swisshiker

Good morning. I'm a first-time poster, but have been lurking around here for quite sometime. Thanks for the great website. Lots of useful information. Please forgive me if I'm posting this in the wrong place.

I've been reading about possible equipment changes/new planes, etc. Now it's hit home.

My husband and I have award tickets for 2 first class round trips in June 2015 on AA 70/71 (DFW-FRA-DFW). When ticketed, the plane was a 772. Now I find out it's been changed to a 763.

Other than the obvious disappointment that it's no longer a true first class, the seat map indicates it's the older business version of the 763, a 2x2x2 configuration with 6 rows.

New seats were assigned by AA. I've tried several days to change seats online, but keep getting "technical difficulties" message. Same with phoning. They can't change at this time due to some sort of problem.

In your wisdom, could it be that this will be one of the newly configured business class planes, and that is why the seats can't be changed? Or are we really going to be flying on one of the older planes?

Many thanks.
And Happy Holidays to you all!

swisshiker

So sorry...should have edited.

The 763 configuration is 2x2x2 with 5 rows in business (rows numbered 2-6, no row 1).

Exec_Plat

Good to come here and ask first, instead of calling AA.

There is no F on that plane, only J. You need to speak to AA and "accept" the downgrade. (Which I think is why you cannot do anything on line.) Unless you are OK with the downgrade, you should first determine the flights you want- DFW-LHR-FRA perhaps? AA may be willing to accommodate you in F on DFW-LHR in F even if they have to open saver award space. What is you AA status?

Lets see what others chime in with....

swisshiker

Indeed, I have looked at many other options (DUS, TXL, LHR, CDG, etc). Flew first class in the 777w (nice!) last year from DFW-LHR, then BA to FCO, but I'd rather not repeat that LHR connection. TXL on AB would be our first alternate choice, but still no first class.

I'm okay with the downgrade....well, not really, but after what I've been reading here, I feel like we're going to be flying business.

And yes, I'll be asking for our mileage reimbursement for the downgrade. (Sidebar: kudos to Flyertalk for reminding me to check weekly, sometimes more often, for changes as AA never seems to notify me they happen.)

As for status, hubby is lifetime Platinum; for me, just a regular ole member.

bhomburg

I'm very sure that by June this flight will have changed to a refurbished 763 with the new 1-2-1 configuration.
That neither you nor the AAgent cannot change seat assignments is most likely just a glitch - possibly related to them changing the seatmaps from unrefurbished to refurbished, or maybe the business class cabin is now oversold and all seats are taken (a 772 has 52 sellable premium cabin seats, a refurbished 763 max. 29). What does the 'view available seats' thing on aa.com say for your date?

If you want to retain your F class flight, there's no other option except going through LHR. Additionally, the 77W will be gone from the LHR-DFW route from next month and replaced with (unrefurbished, three-class) 777-200s. Maybe that's where the FRA frame gets reallocated to...

swisshiker

Yes, that's what I'm thinking as well (that it will have changed).

It just makes it rather tricky with seat assignments. We now have seats 3HJ, good for non-refurbished. But if it indeed changes to the refurbished plane, there will be no seat H. Where would my dear husband end up?

Maybe I should just ask for two J seats (that is, when they're able to change my seats).

There is plenty of seat availability on our inbound and outbound. Only about half the seats seem to be taken on the outbound, and none (except ours and the crew row 6) on the return. But again, this shows the older version seat map.

Guess it's just a waiting game at this point.

