bumping the thread to say thanks for the discussion, and the tips--by waiting to check in until T-1 got MCE window on my first leg and preferred middle on my second...would never have thought to wait otherwise (years of trying for upgrades meant T-24 was the way to go). once again, flyertalk taught me something new, and allowed me to travel in comfort for a reasonable price. ^

with status or a credit card (and flyertalk) basic economy can be quite acceptable.

I truly believe that without status, you'll get more good seats in the long run buy booking basic economy and waiting until the last minute to check in. It's crazy, but I think the data would support it.

Thanks for the great info. My BE experience has always been with my family of 4 where we get assigned seats 24 hours after booking since we have little kids.

Does anyone have experience with flying as a party of 2 adults on BE. Will they give us the worst 2 seats individually at time of check in or the worst 2 seats together? Flying in 6 days and here is the current seat map. Assuming it looks nearly the same @ t-24, would I get 2 seats together in the teens or 2 middles in the 20s?

The answer will impact if I check in at t-24 or t-2.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...f3cc9a60f0.jpg

I assume the system will not try to keep 2 adults together on a BE fare unless one is disabled. If you want to sit together pay for seats now,

In my experience, if they are still there whenever you check in, you will get the middle seats in the back. If they're gone, you might get better seats--maybe middle + window or two MCE middle seats that no one wants to pay for or no AA elite wants or needs. That is why last minute seat assignments can be good in BE. On flights that weren't completely full, spouse and I twice got two aisle seats across from each other at t-2 check-in with BE, which is what we normally book anyway.

It's always a bit of a crapshoot, but if you check in at t-24 I think you're guaranteed to be split up and put in the back. If I were y'all, I would wait till the very last minute to check in.

whatever happens, dc703, please report back.

I'd like to think the system would try to keep two travelers together at T-24, even if adults, but that's probably wishful thinking.

Sure. I'm flying in a few days so I'll try to do a sceen grab of the seat map at 24 and 2 hours till. Looks like we will do t-2 hours. My wife and I would prefer to sit together but wouldn't pay for it. A few hours apart wont kill us.

I would also appreciate hearing about your experience as well.

My specific interest is how the system/algorithm treats families with young children. Honestly this is the first time we've ever purchased BE tickets on AA...wife insisted that we book BE to save over $400 for the family. I'm a bit more "puckered" over the upcoming experience...as our 3 year-old CANNOT sit alone. The 9 and 7 year old will fare OK if we have to be split. And I hate to have to rely on people's kindness, especially if we're all plunked into middle seats across the cabin and have no negotiating value.

As people have mentioned above, as an elite, my check-in mentality has long been the opposite of what people have discussed here...checking in right at T-24 and looking for upgrades before that time period. Obviously, our interest is ensuring that we're seated next to each other. At 2.5 weeks out, the cabins look relatively open, but again, I'm still tense about it, and my only remaining question is what is the best time to check in to increase our chances of being assigned adjacent seats, and to minimize my need to play "let's make a deal"? Based on seatmaps, it looks like a we would have a reasonable expectation to being assigned adjacent seats.

However, my two questions are:
1.) Does anyone have experience where, despite open window/aisle seats available, the system still "punishes" BE passengers and separates adult/child into all middle seats?
2.) Does anyone have experience where blocked/occupied seats on the seatmap are still assigned to BE passengers (I'm not talking about assigning multiple passengers to the same seat...more referring to "hidden seats" in the seat map of availability.

Thanks all!
Leighjohnwi

It's my understanding that AA will seat children next to at least one adult so your family could still be split between up in the sense you might not be seated together as a family. If you want seats together as a family I would suggest you purchase seats ahead of time if you see enough seats on the seat map together.

Where AA might assign seats is anyone's guess. BE will attempt to assign worst seats possible but since children will be with at least one adult that could vary.

If you are traveling with kids, you will get assigned seats ~24 hours after buying the ticket. They will be as far back as possible in the cabin, but they will be together.

However, I don't think AA guarantees the family will be together but that children will be seated with at least one parent. So Child one could be seated with Mother while Children 2 and 3 could be seated with Father.

Wait, now I'm confused here...

will we really get seats assigned around 24hrs after booking/purchase? Will I be able to see that in my reservation online? I'm not concerned about being seated together as the whole family...it will be more than satisfactory if my wife and are simply sitting with the kiddos.

You should see it on line once they make the assignments. 7 of us did a trip in BE this summer and we were all assigned seats about 1 day after ticketing. Although it was 2 separate PNRs, my wife, daughter and I (PNR 1) were assigned 3 seats together and my sister/brother-in-law/nephew (PNR 2 along with my other sister) were also assigned seat together. My other sister was odd person out, but still assigned seats when we were and right in front/next to our rows. The exception was the CRJ leg where they obviously could not seat all 3 together on the same side of the A/C. I recall one leg we were 2 rows behind my 1st sister and her family, but the kids will get assigned seats with at least 1 parent.

One more thing - it won't let you change those assignments without paying, so if they mess it up somehow, you might have to call.

I have a family of me, wife, 10 yr old, 7 yr old. and they auto assign us seats 24 hours AFTER BOOKING when booking with the 4 of us. Middle and Aisle seats auto assigned x2 on the same row at the back of the plane. No edits to seats even though i'm AA elite. it's happen to me 3 times.