Seat Allocation Rant
 

Just checked us in for a trip we are taking tomorrow afternoon (NWI-AMS-RIX).

We're in the same PNR, and from what I can see we were the first to check in for both flights.

Our pre-allocated seats were something like 9D and 11A on one flight and 10A and 12C on the other.

Needless to say I did manage to move us into adjacent seats... but why oh why can't the system seat people together any more when they are clearly travelling together? This never used to be a problem in the past...

Aviatrix, I've travelled loads of KL intra-Europe this year with the Mrs., and I can tell you that not once have we been pre-assigned seats together. Every time we've been booked on the same PNR.

Last year, at least we were seated together.

This really stinks because if you don't do online checkin, you're screwed.

I had a discussion about this with the AMS lounge staff - they just rolled their eyes at the uselessness of the seat allocation system. Their advice was to call once the reservation had been made & get the reservation staff to insert manually that passengers on the same PNR should be seated together.

So, clearly, this is a case of the system not working as it should. But how does one get a bug report to those in charge of the system? I know that writing to Customer Service won't do any good because the message won't get passed on - I tried it once with another bug I discovered and they just wrote back telling me there was no bug!

Hopefully this will improve through the influation of AirFrance. Their seat-assignment scheme on domestic French routes is quite nice. If you have an ElitePlus (incl. KLM FD) card in your booking you are automatically seated in the first 5-6-7 rows. If you do not have the card in the booking you are stuck in the back. Not sure how they do two-people-in-the-same-PNR though.

A second thought; could it be that the system refuses to put PEs in a B/E seat initially? Hence prioritizing not giving someone a bad seat over seating someone next to their travel partner.

That's how it used to work on KLM before they screwed up the system - and people in the same PNR were always seated together.

In our case the aircraft is a F50 with 2-2 seating...

Interesting complaint. In prior flights, I have had to call UA, US, AA, BA, and a few others I do not recall at the moment many times to get a person who would allow me and my wife to sit in a pattern other than aisle and center seat.

The last go round in Jan with UA, the guy refused to give us 8 D&F on an empty 777 business class, claiming he was going to "fill C with employees!"

or: AZ on their 767's in FEB, where they do not have seat diagrams, and do not know how the rows are structured in C class.( seating was 2-2-1). wife and I were separated by a seat and an aisle.

uhh? I have been stuck at the back (viz. the third section, after business and tempo challenge) flying with AF as an E+ (FD Gold).

Unless I am mistaken, you are referring to 3-class intra-European flights, while larsll is referring to 1 class domestic flights.

I sent KL a complaint about Select Seating via the contact form on their website, and to my amazement received a prompt reply from KLM e-services. They said the issue was beyond their remit, but that my e-mail had been forwarded to the appropriate department. It took a while, but when I checked in online last week it looked as if the problem had been resolved.

johan

:o indeed. I will have to read more carefully next time.

It's getting worse!
 

Just checked us in for a pair of flights tomorrow, and whereas they usually had us two or three rows apart in the past, this time they put one of us in 15D and the other one in 5A on our connecting flight! (9A and 11A on NWI-AMS, which is about the usual standard). As always both flights were wide open.

Same problem at the weekend for us.

One of us is platinum, the other silver.

From AMS to HUY, we didn't get a chance to on-line checkin. By the time we got to the airport, one of us was in row 4 and the other in 12. We were lucky though as two seats together were still available in row 17. Not my row of choice but at least we could still sit together.

I don't think one's elite levels come into this. We have been at the same level for at least the past five years (RW, then PE, now GE) yet the system always wants to put us in different rows. If we were different levels, and if they still had select seating, I'd sort of understand. But we're not, and they don't. I think it's just a case of poor programming.

I agree. We are both PE and they always split us up. They seem to be encouraging Partner Swopping on board! I sense a new reality TV program possibility.