Dave Noble

I would pick seats that will exist on both the old and new configs , so that if things change you are likely to maintain allocation of seats

billgrates3

won't the 763 change back to a 777 come June?

upnup

I had the same situation and hopefully I have solved the problem. I was booked one way FRA - DFW at the beginning of May in F on an award ticket.
When my flight was changed to a 763 very recently I started to investigate when the change would be taking place and it seems the equipment change starts around the beginning of the year. I tried to do a dummy booking - paying for a first class ticket. From January through May next year the website always said F 'not available'. In addition, when I went to the seating chart for my flight it just showed business class in the old 2-2-2 configuration but first class was just a repeat of the seats that were reserved in business class.
I called AA and explained that I was sure that my flight would be a two class flight. I then requested a refund of miles and a rebooking in business class so that I could reserve a good window seat. The new seating chart for the refurbished business class is seven rows in a 1-2-1 configuration starting with row 2 and going through row 8. If you want to see the new seating diagram you can look at flights next year from JFK to CDG which already have the new 763 chart. The agent did not have the new seating chart for my flight but I gave her the seat number that I wanted and she reserved it!
The agent said that she had to talk to her supervisor but she came back after a while and said that she was able to make the change to bus. class and arranged the refund of the miles.
So, in actuality, AA was admitting that the plane would be a a refurbished 763. I think you can do the same transition by calling AA. Good luck.

swisshiker

Great help. Thanks so much!

Maybe a change back to the 777 in June? Good grief. So should I wait to get my miles refunded just in case?

I have also tried dummy bookings and had the same result as upnup. But good to know your results. I'll try phoning again today, hoping to speak to a supervisor this time if seats can't be changed still. I'll take the advice above and attempt to choose the seat numbers for the refurbished. Certainly seems like the best plan at this point.

Happy travels!

kmandrew

This also just happened to us, we had 2 F seats on June 23 DFW-FRA.; AA called us last week informing us of the change, put 62.5k back in and took out 50k: they also did a credit for $440 and charged us $370. To be honest we are not that disappointed - there was something weird going on as the F cabin showed full 11 months in advance and we were not even sitting together. The seat map is now normal and I was able to book seats together. My wife and I do a similar trip every summer; we do not see much difference between F and J. I like this flight because it is long enough to eat dinner watch a movie and still get some decent sleep before they light the Cabin for breakfast.

bhomburg

Right now, the flight is scheduled as a 763 from January 6, 2015 until the end of the schedule all the way through summer, so it does not look to be a seasonal-only change.
But I still would not rule things out, so holding on to that F seat and waiting with the downgrade request can't hurt.

Personally, I don't think the 777 will come back in the summer. AA now has a lot more capacity from Frankfurt/Germany than they ever had, historically.
With the merger and inheriting the US flights, 'new' AAs presence at FRA will increase from one to four daily departures to PHL, CLT, DFW and MIA (starting May 15), so there will be a lot more capacity to get passengers to anywhere they want to go on their network without swapping equipment around.

And I would not put too much weight on what a phone agent tells you about whether your flight will be on a refurbished or non-refurbished plane when the seat map shows the old version.

swisshiker

kmandrew - we're on the same flight! We actually start in Austin. Return on 7/30.

Just got off the phone with AA. They're about as confused as I am about which planes are flying. Poor folks. Stressful job for them indeed.

In the end, I decided to hedge my bet and took the downgrade to business.

Agent still wasn't able to change seats, so a supervisor came in and helped. Chose seat numbers for the refurbished (prefer the windows on that criss-cross configuration), so we'll just keep our fingers crossed that's how it ends up. If not, well, we still have decent seats.

Again, thanks for all your help.

Happy travels!

wrp96

I just discovered this myself. No notifications, downgrade to business, no refund of the miles difference. I'm actually connecting from BUD with some not fun connections on AB through TXL, so was already looking for alternatives. Hoping I can change to through LHR so can fly out of BUD on BA instead of the double connection on AB economy (plus overnight) just to get to the FRA-DFW flight (and I connect onward from there as well). If they could open up award availability on AA flights from LHR it would make me so much happier as currently the only available options involve triple connections, plus overnights, and even airport changes.

kmandrew

Well what a coincidence - we look forward to meeting both of you, if nothing changes we are in 4 J/H. We are going on to Copenhagen/Stockholm for a week then spending a week driving around Wales.