PAUJAU

My (new) husband and I are going to Hawaii for our honeymoon and have 2 flights each way. We booked through Expedia so we didn't get to choose our seats upon purchasing the tickets and now I'm looking on AA.com and only the preferred and main cabin extra seats are available for purchase. I called AA to try to play the honeymoon card to see if they could hook me up, but that didn't work and I was told that unless we purchased the seats there was no guarantee we could sit together but maybe the agent at check in could help. I don't really want to shell out another couple of hundred dollars but I don't want to risk not sitting together and waiting for check in. How likely is it that 2 seats will open up together? Is it worth the risk in waiting?

obscure2k

Welcome to Flyertalk, PAUJAU and congratulations on your marriage.
I am moving your topic to the American Airlines Forum. Please follow there
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Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

rjw242

Congrats and welcome to FT!

If you check in at the 24-hour mark, there's a decent chance you'll at least get two seats in the same row (window+aisle most likely). Then, whoever's in the middle seat would almost certainly be happy to switch. Another option is to ask at the airport -- some seats are blocked for selection and only available once the flight is under airport control, so a check-in or gate agent might be able to seat you together.

That said, as the phone agent noted, the only way to essentially guarantee that you'll sit together is to pay for seat reservations in advance.

bmibaby737

Flown back from Auckland to Heathrow but via LAX on AA. Moved my flight forward to about 20 days from the time of moving. Only MCE available bar one or two middle seats, really wanted a window seat. After checking the seat map twice a day for ages, about 7 days before departure heaps of seats opened up. I'd just keep checking.

jcatman

The "honeymoon" card?

When you and (new) husband board the plane, ask to switch seats with a fellow passenger and offer to buy that person a couple of drinks during the flight.

Aloha.

HelpAppreciated

I fly AA often and I find passengers (and myself) are pretty accommodating once you've boarded the flight

I wouldnt pay the additional money either.

1) Arrive early and ask for different seats. If this fails or they have already gone to "gate control" ask again at the gate

2) Ask fellow travellers to move who tend to be rather accommodating, especially if you have something to offer-aisle for aisle, window for window etc. Im not sure what you have but you would be better off selecting 2 aisle seats or an aisle and a window or 2 window seats in nearby rows, then anyone with a center seat will gladly swap you. Should work like a charm

diver858

Rather than waste time checking the website daily, set seat alerts on Expert Flyer.

worldspan

Somewhere between 24-25 hours out of flight a fair number of seats will open up.

DoTheBartMan

I've seen lots of people trying to play the "honeymoon card" to get a free upgrade on flights to the Maldives. Never mind that there are probably 50+ newlywed couples on any given flight there, most of them hoping for a free upgrade because they're "special"...

bmibaby737

Yeah well... this was back when I didn't know things existed.

pinniped

This.

Actually, I'd probably check AA.com often in the days leading up to the flight.

Main thing is to get yourselves any two non-middle seats you can. Then, you can offer it to the person in the middle next to one of you. If they are traveling solo, they'll be happy to take your aisle/window.

But even if they don't want to switch, you're still on the same plane and you're heading to Hawaii, where you will arrive at (approximately) the same time.

I wouldn't pay anything for a "preferred" seat on AA. I might consider paying for MCE, depending on the price and whether two nice ones are together. I'm AA Gold, so I just gamble on MCE availability at check-in. Sometimes I get it; sometimes I don't.

flymeAAway

Depending on your routing and dates of travel I would be skeptical of a seat trade since these are heavy tourist routes (families and couples) and not many solo travelers. Unlikely seats will open up until the 24 hour mark. Any weight listed upgrades processed will likely be elites coming from preferred seats.

enviroian

Why burden another customer with your seat request? Sorry, but it's not my concern that another passenger was too cheap to pay for assigned preferred seating in advance.

Aloha

rickg523

No harm in asking though. They might come across someone more like me, who when traveling solo almost always moves for couple. or families. "Almost" means I'm not moving to a middle seat in the last row between two COS, but any reasonable request, put politely, will be considered.

enviroian

When I'm politely asked to move to keep a family together I will of course move assuming it's equal or better seat. When it comes to situations where a husband and wife want to sit together and in this case something as special as a honeymoon for God's sake why risk it and burden another customer. If being together is that important to you, then OPEN your wallet.

That's all I'm saying.