Crammed in like sardines

Does the title tell you how mad I am?  And I know the ins and outs of the game.  I got a call from a good friend of mine asking about his seat selection for a flight he’s taking next week.  I told him to go on line to his airline’s website, enter in his Flight Confirmation Code, and change his seat.  He couldn’t do it!  The airline wouldn’t let him do it.  Three reasons:

Capacity - When your flight has reached 80% capacity all seat assignments defer to the airport check-in.  Even if you arrive very early, chances are the highly desirable seats won’t be available.   So, it is crucial you book the seats you want immediately when you book your flight.

Status – Your status with the airline is not high enough to allow you to make the changes.  Yesterday, I booked a trip to the East Coast and because of my status with the airline and my membership in the Mileage Program; I was assigned my seat preferences as default.  I prefer aisle seats so I can mover about the cabin easily and without disturbing anyone.  My seat preferences are in my profile with the airlines mileage program.  If you are traveling with someone who has a higher status and you book your travel together, you can tether to their status for better seat selection.

Revenue - Your Airlines hold back prime seating to SELL to passengers at the airport.  It’s come to the point where you have to pay through the nose for 5 MORE measly inches!  But to someone who’s overweight that could be the difference between agony and comfort.  If I had higher status with my airline I’m flying, I would have been defaulted to these seats at no extra charge.

All of this is a reminder for you to select your seating carefully when you book your flight – otherwise you can expect an elbow in both your sides or someone sleeping on your shoulder.

Seat Configuration Websites – Consult the following websites to help you with the process:

Seat Guru

Seat Expert

For more on an iPhone App to use as resource for seating information on-the-go.  CLICK HERE

Happy Tripping,
Carter

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 8th, 2009 at 12:54 am and is filed under Airline Mileage Programs, airlines, General, Travel Preparation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.