dtremit

Running into something strange — I placed an award on hold yesterday, HND-JFK on JL connecting to JFK-BOS on AA. The JFK-BOS leg (which is on an A321T, if it matters here) was shown throughout the booking process as business (I'm pretty sure it showed U) and I was able to select seats in business.

However, my confirmation email and the AA website show that segment in economy. The email says the reservation is in T, and the website shows a $0 charge for Main Cabin Extra. The seat reservations in the J cabin are still there, though.

Has anyone run into this before? Is there something I should clarify with the agent before ticketing the reservation? Obviously it's not a huge deal on a 40 minute flight, but I'd rather sit in the nicer seats after a transpacific flight.

guv1976

AA does not sell Business Class on the BOS-JFK route. On flights operated with a three-class aircraft, Main Cabin Extra seats include those in the 2x2 cabin that is sold as "Business" on routes where Business Class is offered.

Have you checked your seat assignment on the seat map for your BOS-JFK flight?

dtremit

Aha -- thank you. Yes -- we do indeed have assigned seats in the 2x2 cabin that's used for transcon J bookings. That's actually what had me most confused, as those seats were shown as "Business" when reserving the flight and selecting seats.

So that makes more sense now (and also explains why we were in the 1x1 cabin on the same flight on our last J award through JFK).

I suppose in theory I could set up an alert for U class on that flight and move up to the next cabin? Although I can't imagine it's worth the bother...

Flying for Fun

There isn't J on the A321T JFK-BOS, it isn't a Flagship route. What would be Flagship F on a transcon is sold as domestic F on the route. Flagship J is sold as MCE so you will get a lie-flat on the flight. Similar to PE being sold as MCE on the domestic, non Hawaii/Alaska widebodies.

James

redtop43

I'm not intimately familiar with this route, but I wasn't aware of AA using the 3-class A321's on JFK-BOS. A321T is an aircraft, not a seating configuration.

When they use 3-class widebodies (J/W/Y) on domestic routes, the J cabin is sold as first class and the W cabin is sold as MCE. The B772's are configured that way. When the B773's are used on domestic non-Flagship routes (rare), the two F rows in the front are also sold as domestic first class, same as J.

Note that sometimes AA refers to domestic first class as "business" particularly in fare classes, so I and J are "business" class but book into the first class seats.

What is the date and flight number? That would be helpful.

Flying for Fun

772, 77W have 4 classes, on contiguous domestic Flagship routes, PE is sold as MCE.

Similar here on the A321T. It is not a Flagship route so F is domestic F & J is sold as MCE.


Rows 6-10 are lie-flat in a 2-2 configuration. As you can see, they are Main Cabin & Highlighted in Orange showing as MCE on the route.


James

redtop43

If that's the case, note that the seats in F are the same as in J, except that the J seats are 2-2 and therefore the window seats do not have direct aisle access. I've flown in F on this bird but not J.

In F you will get regular F domestic service, and in MCE (including rows 6-10) you will get regular MCE service, whatever those are at the time.

So if you get a "First" or "Business" confirmation and are in rows 1-5, that's what you'll get. If you get an "Economy" confirmation but are in rows 6-10, you will get a lie-flat seat.

Catbert10

If you were booked in T, AA considers this to be a mixed class award and you aren't considered to be waitlisted for U. If you try to grab U space later AA will re-price the award.

guv1976

Re-price it to what? AAdvantage awards with even one leg in a premium cabin are priced as if every leg were in that cabin. (AA does not have lower pricing for mixed-cabin awards.)

platbrownguy

Yes, set the alert, no reason not to. Contrary to some info above there is no repricing of the itinerary. And the F seats aren't the "same" as J other than being 1x1 -- they are also more spacious and have more storage etc.

That said, it's such a short flight that it is no big deal if you don't get the F seats. The J-sold-as-MCE seats are still great. (And for us, having the 321T on the connection takes at least some of the sting out of having to drive to & park at BOS rather than flying out of PWM).