Galley Gossip: A question about losing booked seats on the airplane

by Heather Poole on

Dear Heather,

I have a question. We have a flight booked to Orlando with an airline that has seat assignments. Twice they have changed our seats so that we are not sitting together. The first time we were able to have it corrected. But this time, I guess the flight is completely booked and so far they have not been able to find us two seats together. My concern is that my mother is a senior and afraid to fly. Is there anything I can do? And why do the airlines do this? We booked months in advance and used this airline to make sure we would be sitting together. We flew to Orlando last year and did not have this problem. Does this happen often? Just wondering and looking for advice.

Thank you.

Sue

Dear Sue,

I’m sorry to hear of your troubles with the airline. What happened to you is not right and unfair. Now I could tell you why I believe this keeps happening, but the truth is I don’t know for sure, so I emailed your question to my friend who is an agent for the same airline I work for at the Los Angeles International Airport.

Before I share what my friend, the agent, had to say, I just want you to know that I understand what you’re going through, having to worry about whether or not you’ll be able to sit next to your elderly mother, as I have a two year-old I travel with regularly. When traveling on my flight benefits, the odds of getting two seats together are slim to none. There’s nothing worse than having to beg and bribe people to switch seats. Talk about stress.

Sure, you can ask the flight attendant to help you, but due to the fact that the flights are staffed with minimum crew, and the crew is busy checking emergency equipment, setting up the galleys, greeting passengers at the door, and dealing with all that carry-on luggage that will not fit into the overhead bin, the flight attendants will not be able to assist until the boarding process is over. Boarding, by far, is the busiest time for a flight attendant, which is why you probably won’t see one until seconds before the aircraft door is shut, which just adds to your stress. You don’t need more stress. You’ve been through enough already.

Now here’s what my friend, the agent, had to say about your lost seats, and what you can do about it in the future…

Yes, it happens more often than not, unfortunately. Some of the time it is an equipment change, meaning the original aircraft scheduled is switched out for one of many reasons (a completely different panel of Q & A’s). When this happens all of the reserved seats are dropped and need to be re-assigned. If there is a schedule change (sometimes people are unaware of it because it may only be by a few minutes), this will cause seat assignments to drop, too. This is probably one of the most frustrating situations for not only passengers, but for agents as well,because most of the time the solution cannot be reached until you are standing at the gate prior to boarding the flight.

My suggestion: call the airlines and inform them that your mother needs wheelchair assistance (Even if she doesn’t, because she is elderly). At the time of the call, ask again if there are seats together because of the fact she will need assistance. If they are unable to switch them over the phone, don’t just take the closest seats together (especially if one is a middle seat). Instead opt to take a window and an aisle. Once you get to the airport and remind them you need a wheelchair, ask again if they can change seats. Most likely they will advise you to ‘check at the gate’. Please be patient. Although I realize this is frustrating, it’s not over yet.

Once you get to the gate, go to the gate agent. The gate agent has the ability to unblock seats and if willing to help, could page some people to switch a window next to your mom for the window you are holding, for example. If all else fails, once you get onboard the aircraft (and by the way, if your mom takes the wheelchair ride, you’ll be boarded first), ask the people seated near you or near your mom to swap seats.

As an agent, I see this day in and day out, and I sympathize with your aggravation. My grandparents had a similar situation last year when traveling for the holidays. I gave them the same advice after they were getting upset when they weren’t getting anywhere over the phone. I urged them to be patient and polite (agents do not respond well to screamers) and ask at the points I suggested. Sure enough, hours later, they arrived safely and at the last minute – they were about to give up – were able to swap seats and sit together on the flight after all.

I hope that helps, Sue. Thanks for writing and good luck!

Heather

Photos courtesy of Joshuacw (top of page) and Viviandnguyen (above)

Travel deals abound for the holidays: Go for that dream vacation

by Jamie Rhein on

The downward slide of the economy is creating an upswing of excellent opportunities for less expensive travel. Because people are holding off on making their holiday plans, the travel industry is cutting prices to attract customers. That’s true whether you are into luxury travel or the budget version.

That’s the buzz as reported in this article from The New York Times. Reading the article is like a trip to the travel candy story.

Want a ski vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming? Other places in the Colorado Rockies? There’s a deal. How about a luxury beach vacation in Bermuda? To St. Lucia? Perhaps Las Vegas entices you. Or Miami. What about Aruba, Mexico or the Cayman Islands? The article outlines details about each.

Sure, you have to have some money in order to plop down dough for a plane ticket and a hotel room in the first place, but bargains range from free nights, and are along the spectrum of several dollars to 30% off. One popular reduced rate offer is that if you stay in a hotel on the actual holiday, the holiday is free. That means if you’re in the hotel for Christmas Day, Ho! Ho! Ho!, Santa has brought you a present.

