AA award booking Iberia vs AA codeshare?
 

Hi, I have a held booking for AA FF tickets to/from Europe next Spring. As part of the return flight, I am booked on Iberia 6275 from MAD to ORD. There is also the same flight as an AA code share flight 7615. Since I can actually choose seats online with the AA flight - I was going to call and see if AA could change to the AA codeshare(as long as it is available). Am I missing any advantage to keeping this as the Iberia flight? Thank you in advance! Cheryl

You can't book award seats on AA7615, only on IB6275. Either way, you wouldn't be able to choose seats online on an AA codeshare operated by IB.

Thanks, I suppose that is why AA did not offer me that option in the first place! I can pick seats if I "buy" a flight on the AA codeshare flight tho and that is what started me down this path.

Are you sure? I haven't been able to on my codeshares (albeit with SN, maybe it's different).

You cannot pick seats on aa.com for AA codeshares on IB metal.

I can confirm that you cannot pick seats on AA codeshares on IB. You can for all other airlines that I've tried (e.g. AA codeshare on QF). Worse yet, IB allocates the worst seats to the AA codeshare, you basically get the leftovers (unless you are EXP in which case AA can sometimes negotiate for a seat, but it is a manual process). IB does everything that it can to discourage codeshares and make sure you book IB next time (if you ever fly IB again). They are not codeshare friendly.

I haven't been able to pick seats online on AA codeshares operated by BA, EI, IB, LA or QF.

I don't think it is generally possible to book an award using codeshares (except in some special cases) so really the argument about picking seats etc using an AA codeshare becomes null.

Try calling IB and see if they will help you select seats, although I wish you luck. My experience of the call centres is pretty poor with most staff being extremely rude.

As I have stated in other threads, IB in the air can be quite good (especially up front), but on the ground and via the phone they are difficult.

Worth a try, I suppose, but unlikely, as it is one of the perks reserved for IB elites. Long ago I joined their FF programme, just for this purpose, and it has worked fine over the years, even though I have never credited a single mile to it.

Thank you for the replies. I went back and in fact was not able to see the "view seats" option on the AA codeshare - I must have been at the computer for too long :) I am concerned now about seat selection for this IB flight. There will be 3 of us, me, my husband and teen daughter. It sounds like we might be relegated to whatever they have left that day - is that true? We are booked on the IB flight - not the codeshare - but they are FF tickets. Also, do I gain anything by joining IB's FF program? The last post gave me the impression that this may help with seating. If this flight could be that horrible - I am now reconsidering this routing. Thank you! Cheryl

Yes, and no. AA can, and sometimes will, be able to request seats from IB for you, and usually IB will respond within a day or two. Try it.

Yes, if you join you will be able to phone IB and pick a seat.

Thank you Viajero, I have just joined IberiaPlus to be safe and when I call to purchase the tickets, I will ask AA to get me seats. Thanks again for the information. Cheryl

Yes, IB will let you select specific seats if you call them. I just did it last week with an AA OneWorld award. However, you will need to provide them with the IB locator number which is different from your AA locator number. If you call AA they can look it up for you.

The other option is to ask AA to select seats for you, but that just means they send a request to IB and there are no guarantees about what you get.

Hi, rrgg - thank you for the additional info on calling Iberia for seats. I have been reading other threads in this forum and just finished one on how bad Iberia is to fly - hoping to hear something positive here as I will be flying from VCE-MAD for a stopover and then MAD-ORD the next day. It seems like there are a lot of reasons for me to try to change my routing before I finally ticket these. Yet, now my daughter is really hoping for the Madrid stopover(she is learning Spanish). Thanks again! Cheryl

IB is not as bad as some say. Personally I find them fine in the sky, particularly up front. Where I personally have found them poor is with their ground and telephone sales & service. Unfortunately if your initial contact is poor, even if something later is good within their service delivery, you are unlikely to remember is quite as positively. This is IBs core issue.