroplan miles to upgrade to J, and that can only be done if your flight is on a LH medal.

I had a ticket - AC YVR-YYZ, and then connecting to LH on AC flight number...
I had no seat selected on the LH sector. So I thought I'd do it at check in at YVR. Wrong. AC said that they couldn't give me my boarding pass so I'd have to get my seat in YYZ.

I ended up stuck in a middle seat waaay back.

:mad:

Does AC allow LH HON (which is a much higher level Star Alliance 'participant' than AC SE) on tango to select seats in advance without paying? Nope.

^^ exactly.

I am currently experiencing the same problem. Just booked YQM-YYZ-FRA-OPO return with AC. The YYZ-FRA and FRA-YYZ portions are on Lufthansa metal. I've done this several times before. I would call LH directly and they would book the seats for the transatlantic portions. Now, this is no longer an option (for the fare class I booked). The policy changed in April, 2014, I was told. After several attempts through AC reservations and LH, I've had no success. I will have to wait until I check in YQM (or possibly until I arrive at the gate for my flight to FRA with LH in YYZ) to get my seat. My fear is that I will be stuck in a middle seat. Had I known this, I would have chosen AC metal for the translatlantic portions...

Sorry for bumping a very old thread did a search and just wondering, about this. Not sure if there's an updated information...

When I booked Economy Flex via AC and one of the trips is LH (Flex from AC), I tried to check my booking via LH.com and tried to select seats but its asking me to pay. Is there a way around this?

Glad I found this thread. I'm on LH492 tomorrow (FRA --> YVR), and booked through aircanada.com (in premium economy). I have flown this flight many, many times, most recently in February. Every time I book using AC.com into Premium Economy. In February, advanced seat selection no problemo. Was even able to select my seat the day I booked (2 weeks out) via LH.com using the LH booking code provided by air canada. However this time.....I keep getting a "seat assignment not possible" message, even after waiting until the 23 hour check-in window. I have NEVER had this problem before with grabbing advanced seat assignment on LH even when booked via AC.com. Any thoughts on what might be going on? Could this simply be an oversold situation?

PY transatlantic seat assignment is not free on LH. :td: