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AA seat assignment loss / change / glitch / problem / FAM (master thread)

Old Aug 8, 2016, 12:26 pm
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Last edit by: Prospero
Seat issues are not uncommon between finding, holding, booking and during the interim between booking and flying. There may be various reasons this can happen.
Seat assignments Link
  • We make every effort to ensure you get your chosen seat, but seat assignments are not guaranteed.
  • We reserve the right to change seats for operational, safety or security reasons.
  • You must check in at least 30 minutes before departure and be at the gate 15 minutes before departure or you may lose your seat.
Seat held, changed or gone at booking: One member theorizes a held seat may be taken by a positive purchase by another passenger. But it could be due to another factor listed below.

Disability designated seat: Some seats are assigned preferentially to people with disabilities, and their companions, under the Air Carrier Access Act. Even some non-disability seats may be required for a person with a disability in some conditions.

"American blocks a limited number of seats on each aircraft to accommodate customers who identify themselves as having a qualified disability. Adjacent seats are provided, under certain circumstances, for customers with disabilities who must travel with a companion for assistance."

Flight nearly full: Once a flight has reached certain capacity guidelines, no further seats will be assigned. This leaves airport staff room to deal with the needs of persons with disabilities, no shows, delayed connections, etc.

Boarding pass scan fail: Sometimes a boarding pass scan fails (listen for the "Beep!") and your seat may register as no show, so another, later Passenger or standby gets your seat too.

Equipment change: AA Information Technology's very inefficient at these. You may have selected a Main Cabin Extra as an elite, yet a change from one aircraft subtype with differently numbered seat rows to another and you may find yourself moved from your carefully selected MCE aisle seat to a middle seat in one of the last rows. Aircraft substitutions from one type to another (77W to 772 or v. v.) or even "downgauging" (767 to 757) may occur - this will generally result in unanticipated seat changes.

Equipment malfunction: A seat may not be available on a specific flight because it was reported as malfunctioning and has not been repaired yet.

Crew rest seat: Some seats are contractually required to be set aside for resting crew, on flights of specific lengths.

Federal Air Marshal ("FAM"): FAMs are generally accommodated in the highest class of service in seats that are often popular with passengers. These accommodations may occur at any time, and by law AA must both comply and not reveal to passengers the reason for their seat loss or change. That's correct: AA is prohibited by law from telling you your seat was given to a FAM, so you will only hear implausible and made up reasons of how you lost your seat.

Passengers seated in the front cabin (or front of the cabin in single cabin and class aircraft) may occasionally find themselves displaced from their seat without any notice or comment, displaced to a less favored seat or even downgraded to the next lowest class of service. Contacting AA may provide answers as to "why" that don't make sense, multiple or non-specific reasons. These will often mean your seat has been requisitioned by a Federal Air Marshal (FAM).

Q. Why won't AA tell me why I lost my seat?

AA is prohibited by law from telling you your seat was requisitioned by a FAM or otherwise revealing there is a FAM on board or where they might be seated. FAMs are supposed to blend in with passengers. At best, you may be told "it's a security issue"; that's usually a confirmation of a FAM seat requisition.

Q. Can I get "unFAMed"?

There is no way to recover your original seat if it has been requisitioned by a FAM; you have no recourse other than to work with the AA system to seek a better available seat, or even reaccommodation on another flight with available and similar seating.

Q. Can I get compensated for losing my seat?

You can request fare differences, compensation and certainly get upgrade instruments reinstated if you were displaced to a lower class of service. You will not be eligible for compensation if your seat was changed within the same class of service (even if you are now separated from travel companions), however, as if you book a specific seat, a specific seat is not guaranteed by American Airlines.

Q. What is a FAM, anyway?

A Federal Air Marshal is a specially trained plain clothes anti-terrorism law enforcement officer of the Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS), "a United States federal law enforcement agency under the supervision of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS)." (Wikipedia)

Q. What is a FAMs specific job?

"The Air Marshal Service is meant to promote confidence in civil aviation by effectively deploying federal air marshals (FAMs) to detect, deter, and defeat hostile acts targeting the United States." (TSA)
Other: AA might be required to seat a passenger with a small child together, displacing another passenger. There may be other reasons as well.

It is suggested you regularly check your itineraries to deal with route and flight changes (often unannounced) and seat changes (always unannounced).

Link to thread detailing use of Twitter for contact with AA (some have used for seat loss remediation)
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AA seat assignment loss / change / glitch / problem / FAM (master thread)

Old Sep 25, 2018, 3:54 pm
  #586  
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: JFK, LAX, LHR, DUB, MIA, ORD, MAD - heavy travel to all
Programs: EXP: 2014, 15, Final 7 Mo of 16, and all of 17 (soon to be '19-20). Big Bonvoy Users
Posts: 770
I have called AAdvantage customer service 3 times the past week hoping to get someone to pull a string or three. But no luck.

So today I DM'd @AmericanAir via Twitter and they responded twice within minutes.

I am super impressed with their response time - just not the answer.

Sorry for the cut & paste job here ...
  1. Hi there ... need a bit of help from AA customer service re my upcoming international travel. I just sent an email to customer service and was auto-generated a reference number: 1-27819039457 Would love some attention to it. Please please. I Love AA ... thank you!

    Delete this message sent 1 hour ago from
    1h1 hour agoSent
  2. We see your concerns, and at this time, we're not able to pre-reserve a seat for you on the departing flight out. We've checked the day before and the following two days, and aren't seeing any other First Class availability. Our gate team will do all they can to assign the seat on the day of departure. If by chance they have to do a downgrade, it would be to the Business cabin, not the main cabin.

    Report this message sent 1 hour ago from American AirlinesDelete this message sent 1 hour ago from American Airlines
    1h1 hour ago
  3. Thanks for the amazing fly quick reply. My issue is I pre-reserved 1st class (2J) and I was booted from 1st. If that’s the case and I’m destined for Business let’s just give me a biz seat now

    Delete this message sent 48 minutes ago from
    48m48 minutes agoSent
  4. We're still showing you ticketed in First Class for the flight. The gate agents will provide further assistance once you arrive.

    Report this message sent 33 minutes ago from American AirlinesDelete this message sent 33 minutes ago from American Airlines
    33m
nhila is offline  
Old Sep 28, 2018, 12:34 pm
  #587  
 
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: JFK, LAX, LHR, DUB, MIA, ORD, MAD - heavy travel to all
Programs: EXP: 2014, 15, Final 7 Mo of 16, and all of 17 (soon to be '19-20). Big Bonvoy Users
Posts: 770
So I have taken the advice of JJeffrey and enpremiere and tried taking the bull by the horns yesterday afternoon - here is what went own: I called Advantage CS again, got a Supervisor on the phone. She was sympathetic and I tried looking into what was going on here. Ultimately, she couldn't help my cause even after looking to re-book me on BA flights, etc.

However, she did use language that I was unfamiliar with ... and when asking her what she meant - she didn't explain with clarity. She said that "someone had my file pulled up" or "my file was currently pulled up" by another person or department which wasn't allowing her to get me a seat. I thought that was quite odd. I ended the call with her telling me I'll just have to check in on my reservation daily to see what's what. Thanks for everyone's guidance so far.
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Old Oct 21, 2018, 6:00 pm
  #588  
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Chicago
Programs: AA Plat Pro, HH Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 124
So, on 12/19 I'm routing from ORD to MCO through MIA. Normally I would fly direct, however they had a 77W scheduled on this route from 12/19 through 12/30. I figured I'd give it a try as I don't fly international and have always wanted to try out this aircraft, especially in first.

Well, I just checked today and AA has downgraded the aircraft from the 77W to the awful 767. I'm highly doubting they'll swap the aircraft again. Do I have any course of action or am I SOL?
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Old Oct 21, 2018, 8:51 pm
  #589  
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Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: NYC
Posts: 27,190
No course of action on a domestic flight. It's highly unlikely AA will waive a change fee or re-faring.
But the 767 is fine in the front cabin especially for a ~2 hour flight; there won't be any personal in-flight entertainment though.
ijgordon is offline  
Old Oct 21, 2018, 11:48 pm
  #590  
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Programs: AA EXP. HH DIAMOND.
Posts: 224
FA allowed to sit in passenger seat?

Interesting situation twice on on the ERJ145. I have been moved out of 1A, both times FA needed to sit in 1A because her jump seat was wet from boarding in a storm in CLT. First time the GA gave me 2A when the boarding pass didn't scan. Second time FA did it without telling anyone since the app still showed 1A and scanned properly

My question is are FAs allowed to not sit in their designated seats for take off & landing?
nismo240ssx is offline  
Old Oct 22, 2018, 7:28 am
  #591  
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Join Date: May 1998
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Posts: 6,410
Originally Posted by nhila
So I have taken the advice of JJeffrey and enpremiere and tried taking the bull by the horns yesterday afternoon - here is what went own: I called Advantage CS again, got a Supervisor on the phone. She was sympathetic and I tried looking into what was going on here. Ultimately, she couldn't help my cause even after looking to re-book me on BA flights, etc.

However, she did use language that I was unfamiliar with ... and when asking her what she meant - she didn't explain with clarity. She said that "someone had my file pulled up" or "my file was currently pulled up" by another person or department which wasn't allowing her to get me a seat. I thought that was quite odd. I ended the call with her telling me I'll just have to check in on my reservation daily to see what's what. Thanks for everyone's guidance so far.
Followup? From the beginning, this one sounded to me like a fraud investigation, not a FAM.
sbrower is offline  
Old Oct 22, 2018, 8:51 am
  #592  
Suspended
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Programs: AAdvantage PP
Posts: 13,913
Originally Posted by nismo240ssx
Interesting situation twice on on the ERJ145. I have been moved out of 1A, both times FA needed to sit in 1A because her jump seat was wet from boarding in a storm in CLT. First time the GA gave me 2A when the boarding pass didn't scan. Second time FA did it without telling anyone since the app still showed 1A and scanned properly

My question is are FAs allowed to not sit in their designated seats for take off & landing?
Good question. I always thought FAs tended an unobstructed view of the cabin, including the F cabin curtain being drawn back for take off and landing. If they are seated in a pax seat they can't see the cabin.
MiamiAirport Formerly NY George is offline  
Old Oct 22, 2018, 10:23 am
  #593  
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Join Date: May 2004
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Posts: 21,422
Originally Posted by ijgordon
No course of action on a domestic flight. It's highly unlikely AA will waive a change fee or re-faring.
But the 767 is fine in the front cabin especially for a ~2 hour flight; there won't be any personal in-flight entertainment though.
Actually, AA does have a policy regarding change of aircraft type.............
I used it recently when my 777 was swapped for a 738 from MIA to DFW and I lost my economy seats booked in the premium economy section
I was able to switch to an earlier flight, also into prem economy which I originally didn't take because it was much more expensive on a cruise day (1:40PM)

(Edit)
I have found it in the international rules, does it actually exist in the domestic rules?
https://www.aa.com/i18n/Tariffs/AA1.html
(C)SCHEDULE CHANGE IN THE EVENT, AFTER TICKET ISSUANCE, SCHEDULE CHANGES ARE MADE BY AA THAT:
  • (I)AFFECT A PASSENGER'S DEPARTURE AND/OR ARRIVAL BY 2 OR MORE HOURS;
  • (II) RESULT IN THE ADDITION OF AN INTERMEDIATE STOP ON THE PASSENGER'S ITINERARY;
  • (III) RESULT IN A SUBSTITUTION OF EQUIPMENT NOT ACCEPTABLE TO THE PASSENGER; OR

Last edited by mvoight; Oct 22, 2018 at 10:29 am
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Old Nov 14, 2018, 12:52 pm
  #594  
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Join Date: Mar 2000
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Disappearing seat assignments

I am finding that my seats on my SCL flights keep disappearing. One flight leaves in just a few days; last week, our 3 coach seats were there and today they are just gone. The agent said it was probably an equipment change, which I guess could be the case, as there are different versions of the 777.

Even as a gold elite, I am now no longer able to book seats together. At the 24 hour mark, I guess I can try to snag some main cabin extra seats: there is currently one complete row still left.

Obviously, having your 3 reserved seats on a 10 hour flight go "poof" and being told to take scattered middle seats is not a recipe for customer satisfaction. I kind of think that as a courtesy they should give me the main cabin extra seats now, but they say they can't do that. I guess under the rules, I'm just getting screwed and there's no remedy?
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Old Jan 21, 2019, 5:37 pm
  #595  
KLR
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
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Posts: 71
Seat ssigment gone at check in

I booked 2 business class award tickets as separate reservations for my husband & myself back in May for MIA-SCL departing tomorrow evening, when I went to check in this evening my seat had been changed from row 3 next to my husband to row 10, his stayed the same. As of this morning my seat was where I had picked it next to him. I called the Platinum desk to first find out why and then to either get it changed back or to at least move us both to get seated together. The agent I spoke with had a real attitude and was unable to either give me an answer why or get us seated together for the 8 hr flight. Because he had already checked in I couldnt change his seat online and she said she couldnt either. Her only suggestion was that 1 hr before flight time I could go online and change our seats, well by then the 2 rows that still had 2 seats together will probably be gone. Anyone have any ideas?
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Old Jan 21, 2019, 5:44 pm
  #596  
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
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Posts: 3,851
Sounds like you were bumped by a Federal air marshal (FAM). If that's the case you can't get your original seat back (and AA isn't allowed to tell you the reason you were bumped), but I'd try calling back to get a more sympathetic agent who might be able to un-check-in your husband and assign you seats together.
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Old Jan 21, 2019, 5:45 pm
  #597  
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,285
Originally Posted by KLR
I booked 2 business class award tickets as separate reservations for my husband & myself back in May for MIA-SCL departing tomorrow evening, when I went to check in this evening my seat had been changed from row 3 next to my husband to row 10, his stayed the same. As of this morning my seat was where I had picked it next to him. I called the Platinum desk to first find out why and then to either get it changed back or to at least move us both to get seated together. The agent I spoke with had a real attitude and was unable to either give me an answer why or get us seated together for the 8 hr flight. Because he had already checked in I couldnt change his seat online and she said she couldnt either. Her only suggestion was that 1 hr before flight time I could go online and change our seats, well by then the 2 rows that still had 2 seats together will probably be gone. Anyone have any ideas?
You got FAMed most likely.
Air Marshal probably wanted your row 3 seat...
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Old Jan 21, 2019, 5:48 pm
  #598  
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Posts: 1,285
Originally Posted by Science Goy
Sounds like you were bumped by a Federal air marshal (FAM). If that's the case you can't get your original seat back (and AA isn't allowed to tell you the reason you were bumped), but I'd try calling back to get a more sympathetic agent who might be able to un-check-in your husband and assign you seats together.
there is no need to call to uncheck. You can just pick any available seat that you see on the map via aa app even after check in. No matter how sympathetic the agent is, they wont be able to assign seats together if there is nothing else left.
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Old Jan 21, 2019, 5:49 pm
  #599  
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
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Posts: 3,851
Originally Posted by gateH15
No matter how sympathetic the agent is, they wont be able to assign seats together if there is nothing else left.
OP said there are two pairs of open seats.
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Old Jan 21, 2019, 5:53 pm
  #600  
KLR
 
Join Date: Aug 2000
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I have tried to change both my seat and his and it gives me an error that “there was a problem please try later”
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