Aug 8, 2016, 12:26 pm
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 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.
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)
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.
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)
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)
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)
AA seat assignment loss / change / glitch / problem / FAM (master thread)
Nov 22, 2017, 8:29 am
#436
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2004
Location: DFW/DAL
Programs: AA Lifetime PLT, AS MVPG, HH Diamond, NCL Platinum Plus, MSC Diamond
Posts: 21,422
Complain, and keep complaining if the resolution isn't to your satisfaction. There is no reason to accept this service failure like a dumb little lamb being led to slaughter. One key point about the American attitude towards customer service: the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
It is not the goal of AA to kick elites out of pre-reserved seating.
Nov 22, 2017, 11:47 pm
#437
Join Date: Nov 2008
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 124
What's required to document a disability? Old, feeble, wheelchair, broken bones/cast, PTSD, replacement hip, knees, etc.? The little google-fu I did indicates that a passenger is required to document that up front - which means that they should be able to accommodate a disabled passenger before they just show up at the airport. I suppose it's possible that happen(s)(ed) when they've already booked all the bulkhead seats.
As an aside, I rarely select a bulkhead seat, instead selecting a MCE non-bulkhead. I almost always find an aisle seat if I book the ticket a few days in advance.
As an aside, I rarely select a bulkhead seat, instead selecting a MCE non-bulkhead. I almost always find an aisle seat if I book the ticket a few days in advance.
Nov 23, 2017, 11:35 am
#438
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: LAX
Posts: 3,267
Let's not go inventing justifications. The reason could just as easily have been that the GA's buddy wanted the seat, or that the GA just didn't like the OP's tie. Why not complain and force AA to provide an explanation?
Nov 23, 2017, 12:26 pm
#439
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,600
AA is not going to be forced to give an explanation though; a seating request is not guaranteed
Nov 23, 2017, 2:11 pm
#440
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: LAX
Posts: 3,267
True, and I wouldn't believe any explanation I might get from AA anyway because it would certainly be canned. None of this changes the fact that the OP should complain, though. From his point of view, a service failure occurred. That is reason enough.
Nov 23, 2017, 3:07 pm
#441
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,600
The OP also knows that AA is perfectly entitled to move passengers, so what is there to complain about really?
Nov 23, 2017, 3:20 pm
#442
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Denver, CO, USA
Programs: Sometimes known as [ARG:6 UNDEFINED]
Posts: 26,700
Nov 23, 2017, 6:27 pm
#443
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: LAX
Posts: 3,267
Nov 29, 2017, 11:54 am
#444
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: Denver, Colorado, USA
Programs: AS MVP 100K, UA PremEx-MM
Posts: 3,335
Unwanted Seat Change
This is minor but still annoying. I had a reservation for LAX-DEN, seated in an aisle in row 2 (A319 aircraft). This was booked way back in June.
Check-in time came and I noticed that I am now in 1C. Called AA and was told "too bad, we may have needed the seat for a service animal or some other reason." "Seat assignments are never guaranteed." Rather indifferent was the impression I got.
Sat in 1C; didn't see any service animals in row 2 or anything else unusual.
I wrote to AA and received a "sorry" response (very quickly) but no compensation (yes, I asked). Reasons for seat changes: "equipment changes, schedule changes, class of service changes, agent error, broken seats, disability mandates along with TSA security mandates may prevent us from achieving our objective 100% of the time." Besides TSA I can see none of these applying.
Is AA always so non-chalant about such matters? Just venting my frustration.
Check-in time came and I noticed that I am now in 1C. Called AA and was told "too bad, we may have needed the seat for a service animal or some other reason." "Seat assignments are never guaranteed." Rather indifferent was the impression I got.
Sat in 1C; didn't see any service animals in row 2 or anything else unusual.
I wrote to AA and received a "sorry" response (very quickly) but no compensation (yes, I asked). Reasons for seat changes: "equipment changes, schedule changes, class of service changes, agent error, broken seats, disability mandates along with TSA security mandates may prevent us from achieving our objective 100% of the time." Besides TSA I can see none of these applying.
Is AA always so non-chalant about such matters? Just venting my frustration.
Nov 29, 2017, 12:13 pm
#445
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP, UA Platinum, Alaksa MVP 75K, Air Berlin Gold, HHonors Diamond, Marriott Gold, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,389
This is minor but still annoying. I had a reservation for LAX-DEN, seated in an aisle in row 2 (A319 aircraft). This was booked way back in June.
Check-in time came and I noticed that I am now in 1C. Called AA and was told "too bad, we may have needed the seat for a service animal or some other reason." "Seat assignments are never guaranteed." Rather indifferent was the impression I got.
Sat in 1C; didn't see any service animals in row 2 or anything else unusual.
I wrote to AA and received a "sorry" response (very quickly) but no compensation (yes, I asked). Reasons for seat changes: "equipment changes, schedule changes, class of service changes, agent error, broken seats, disability mandates along with TSA security mandates may prevent us from achieving our objective 100% of the time." Besides TSA I can see none of these applying.
Is AA always so non-chalant about such matters? Just venting my frustration.
Check-in time came and I noticed that I am now in 1C. Called AA and was told "too bad, we may have needed the seat for a service animal or some other reason." "Seat assignments are never guaranteed." Rather indifferent was the impression I got.
Sat in 1C; didn't see any service animals in row 2 or anything else unusual.
I wrote to AA and received a "sorry" response (very quickly) but no compensation (yes, I asked). Reasons for seat changes: "equipment changes, schedule changes, class of service changes, agent error, broken seats, disability mandates along with TSA security mandates may prevent us from achieving our objective 100% of the time." Besides TSA I can see none of these applying.
Is AA always so non-chalant about such matters? Just venting my frustration.
Nov 29, 2017, 12:16 pm
#446
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: ORD
Programs: Once a somebody now a nobody
Posts: 514
This is minor but still annoying. I had a reservation for LAX-DEN, seated in an aisle in row 2 (A319 aircraft). This was booked way back in June.
Check-in time came and I noticed that I am now in 1C. Called AA and was told "too bad, we may have needed the seat for a service animal or some other reason." "Seat assignments are never guaranteed." Rather indifferent was the impression I got.
Sat in 1C; didn't see any service animals in row 2 or anything else unusual.
I wrote to AA and received a "sorry" response (very quickly) but no compensation (yes, I asked). Reasons for seat changes: "equipment changes, schedule changes, class of service changes, agent error, broken seats, disability mandates along with TSA security mandates may prevent us from achieving our objective 100% of the time." Besides TSA I can see none of these applying.
Is AA always so non-chalant about such matters? Just venting my frustration.
Check-in time came and I noticed that I am now in 1C. Called AA and was told "too bad, we may have needed the seat for a service animal or some other reason." "Seat assignments are never guaranteed." Rather indifferent was the impression I got.
Sat in 1C; didn't see any service animals in row 2 or anything else unusual.
I wrote to AA and received a "sorry" response (very quickly) but no compensation (yes, I asked). Reasons for seat changes: "equipment changes, schedule changes, class of service changes, agent error, broken seats, disability mandates along with TSA security mandates may prevent us from achieving our objective 100% of the time." Besides TSA I can see none of these applying.
Is AA always so non-chalant about such matters? Just venting my frustration.
Nov 29, 2017, 3:48 pm
#449
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: DCA
Programs: UA US CO AA DL FL
Posts: 50,262
It is not worth speculating about why AA changed OP's seat. Bottom line is that the following provisions from the contract which OP agreed to make it crystal clear that AA may change seat assignments and does not owe OP anything. OP could fly other carriers, but he won't find any which guarantee specific seats.
- 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.