josmul123

My hunch is there was no "software bug." The agent was probably seeing who was going to get booted (lowest status, last to check in, etc) and giving you his or her seat... But maybe it was a software bug.

I had a situation once where I missed a connection at ORD due to weather delays, got booked on the next flight at the AC (She said she was overbooking it for me), got to the gate just as they were booting a passenger who was traveling in a group to make room for me, because they had asked for volunteers while I was on my way to the gate and didn't get any. So, I volunteered, got moved to the next flight, and the next flight ended up leaving before the flight I volunteered on due to more rolling delays. Everyone was happy. I got home. Guy got on flight with his friends/family, I got a voucher, and the next day, AA e-mailed me a 10k mile customer service gesture apologizing for the delays.

captaink

Purely speculating, but I recall a thread a few years ago about someone getting into trouble because they were (unintentionally) creating multiple duplicate PNRs that were temporarily holding seats back from sale by going through the booking flow for a given flight multiple times over the course of a few days, but not actually clicking "Purchase" after selecting flights/seats. Is it possible that the "bug" was related to that? I could see a case where an elite might click through the booking process inside T-4 to see how many F seats are available to judge their odds of getting an upgrade, at least if they're not aware of the option to view seatmaps by going to the flight schedules page and searching for their flight.

I'd imagine the departure control system has a much more realistic view of available seats than the website, which has to balance real-time accuracy of inventory against the practical limitations of the booking process by holding back tickets & seats temporarily so 3 people can't simultaneously buy the last seat.

RAD_PDX

I booked a flight for later this week using AS miles that includes a domestic business class (a319) segment on AA. I am unable to select a seat and it says they will be assigned at the airport. The seat map shows all seats as unavailable on AA and as occupied on Expert Flyer, yet Expert Flyer still says J1. AA is still selling 1 ticket so that matches the J1 on Expert Flyer. Any thoughts on if this is a potential overbooking situation or perhaps something else?

rucksack

The most likely situation is that seats are blocked for some reason (blocked seats don't always show up as blocked on EF). It is possible that AA is overselling J, but it's extremely unlikely in my opinion that they would offer a partner mileage award on a sold-out cabin.

fdog

I find this an interesting data point, and am curious why it might happen...?

All the best, James

rucksack

According to ExpertFlyer's FAQ: "Sometimes seats are blocked for airport assignment at the day of the flight. On our map they will show as occupied when it's really just held for the gate agent."

My guess is that EF's integration with some airlines doesn't allow them to differentiate between blocked and occupied.

ExpertFlyer Voice

Seats that are "Blocked" on AA do show up as Blocked on EF, there is no integration issue. The J1 could be an overbooking situation, either way the seats are in fact being published as Occupied.

RAD_PDX

Quick follow-up on my situation. I checked this morning and was able to select a seat (5 of 8 were available to pick from) and at the time EF still showed J1. EF now shoes J0 and AA is no longer selling the J cabin. I assume J is now full but some people simply haven't picked seats because they saw the same thing I did and weren't able to? Not sure...