restlessinRNO

A warning to UA fliers.

I usually fly RNO-SFO-ORD-YYZ on UA to maximize miles and to upgrade to F. However on an upcoming flight to YYZ over Xmas, I was forced to book Air Canada's direct flight SFO-YYZ to arrive earlier in Toronto. Now of course I appreciate there will be no E+, far less F. However when I called UA for seat assignment, they told me to call AC. AC then told me there would be no seat assignment, except at the gate! It has been a long time since I've had a middle seat in coach, but perhaps this will be AC's Christmas surprise for me, on this 5 hour flight. Something has changed, because when I last flew AC about a year ago, I always received advance seat assignment.

Sometimes I read complaints about UA on this board. However I feel generally UA offers a superior service. (And yes, I've flown Ted!) I keep wishing though that UA would bring back its own SFO-YYZ flight. It would leave from the International Terminal, so if my upgrade to F cleared, it would be off to the International F lounge at SFO. Those were the days!

zrs70

Call AC again. (And again if necessary). I've always been able to book a seat on the codeshare. (Now, if there are no seats left for advance assignment, that's a different story).

Q Shoe Guy

Did you book under AC or UA ? Some of AC's fare classes (Tango R,I,N,G,P,E,T) will require a seat selection charge of $10 (7 $US) at time of booking. Also no standby , and the points will not be status miles on AE (although points might post to UA s program).

CApreppie

Once again (with all airlines), it all depends on who you get on the phone. Some agents are much more inclined to be helpful than others. I had to call a couple times to get seat assignments for my father on his recent flight to Canada and he was on an AC ticket. Since you are *G, AC should definitely accomodate your seat assignment request. If you get a balky agent, politely cut your losses and call back.

restlessinRNO

Thank you for your advice. Ticket was booked on united.com. I phoned AC again. After the agent first told me to call UA, then put me on hold while he called UA, finally he told me I could not get seat assignment until I checked in at the gate. Perhaps I'll call again in a few days time, but it seems the answer is NO.

Howard

I just had a similar situation. UA told me they got a memo about three weeks ago saying that seat selection on AC flights booked with UA flight numbers is no longer available. I also called AC, who said only UA could book the seats. When I told the AC agent what UA said, AC said seat selection would therefore be at the airport only. I'll probably email UA to complain.

TonySCV

In the past, it's been that UA can book the seats, but they don't have access to AC's seatmap to find out which seats are available. It usually involved two calls - one to AC to find out which seats are open, and then another to UA to give them the seat #'s to reserve.

This may have changed recently, but as of 2 months ago, that was the process.

Boraxo

I ran into this problem (again) last week.

Call #1 to UA 2P line: "Sorry, you have to go through Air Canada to book this seat. We don't have access to their system." (AFAIK the last sentence is a lie as they can easily pull up the reservation as indicated in call #3.)

Call #2 to AC. Very friendly agent but still no success. Naturally first response was to pass the buck: "Try United." After being told of United's response, some clicks are heard, then: "I don't see why this isn't working. This is not a Tango fare. (Also notes 2P status.) Normally I can request seats but it won't even let me put in the request. We just upgraded our computer software. Try again after Jan 23."

Call #3 to UA 2P line. I am transferred to "international desk" (still 2P?) This time I get someone helpful. "Let me see what I can do." Many keystrokes and 2 (internal) calls later: "I tried to request seats but the system would not confirm. Also called Air Canada but they couldn't do it. Cannot understand why as this is not a Tango fare and you are a 2P. Suggest you
try back another time."

Aaargh! Why is it so difficult for a *A carrier to make a seat assignment on a codeshare? I can't believe that it hasn't aroused more ire on FT. Doesn't anyone else use ual.com to book code-share on Air Canada?

