Premier Seating

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Aug 16, 1999 | 6:00 pm

Jim_B

Original Poster

Original Member

Join Date: May 1998

Location: Santiago, Chile

Posts: 527

Premier Seating

So, what's the deal with this alleged perk? On my recent SCL - MIA - DEN - COS, I ended up with seat 27A on the first leg (767), 19B on the second (757) and 13A on the last (727). My reservations for this flight were made at least three weeks ago.

These would not seem to be choice seats, especially the middle one on the 757. It's not a matter of late check in, as I did that 12 hours in advance (of the MIA - DEN leg). I thought seat allocation was dictated by Mileage Plus level.

Is this something that's happened to others?

Aug 16, 1999 | 6:29 pm

PremEx

FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: May 1998

Location: Texas, U.S.A.

Posts: 19,523

You should be getting your Premier seating at the time you book your trip via advance seat assignment. Were these the seats you booked or were they assigned at the airport?

Aug 16, 1999 | 7:38 pm

MileKing

Original Member

Join Date: May 1998

Location: Reno, NV (RNO)

Programs: AA LT Platinum, AS, UA Premier Silver, DL, HHonors Gold, Marriott LT Titanium, Hyatt, IHG Platinum

Posts: 4,723

I've encountered a few problems and have learned to always call and confirm the seats after making a reservation. For whatever reason, I can never get the on-line seat selector to work so I book the ticket and let the system assign seats. Usually this works OK, but on occasion I get stuffed in the back of the plane and have to call UA to get them changed.

Aug 17, 1999 | 6:34 am

QuantumLeap

Join Date: Feb 1999

Location: DEN, UA PE, Hilton Gold, ** Reactivate Delete Feature**

Posts: 650

When I turned Premier for the first time in June, my advanced seat assignements automatically started being in the "Premier Zone". At the same time (when it works at all

) the seat picker made the front row seats available to me.

I'm not sure what you mean by saying that you checked in 12 hours in advance? I believe it's when you get your boarding card that is the controlling factor on whether an advance seat assignment gets released.

Aug 17, 1999 | 10:02 am

Scott the flier

In Memoriam

Join Date: Jun 1999

Location: San Jose, CALI

Programs: UA1K MM, HHonors Diamond + many more

Posts: 812

Jim_B

If you are reserving through corporate travel they almost never do any legwork to ensure that you get a good seat. Like everyone says cal the MP customer service and request the seats as soon as you are confirmed, works every time

Cheers Scott

Aug 17, 1999 | 6:09 pm

JeffS

Original Member

Join Date: May 1998

Location: Maryland

Programs: UA MM Gold, Marriott LT Titanium

Posts: 23,764

My experience with our Corp. travel dept is that they almost always get my seats in the Premier zone. They know that I am 1K and if there are no Premier seats available then I call UA myself but this is very rare.

Aug 18, 1999 | 7:26 pm

Eastbay1K

A FlyerTalk Posting Legend

Join Date: Jul 1999

Location: Over the Bay Bridge, CA

Programs: Jumbo mas

Posts: 42,601

If your seat request is made AFTER your MP # is in the record, it will automatically try and find you a "premier zone" seat (either aisle or window, per request). If none are available then it will go elsewhere on the seatmap. If the seat request is put in FIRST (before MP# entry), the entire premier zone is blocked from assignment.