E & A

Just called AC and my two first class on July from SFO to NRT has been bumped to business.
I think I will change my seats to LAX>NRT, however there is only one seat in first. I will let my wife get the F and I will get the business.
Is it possible if I can ask them to release the other F for me?

schoflyer

I would direct you to my post #12 in this thread where I was successful in having NH open a seat on on the flight my wife was dropped from. However, a NH non-elite requesting a seat to be opened on a technically unrelated flight may prove difficult.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...highlight=wife

It never hurts to ask though.

Lori_Q

Is there even the remotest of possibilities that the seatmaps have been changed before the New Style configurations are confirmed, and that a First Class seat map will magically appear at some point? My husband and I are booked out of SFO to NRT on ANA #7 in First next October. I've been calling about the Los Angeles flights, but there is only one First seat available, and UA won't split our PNR to put one of us in First and the other in Business. So I have to keep calling, or be willing to change to SFO-KIX on United, which kills the whole fly-ANA-in-First plan.

My other option is to keep calling frequently and hope a pair of ANA or SQ seats become available.

This sucks, sucks, sucks.

schoflyer

I do not think this is a seatmap issue. Beginning July, NH 007 and NH 008 are not bookable in F and the seatmaps that are displayed show the F seats available for Full C tickets. (It is yet to be confirmed as to whether or not you can actually get one of those seats assigned.)

I a few days ago I tried to "reverse engineer" the aircraft rotation based on the online seatmaps however the 777-300 completely disappeared for the entire month of June. Also I saw some 767 seatmaps for 777 equipment (NRT-BKK) and decided that whatever I came up with based on seatmaps would not be accurate enough to make my effort worthwhile. AFAIK, seatmaps just aren't accurately updated/loaded 6 months in advance.

But back to the original query, here. If you can't book an $10,000+ F seat on the day you are flying, or for that matter, on any day around the intended day of travel, safe to say that they are not selling F. It's not an issue of everything just being sold out.

And another note regarding UA. If the service you booked is no longer offered, they should work with you to book other "available" F seats between the US and Tokyo. This should be done without penalties. The problem is that with partner awards, you cannot WL. It's available or it's not.

And now a question for you. What is the status of your existing reservation? Were you proteced to business class? Does it still show F if the system?

Regards,

Scho

Lori_Q

Thanks for the response, Scho. I called United. We still had seats on that flight, but we'd been bumped back to Coach. Since I'm a 1K, and they removed the penalties for changes to award tickets, I was able to change my itinerary without any hassle.

The alternative is not ideal, though. We're now going into Osaka (KIX) in First on UA. I'd prefer Narita, so we're waitlisted for a couple of the UA NRT flights. I intend to spend the summer calling frequently to ask about availability on NH or SQ. I really wanted to try an Asian carrier. Maybe it will happen; we're flying mid-week in late September. But I'm not holding my breath.

schoflyer

I'm sorry that this didn't work out exactly as you had hoped/planned for what seems like 331 days! At least you have your transpac covered in F and it's not going to be horrible. I hope you can enjoy your trip. As an FTer, it's important to remember that sometimes things are "Beyond our control."

Cheers,

Scho

Lori_Q

This is very true. But, as an FTer, I also know that "if you don't like the answer, hang up and call back." I'm almost looking forward to the thrill of the hunt! I'll report any success I have with itinerary changes.

Excalibur

Bumping...

I had used UA miles to book NH8 NRT-SFO in F class on 6/30, and was excited about trying out the 777-300 and the new F seats. However, I also noticed that the seat map for this day shows the older 777-200ER plane/seats, and indeed every day I checked in June shows this configuration.

This doesn't make any sense--all over the ANA web site, they are heavily promoting the 777-300 to SFO, and they even have a contest in conjunction with the rollout. Their online schedule shows 777-300 from 4/1-6/30 on the route before switching to the 2-class 777-200ER that folks have talked about above. But from the seatmaps it appears that no time in June does this new plane actually get assigned to the route!

What do people think is going on in June? Are the seatmaps wrong, or is the marketing department promoting the rollout of the new plane while the operations department is assigning the old one?

schoflyer

I have been assured repeatedly by my corporate account manager that my June flight will be a 773. It seems that it is a seatmap issue. I admit that it is a little disconcerting though.

brysal

For the SFO-NRT route in the 777-300, what was the configuration in the front section? Did they already replace the old First Class section with 2-3-2 layout? Or are they just selling the First Class section as business? Anyone have an update?

FirstClassGuy

I booked tickets for November 12th. no first Class anymore. Two class 777 with new seat configuration I am in 2H both ways to and from NRT

flyUAyounger

I took F last week - I was only 1 of 3 passengers. I actually endorsed my ticket over from UA at the last minute (it was a full fare F ticket).

Service was fantastic! It's a shame that there won't be any F anymore I wanted to book it for my return to the US in August.... oh well.

flyUAyounger

At least we know where the 777 that usually flies to SFO is going to fly to on July 1st:

http://www.anaskyweb.com/us/e/ana_info/iad/index.html

kyushuman

It might be worth checking to see if you could fly NRT-LAX-SFO instead. I would do that, given the excellent service and food choices (especially if you like Japanese food).
Glad to hear you enjoyed it!

MrSydney

Flying 15 July on a 773 with F...i did a dummy booking for the 16th and it must be a refurbed 772 as there is no F showing.

They must be switching the 772 & 773 awaiting more refurbed 772s to come on line.

Interesting