Seats assigned at airport??
Nov 15, 2011, 8:58 pm
#31
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Possible but VERY unlikely. It's the very odd person or odd travel agent that books a ticket without selecting a seat assignment.
Nov 15, 2011, 10:13 pm
#32
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 133
Cool, jackal, that's what I was thinking / hoping - now there could be many more pax just like ourselves who are booked, but not elite, on this flight and have been given the same message that seats will be assigned at airport... but hopefully not twenty-six more of them. . .
Here's hoping (thinking only for us, not for AS !) that the map looks the same all the way up through T-24 and then we can jump into a pair of seats (maybe even green ones) when checking in along with everyone else!
Here's hoping (thinking only for us, not for AS !) that the map looks the same all the way up through T-24 and then we can jump into a pair of seats (maybe even green ones) when checking in along with everyone else!
Nov 16, 2011, 8:23 am
#33
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Portland, Or USA
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Am I overlooking something in the customer commitment that references seating assignments with regard to IDB, or is that referenced somewhere else?
Nov 16, 2011, 4:46 pm
#34
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Really? That's not how I read the customer commitment. So, if I don't have a seat assigned and check in at T-24, then I would be IDB'd before someone with a seat assignment that checked in at T-31?
Am I overlooking something in the customer commitment that references seating assignments with regard to IDB, or is that referenced somewhere else?
Am I overlooking something in the customer commitment that references seating assignments with regard to IDB, or is that referenced somewhere else?
ETA: I just read the page you linked above and it doesn't mention anything about order. So IDBing those without seat assignments wouldn't contradict the referenced page.
Nov 16, 2011, 11:00 pm
#35
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Nov 16, 2011, 11:06 pm
#36
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from the CoC:
Boarding Priorities - If a flight is oversold (more passengers hold confirmed reservations than there are seats available) no one may be denied boarding against his/her will until AS personnel first ask for volunteers who will give up their reservations willingly, in exchange for a payment of AS's choosing. If there are not enough volunteers, other passengers may be denied boarding involuntarily in accordance with boarding priorities. Passengers with confirmed reservations who have not received a boarding authority will be accommodated in the order in which they present themselves at the loading gate designated for their flight until all available seats are occupied, except that passengers with disabilities to an extent that failure to carry would, in AS's opinion, cause severe hardship, or any other passenger, including unaccompanied children under 12 years of age, who would suffer severe hardship in AS's opinion will be accommodated before all other passengers (including tour conductors) holding confirmed space tickets. Business commitments will not, of themselves, constitute a severe hardship. Accompanied children under 12 years of age will be included in the same category as the accompanying passenger.
Boarding Priorities - If a flight is oversold (more passengers hold confirmed reservations than there are seats available) no one may be denied boarding against his/her will until AS personnel first ask for volunteers who will give up their reservations willingly, in exchange for a payment of AS's choosing. If there are not enough volunteers, other passengers may be denied boarding involuntarily in accordance with boarding priorities. Passengers with confirmed reservations who have not received a boarding authority will be accommodated in the order in which they present themselves at the loading gate designated for their flight until all available seats are occupied, except that passengers with disabilities to an extent that failure to carry would, in AS's opinion, cause severe hardship, or any other passenger, including unaccompanied children under 12 years of age, who would suffer severe hardship in AS's opinion will be accommodated before all other passengers (including tour conductors) holding confirmed space tickets. Business commitments will not, of themselves, constitute a severe hardship. Accompanied children under 12 years of age will be included in the same category as the accompanying passenger.
Nov 17, 2011, 8:35 am
#37
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Portland, Or USA
Posts: 1,800
from the CoC:
Boarding Priorities - If a flight is oversold (more passengers hold confirmed reservations than there are seats available) no one may be denied boarding against his/her will until AS personnel first ask for volunteers who will give up their reservations willingly, in exchange for a payment of AS's choosing. If there are not enough volunteers, other passengers may be denied boarding involuntarily in accordance with boarding priorities. Passengers with confirmed reservations who have not received a boarding authority will be accommodated in the order in which they present themselves at the loading gate designated for their flight until all available seats are occupied, except that passengers with disabilities to an extent that failure to carry would, in AS's opinion, cause severe hardship, or any other passenger, including unaccompanied children under 12 years of age, who would suffer severe hardship in AS's opinion will be accommodated before all other passengers (including tour conductors) holding confirmed space tickets. Business commitments will not, of themselves, constitute a severe hardship. Accompanied children under 12 years of age will be included in the same category as the accompanying passenger.
