deac83

Maybe the FA's got tired of pax selected row 5/6 reminding of them about FEBO when they started with row 3.

controller1

Exactly!

swag

Before they started messing with flight numbers, I never even checked what the flight number was. The general rule (for domestic flights) was simple, the passengers seated closest to Boston got first choice.

This basically returns to that. The time zones is an interesting twist - I guess you need some way to define "closer to Boston" on flights that go NW-SE or vice versa.

SFO777

Can't agree more. Indeed, what problem are they trying to solve? Worried that US FAs can't figure out an odd number from an even number?

Often1

This is all silly. Definitionally, 50% of flights will be even-odd numbered. Whether those flights head East or South is meaningless. It just means that if you always select the last row of F, you will have your first choice 50% of the time.

SFO777

Unless you pre-select your entrée. Or is that feature disappearing as well?

United747

Actually, there are some routes that use the same flight number for both legs. I have a reservation on AA4275 both legs, albeit there is no meal on the flight. But I know AA1633 is also the same in both directions, at least last Tuesday it was.

PresRDC

What about N/S flights that change time zones (e.g. USA to Brazil)?

golfingboy

Except there will be no meal service on CA-AZ flights, so not much of an issue in that particular case.

However, I agree the new guidelines do not make much sense. This is something the FAs will need to relay back to their superiors as this change mostly concerns them.

Personally, I think they should just do front to back on all flights, even the FEBO concept is inefficient for F - I guarantee the ordering process takes a little longer starting in the back rather than the front assuming the galley is in the front - and something some customers will have to "compute" when picking seats. If everything was front to back, FAs can work a little more efficiently and all customers have to think about is book something as close to the front as possible.

coolcoil

So you always want to be in the seat furthest to the west or furthest to the south (assuming you want first choice). Maybe we could call it the Southwest Method.

CORRECTION: I got it backward. You want the seat furthest to the east, not the west. Thanks rasheed!

scubadu

Oh my, nothing can go wrong here...

Regards

rasheed

I might be wrong here, but I was reading it as closest to the Southeast.

So, now is it closest to Florida?

Rasheed

SeeBuyFly

I don't see anything ambiguous here. As stated, if the flight moves between time zones, it is technically considered (and really is, in part) eastbound or westbound, and the east-west rule applies. If there is no change in time zones, the north-south rule applies.

In the case of Brazil, the rule would be the same either way, since it is both southbound and eastbound (i.e. 'closest to Florida').

sdsearch

Funny thing, after I moved to Los Angeles a few decades ago, I devised a saying so that I could remember which side of the street is even numbered houses and which side is odd: "The West is Odd, the South wants to get Even."

I just realized that that means the house numbers that are Even in Los Angeles are also those that are closest to the Southeast!

So I now I just have to remember one thing for both house numbers in L A and AA front cabin meal service order! @:-)

Eye of Storm

While some routes have odd numbers in both directions, other routes have even numbers in both directions. In the aggregate, presumably there are at least roughly 50:50 even and odd flight numbers, considering all flights.