jimmielin

Hello all,

As you may certainly notice, the LATAM Seat Selection system has changed in the last couple of weeks and along with it, it seems like oneworld sapphires can no longer select for free the rows 1~3 (extra space / front) seats on domestic LA Chile & Peru flights.

I couldn't find official guidance on the matter so are OWSs entitled to these seats, or it's only for LATAM elites only, or no-one is supposed to get them complimentary now? Or would I have to call in to do so? Thanks!

SandpinChile

I am Black/OWE and for next week's Chile domestic flight I can select front row seats for free but not my preferred exit row which I was able to do until the recent changes. I will try for these when I check in online. My ticket is Access which may or may not influence the outcome.

jimmielin

Thanks, and please let me know the results at check-in

I just saw that the website's manage my booking shows the correct baggage allowance for non-LA/JJ OWS now, so I suppose they are gradually adding features as they go to accommodate the elites.

We won the world cup

I'm OWE and flew four flights with wife in last two weeks gaining access to first three rows. First flight was Argentine internal from AEP to IGR and first three rows had extra leg room, it appeared that they had filled all seats bar one with non status passengers as the back had filled up.

Second flight was international from IGU (Brazil) to LIM in a A319 for four hours. The back of the plane seemed full but there were only 6 passengers in the first three rows, also with extra legroom, so we each had three seats each. It seemed that the front three rows had been kept for status passengers.

Third and fourth flights were internal Peru from LIM to CUZ and return. On these flights there was no extra legroom and, once online checkin opened, there was free allocation of the first three rows to allcomers, confirmed by checkin supervisor at CUZ.

So policy seems somewhat inconsistent.

For those interested in the catering on the internal Argentine flight we received a box of snacks such as biscuits, on the four hour international flight we received a filled roll and a biscuit, and on the internal Peru flights it was BOB plus free water, hot or cold.

andreadbc

I flew domestic JAE-LIM a few days ago and there was a passenger that asked to switch seats to the emergency exit row (12) while boarding because his friend was sitting there (there were several empty seats).
The flight attendant denied the request because the seats have additional cost ("asientos favoritos").

sdsearch

OK, but what status if any did that person have?

Just because it's not free for all doesn't prove that it's not free for those with sufficient status of a certain kind.

In case you're not aware, the "OWS" in the thread title is short for oneworld Sapphire (middle status level in the OW alliance).

SandpinChile

So I checked in online last night but could not select an exit row seat. In my ipad app LATAM list that only Blacks and Black Signatures can pre-select Space + and Forward+ seats. I do not know if Exit Row seats are included in these terms.

andreadbc

I wanted to comment that the seats didn't seem to be assigned without cost (or status) if the plane wasn't full.

We couldn't select the seats online for some reason (LATAM pass platinum on the reservation), had to use the call center.

jimmielin

Thanks all for the answers. I saw the exit row seats were un-occupied (via KVS), but blocked (on the web), and calling LATAM would not allow me assign those seats. The agent could not see I was OWS either. I will try calling again soon, but I'm probably not too concerned about seats on a 1 hour flight :P

sdsearch

On all my LATAM Argentina flights about a year and a half ago, the only way I could get an exit row seat was at airport check-in,, starting two hours before the flight. At that point, the exit row tended to be empty, and I could pick my choice of seat there. By the time I boarded, most every seat in the exit row was taken. But I don't know how soon after 2 hours before they started getting taken.

jimmielin

Another update: HUACA worked to assign those seats, but I had to call LATAM Brazil (in Portuguese) to do that. They could access both the LAN and TAM flights separately and were able to assign me whichever seat I wanted, so I grabbed 1ABC or 2DEF for the party :P

This worked on both Int'l and Domestic flights. As long as you have status and reach the right agent, I think the seats can be assigned.

jdtravels

I selected 1A on a few flights, but have since been kicked out of the seats... let's see whether the call centre can reassign those seats to me