Boarding Priorities - If a flight is oversold (more passengers hold confirmed reservations than there are seats available) no one may be denied boarding against his/her will until AS personnel first ask for volunteers who will give up their reservations willingly, in exchange for a payment of AS's choosing. If there are not enough volunteers, other passengers may be denied boarding involuntarily in accordance with boarding priorities. Passengers with confirmed reservations who have not received a boarding authority will be accommodated in the order in which they present themselves at the loading gate designated for their flight until all available seats are occupied, except that passengers with disabilities to an extent that failure to carry would, in AS's opinion, cause severe hardship, or any other passenger, including unaccompanied children under 12 years of age, who would suffer severe hardship in AS's opinion will be accommodated before all other passengers (including tour conductors) holding confirmed space tickets. Business commitments will not, of themselves, constitute a severe hardship. Accompanied children under 12 years of age will be included in the same category as the accompanying passenger.
n addition to our volunteer program, we have invested in sophisticated computer systems that forecast passenger loads, which reduces the number of customers who are involuntarily denied boarding. When a volunteer is not found, we will deny boarding to the last customer(s) who checked in on time. Monetary compensation, as outlined below, is offered on Alaska Airlines flights. These amounts are predetermined by the DOT regulations established for all major US airlines.
Nov 17, 2011, 1:13 pm
#38
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Posters on the DL forum have been posting that DL has a rule that Medallions cannot be involuntary denied boarding except in extreme circumstances eg everyone on an overbooked flight is a Medallion. I don't know if AS has such a rule for its elites, but it would be a potentially helpful benefit for MVP/G/75K passengers.
Nov 23, 2011, 3:52 pm
#39
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 133
Did online checkin right at T-24 - we snagged two seats together! I wanted to update thread with my experience in case someone does a search on this topic in the future - -
Also, IIRC, the system will automatically assign you seats once the flight goes to airport control at T-24. When you check in, you should see a seat assignment (probably up in the formerly-blocked-to-you seats). You can change it at that time, of course, but if everything goes ideally, the system might even assign you two seats next to each other.
The system gave us 7A and 7B, which were originally "green" seats unavailable to us. I looked at the seat map to see if there were other options (a bit concerned about overhead space that far forward). There were a couple more seats in row 7 that were previously green that became blue - and a couple of scattered single seats toward the rear - but row 6 (bulkhead) all the way across, as well as both exit rows all the way across stayed green (plane is 3-3 configuration).
Having been told by an Alaska rep on the phone that ALL seats in economy opened up at T-24, I called to check. She said that exit rows and bulkhead would still be airport-only assignment for (non-status) pax like us. We are just glad to be together and have boarding passes already instead of having to get to the airport earlier than usual to get seats assigned.
The good thing is, by checking in right at T-24, the system did assign us seats (and apparently the system would only assign the blue seats to non-status pax - and there were only eight of those blue seats, of which we got two). All the more reason to have the checkin screen up and get the process done as soon as possible once online checkin opens. The Alaska website information for that flight currently shows 5 first class, 4 full-flex and 2 best deal seats available - so chances are decent for maybe being able to trade for exit row IF we wanted to try to arrive early enough at the airport.
Thank you again for everyone who answered my questions in this thread.
Also, IIRC, the system will automatically assign you seats once the flight goes to airport control at T-24. When you check in, you should see a seat assignment (probably up in the formerly-blocked-to-you seats). You can change it at that time, of course, but if everything goes ideally, the system might even assign you two seats next to each other.
Having been told by an Alaska rep on the phone that ALL seats in economy opened up at T-24, I called to check. She said that exit rows and bulkhead would still be airport-only assignment for (non-status) pax like us. We are just glad to be together and have boarding passes already instead of having to get to the airport earlier than usual to get seats assigned.
