Plane changed; cannot choose seats (Business Class)
 

We (husband and myself) have a flight to MIlan from JFK in March, booked with Alaska miles Business Class (while they were still partners). At the time of booking, the plane scheduled was a 777, and I was able to select our seats with no difficulty. Now it is an A380, which is great, but the website will not let me choose seats on the new plane, not in Manage My Booking or anywhere else that I can find. It says “call” but no one answers the phone at the USA number (1-800-777-3999). That was at 11:30 PST. I have no idea where the call center is located. Online chat is not working either.

I just joined Emirates Skywards (long after booking, so this flight is not on my membership)—-is there a better number to call? Or any other suggestions? A better time of day to call, or a different call center location?

I understand that we can choose seats at OLCI, which I see is 48 hours in advance. But I would really like to have this sorted in advance, as I have mild claustrophobia and much prefer a window seat. Also, we don’t want to end up in the middle, as there could be other passengers next to one or both of us.

Thank you for your help.

Although I cannot really solve your problem, there are a few tips:

1. You should be able to add your Skywards membership number to your booking. If you log into the website with your membership number and then search for the flight (using PNR and last name), you should be able to combine the two. It should even be possible to do this just through manage my booking. There is a space there to add your membership number.

2. You mention that you don't want to end up in the middle seats on the A380 in J because of close proximity to others. In fact I would suggest that an E/F pair is very suitable for a couple, there are no passengers anywhere near you because of the layout of the aircraft. Mrs t and myself always choose an E/F pair on the A380. You'll both have aisle access (although different aisles).

3. If you were able to choose seats on the previous aircraft, it would seem that you don'y have a 'saver' fare and therefore should have free seat selection. If you are still unsuccessful after coupling your booking to your Skywards number, you may want to try the 'live chat' option. Previously, the call centre was excellent, but lately (last few months) there seem to be big problems. Whether they have reduced staffing levels or just a high number of calls from passengers trying to resurrect bookings that were made 'dormant' due to Covid restrictions I can't say, but anecdotally chat is better than calling at the moment (although also not always brilliant).

Thank you so much; that is very helpful.

I did try adding the booking to my Skywards account after I joined but was unable to do so. I probably needed to refresh the website beforehand. I will try again later.

And I will re-consider that EF seat pair, since it is an overnight flight. Somehow I thought those were yin-yang seating like on British Airways J, but it sounds like they are not.

Nothing like BA seats. In the centre pair, you won't be able to see anybody but each other.

Try calling tomorrow morning (Saturday) around 9am eastern or so. The US number will most likely be routed to english speaking agents in Delhi, India.

If you are even slightly claustrofobic, BA Club World with the yin-jang seats must be very unpleasant. I have had one 11 hour flight in CW and the only positive was that the seat was very comfortable in bed position. Otherwise I did understand why it is sometimes referred to as ‘dormitory class’. I would like to try the Club Suites at some time.
Business class on the EK A380 is a totally different experience. To start with you all face forward. And you have plenty of storage space available within reach. And (especially in A, K seats for single travellers and E/F pairs for couples) there is lots of privacy as you are far away from the aisle and you can’t see the passenger in front or behind you. You won’t even be aware if those seats are occupied. Chalk and cheese as they say.