The hitch is you have to bookend your free night with nights you are paying. Still, bring out the spiked eggnog and give yourself a toast to your good fortune on at least one day of the year. Many deals also apply for Thanksgiving.

The article points out one adage that I’ve also found to be true. Don’t assume a trip is beyond your means unless you check first and check often. If you can wiggle around dates and desires, a vacation could happen.

A couple years ago, we flew to Ft Lauderdale, Florida for much less than it would have cost to drive there, about $160 per person RT from Columbus. I just happened to check airfares on a whim about this time of year and was pleasantly surprised. Our hotel room, complete with an efficiency kitchen, was $75 per night. That flight costs about $100 more today, but I bet the room rate still holds. Ft. Lauderdale does not hit tourist season until after the holidays. If a bargain could happen for us, it could happen for you.

List of things an airline can get rid of

by Jamie Rhein on

Christopher Elliot of The Travel Critic recently wrote a tongue in cheek and halfway serious post about other ways airlines might save money.

The tenor of the piece, I think, reflects the sad state several airlines have stooped to in their penny pinching ways. Consider the latest Continental Airlines’ venture that Jeffery posted about this past week. Personally, I think reducing the size of carry-on luggage is a crappy idea.

But, I’m one of those people who eyed with interest the cargo pants that Benny Lewis wore in his video on how to pack for a 5-day trip with only a carry-on bag. No, I’m not one of those people who take up more room than my fair share. Plus, I’m not that big, so why not let me have those 6-inches of carry-on space that Continental wants to take away?

But, back to Elliot’s ideas. Here’s what he suggests might be dumped.

  • The bathroom that doesn’t work. As he’s noticed, several planes that he has been on have at least one broken toilet. Get rid of that bathroom. Weight saved.
  • Duty free carts. Who needs to buy that stuff on board a flight anyway? But, as Elliot points out, the carts do make the airlines money.
  • Federal air marshals since they are not particularly cost effective at saving lives –and they fly for free
  • In-flight magazines. (No, no, no Elliot. I NEED in-flight magazines. I read them from cover to cover.)
  • A flight attendant. (Sorry, Heather)
  • A pilot. (Sorry, Ken)
  • XL passengers. Elliot is one of those. He points out that he’s tall and lanky so he poses a bit of a problem when it comes to getting him to fit in the space that he is allotted.

Elliot is not totally serious about this list, but he does have a point about how annoyed a person can feel when, yet again, there’s another change that may or may not make that much of a difference to airline economics. If people are disgruntled and unhappy consumers, that creates a problem, and he sees how flying is on its way to becoming a prison sentence.

For Elliot’s reasons about why a pilot and a flight attendant could be dumped, check out his post.

If you look at René Ehrhardt photo, surely you can find something else to add to Elliot’s list.

Here are some things the airlines probably WISH they’d gotten rid of!


Southwest and Air Tran to join forces?

by Grant Martin on

With merger and oil mania upon us, these days you can’t rule out any strange airline pairing. Just this week, Bob Fornaro, CEO of Air Tran mentioned in a conference call that they would be totally open to code-sharing and working with Southwest airlines in the future.

Does this mean that Air Tran and Southwest are up to something? As two of the largest low-cost carriers in the industry, their partnership could establish a dominant force in the domestic airline market and their complimentary routes could reinforce each other’s business. As Ray Neidl of Calyon securites is quoted in the article, “Crisis breeds strange bedfellows and the current economic malaise may be the incentive for them to do something even though they are competitive in some markets.”

Actually, from Fornaro’s verbage, it sounds like more of a cry for help than anything. I’m sure Air Tran has taken a big hit just like every other airline that has suffered in the last six months and would love a boost from Southwest’s business. Wouldn’t you want to buddy up with the only profitable carrier in the United States?

Despite Fornaro’s mewing, Southwest is being mum about the whole business and veritably shrugged off AirTran’s suggestions in this USA Today article. I suppose if you’re calling the shots you can make bedfellows with whomever you chose.

Europe’s most flown major airline? For now, it’s Lufthansa

by Jeffrey White on

The Association of European Airlines, which represents 35 (mostly major) carriers, came out this week with its report on airline performance, and not surprisingly it said that for most of the industry, passenger numbers were down significantly.

Not so at Germany’s flagship carrier Lufthansa, however. It’s seen passenger numbers increase a modest 4 percent from this time last year, according to the Associated Press, which is reporting on the AEA’s survey.

That means that right now among Europe’s major carriers, Lufthansa is ahead of the pack. British Airways saw passengers drop a hair more than 5 percent from a year ago, while Air France saw numbers hold more or less even.

Which major airlines are doing the worse? Alitalia, Spanair and Icelandair.

Italy’s national carriers, which declared bankruptcy in August, saw 25 percent fewer passengers on board this year than last. Spanair’s passenger numbers dropped 21 percent, and Icelandair’s dropped 12 percent.