Edited to add:

Call #4 to UA ual.com line. "We can't touch it - I'm transferring you to reservations. Disconnect"

Call #5 to 2P account line: "Sorry we don't have access to reservations, only your MP account. I can transfer you to 2P reservations." After voice prompts, I was connected with an agent who said that she was sending a "request" to AC for specific seats. I guess that is the best they can do. Not holding my breath.

exerda

My experience with some UA codeshares on US metal has been similar. UA has tried, both on the phone and at the departure gate (first segments on UA metal) to assign a seat, and have always failed. US phone people always send me back to UA. I get to the US segment and always get an exit row seat w/o a problem... just annoying that I can't pick a seat ahead of time to avoid a possible middle seat on an A319 mess. It doesn't seem to matter if I book through united.com or other sites (such as my corporate travel site); the UA ones let me pick exit rows & E+ based on my MP#, but certain US flights never let me pick seats (and this seems to be an increasing % of US flights, too)

BenjaminNYC

What if you booked it as an AC flight number? Is there some advantage to booking a UA flight number? It's not like you get UA BIS miles or anything... And with AC flight, you get the same EQM no?

TonySCV

Actually, as of late, it's been CHEAPER to book using the AC flight # directly LAX-YVR.

To answer your question, if you book with an AC flight number, not only can you call AC directly to reserve seats, you can do it on united.com. The AC seatmap ONLY shows up if you DON'T book the codeshare flight. Try a dummy booking.

For codeshare flights, that's what I do. I make a dummy booking on ual.com with the AC flight #'s, find out what's available - call UA and tell them to book that seat, and I get it every time.

On UA codeshares UA can't see AC's seatmap, but they can request the seat. If you do your homework and find out what seats are available, it'll work every time (it has for me) - provided the agent knows they can do it. Calling the Int'l desk usually gets you in touch with a knowledgable person.

bmr12

My experience recently booking an AC segment on ual.com was similar. The AC segment (YOW->ORD) in my case failed to show any available seats on the seat map at the time of booking, but as soon as I purchased, the two of us were assigned seats. Kinda bizarre.

Morrissey

I just flew LAX-YVR on AC (with an AC flight number). Sadly, I was on a Tango fare, so of course they would not let me get an advance seat assignment without paying for it (fat chance!). I had my UA MP number entered into the itinerary. Even though I am a 1P, my boarding pass showed me as a Star Silver. I had a testy exchange with the woman working at the LAX Maple Leaf Lounge. She said I couldn't come in because I was only a Star Silver. I then showed her my (2004) 1P card, and she said sorry, that card has expired, it's from last year, so you still can't come in. Rolling my eyes, I then turned the card over and showed her that the status was good until February 28th. She then said, "oh" and reluctantly let me in. I find it very hard to believe that she didn't know this. I'm sure I'm not the first UA flyer that has tried to get in there...

restlessinRNO

I flew SFO-YYZ over Xmas. When I checked in at the AC desk, I was finally able to get seat assignment. (Fortunately not a middle seat, even though plane was over 90% full ) I asked about lounge access and was told to use the UA RCC. Now this is ridiculous advice, since AC uses Concourse B, and the UA lounges are in Concourses F and G. Finally I was told I could use the Delta Crown Room, which is very nice. It is on the 2nd floor and interestingly is before security. Flight was fine - no E+ of course. I had a (mini)bottle of AC's red wine - a Vin de Pays D'Oc - worth the $5. On the return, I was unable to get seat assignment at check-in or in the MLL. However I was told there were oversold in Y. I reminded them I was *G and travelling alone. After a glass of wine in the MLL (which unlike the North American RCCs, provides Internet access), I went to the gate and was told to have a seat, they were working on seat assignment. A few minutes later I was paged and upgraded to Executive Class .

However after waiting 2 weeks for the miles to post, I phoned UA. They told me they had no record of my flying these segments. Would I FAX in my boarding passes. Fortunately I never throw these out until the miles post. A week later I received the full 4,508 miles, which are status miles on UA, thank goodness. So, all's well that ends well, I suppose.

Jet2K

Thanks for the update restlessinRNO, I am glad that it worked out for you.

I am having a related situation; booked US Air flight numbers on UAL.COM, during the booking process, the US seatmap was displayed and I selected all exit rows. Got the confirmation email. However, my trip did not show up on my itinerary page, and a call to UA indicated that I have no seat assignments, and suggested that I call US Air.

Luckily calling US Air got me the original seats I wanted, but they said that they cannot email the seating confirmationt me since I did not originally book the flight through them

I hope I don't get stuck in the middle somewhere...

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