The good thing is, by checking in right at T-24, the system did assign us seats (and apparently the system would only assign the blue seats to non-status pax - and there were only eight of those blue seats, of which we got two). All the more reason to have the checkin screen up and get the process done as soon as possible once online checkin opens. The Alaska website information for that flight currently shows 5 first class, 4 full-flex and 2 best deal seats available - so chances are decent for maybe being able to trade for exit row IF we wanted to try to arrive early enough at the airport.
Thank you again for everyone who answered my questions in this thread.
Nov 23, 2011, 4:21 pm
#40
Join Date: Jan 2008
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The wording is slightly different on each, but when in doubt, I'd go with the Contract of Carriage.
Posters on the DL forum have been posting that DL has a rule that Medallions cannot be involuntary denied boarding except in extreme circumstances eg everyone on an overbooked flight is a Medallion. I don't know if AS has such a rule for its elites, but it would be a potentially helpful benefit for MVP/G/75K passengers.
Posters on the DL forum have been posting that DL has a rule that Medallions cannot be involuntary denied boarding except in extreme circumstances eg everyone on an overbooked flight is a Medallion. I don't know if AS has such a rule for its elites, but it would be a potentially helpful benefit for MVP/G/75K passengers.
Dec 1, 2011, 9:13 pm
#41
Join Date: Nov 2006
Posts: 133
Another update with our experience for future searches -
..... Alaska rep on the phone.... said that exit rows and bulkhead would still be airport-only assignment for (non-status) pax like us...
The Alaska website information for that flight currently shows 5 first class, 4 full-flex and 2 best deal seats available - so chances are decent for maybe being able to trade for exit row IF we wanted to try to arrive early enough at the airport.
We had checked in online and already printed boarding passes - but we got to LAX early (because of no traffic and a very fast cab driver) and so we did ask at the checkin counter if the exit rows were still available. They were, so the agent switched our seats to row 14 - she was very nice about it - no charge to switch! And, we noticed that neither of the exit rows were completely full all the way across - so it's definitely worth asking at the checkin counter if you have time to spare.
..... Alaska rep on the phone.... said that exit rows and bulkhead would still be airport-only assignment for (non-status) pax like us...
The Alaska website information for that flight currently shows 5 first class, 4 full-flex and 2 best deal seats available - so chances are decent for maybe being able to trade for exit row IF we wanted to try to arrive early enough at the airport.
Dec 2, 2011, 9:01 am
#42
Join Date: Jan 2008
Programs: AS MVPG, CO, NW(now DL), Flying Blue
Posts: 6,554
The wording is slightly different on each, but when in doubt, I'd go with the Contract of Carriage.
Posters on the DL forum have been posting that DL has a rule that Medallions cannot be involuntary denied boarding except in extreme circumstances eg everyone on an overbooked flight is a Medallion. I don't know if AS has such a rule for its elites, but it would be a potentially helpful benefit for MVP/G/75K passengers.
Posters on the DL forum have been posting that DL has a rule that Medallions cannot be involuntary denied boarding except in extreme circumstances eg everyone on an overbooked flight is a Medallion. I don't know if AS has such a rule for its elites, but it would be a potentially helpful benefit for MVP/G/75K passengers.
Dec 2, 2011, 10:43 am
#43
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I suppose the occasional GA might make note of status and manually override the computer's order, but I wouldn't plan on it. Always check in early.
Jul 12, 2016, 7:55 pm
#44
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: CA
Posts: 188
Bringing back the old thread - seattle to vancouver
I don't know what's in the customer commitment, but that process is virtually universal across all airlines. No seat + no volunteers = no flight.
ETA: I just read the page you linked above and it doesn't mention anything about order. So IDBing those without seat assignments wouldn't contradict the referenced page.
ETA: I just read the page you linked above and it doesn't mention anything about order. So IDBing those without seat assignments wouldn't contradict the referenced page.
Jul 12, 2016, 8:24 pm
#45
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Recently booked SJC-SEA-YVR. The seats were assigned on the SJC-SEA leg but were "under airport control" for SEA-YVR leg. I called and was told that they cannot do anything over the phone. The layover is only 40 minutes at Seattle. Does anyone know if it will be a problem to get the seats assigned at the airport? Thanks a lot.
If not, your name will probably appear on the gate display with a seat assignment next to it, and you can see it when you get to the departure gate at SEA. You'll need to go up to the podium to get a new boarding pass, which they'll probably already have printed and set aside waiting for you.