Obtaining airline seats is getting very tricky!
Just last month, I was trying to seat a family of four together on a United flight. While the family had assigned seats, they were not all together which was not good for a family with children. It took 3 calls including one by my client, to get the airline seats together. Airlines are making it increasingly difficult to sit together and even choose your seats in advance. Why are they doing this?
Use Seatguru for all of their fabulous information like seat map details, seating configurations, and more.
Here are the insiders tips to help you get your airline seats:
1) Buy your tickets early when there are more seats available; this sounds obvious but try to plan and book early whenever possible.
2) If you are able to select a seat, do it even if the choice is not optimal as you can try to change seats later.
3) If you do not get a seat assignment at time of booking, plug your confirmation number directly into the airline’s website and try to select/change your seat(s).
4) Can’t get ANY seat assignment? Call the airline directly or contact your travel planner if they booked your flight.
5) Look out for code share flights! If you booked a flight on United but the operator is actually Lufthansa, you may need to go directly to Lufthansa for a seat assignment. (This happened on flights I recently booked!)
6) Keep checking on your assignment as the type of aircraft may occasionally change which may result in the loss of your originally assigned seats. (While this situation is rare, aircraft can change.)
7) Check in 24 hours prior to boarding as airlines may have released other seats for your selection, and you may save time checking-in at the airport.
8) You may also pay an additional charge for a “premium economy seat or just a preassigned seat on some airline like British Airways.
9) Want a really useful tip: use a travel professional to research, plan, book, and service your air reservations.
10) Please consider buying air tickets as early as possible…Oh, I already said that but it’s just that important.
Would you like to add anything about your own tricks with seat assignments? Please share!
