View Full Version : American Airlines
athurstance
18-05-2003, 12:37
I've just booked our flights for next Easter with AA - does anyone know how you pre-reserve your seats?
Thanks
Angela
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
18-05-2003, 12:39
Yes - the travel agent should give you a number to call.
Angela,
Are you flying direct or going via a different gateway?
Who did you get the flights through and what was the damage?
athurstance
19-05-2003, 17:42
We are flying via Dallas. We had real trouble getting any decent priced flights because we are very inflexible on our dates. We got them through the OV flights link and cost us £1240 for 4 of us - which I think is quite a bargain for Easter.
Did you fly AA? And if so did you book your seats in advance?
Angela
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
19-05-2003, 17:47
Angela
We flew AA last year and booked through the OV flights link and they gave us the number for Amewrican Airlines at which we booked our veggie meals and reserved our seats.
neilandkay
19-05-2003, 19:25
If you go to www.AA.com and into the reservations section there is an option to check which seats are available for a flight.
--Kay
athurstance
19-05-2003, 19:55
I had an email from the travel agent - I can book my seats and meals 6 months in advance. She is going to give me the numbers.
So I am just being my usual self and trying to get things organised too far in advance. I had a look at the AA site and it looks like our planes will be 2-5-2 layout which suits us as we like to have 2 rows of 2.
I read on their site they have more legroom than most so sounds good.
Angela
floridadreamvilla.co.uk
19-05-2003, 20:22
AA certainly have the best legroom of any of the carriers we have been on - a big improvement on when we flew with them to Dallas in 1999 and it was very cramped :(.
Angela,
We flew via Miami on the way out and Boston on the return. The extra legroom is very noticeable, we had bulkhead seats on the transatlantic flights but the two internal flights were in 'normal' rows, I had no probs with the internal flights despite being 6'4" and the extra legroom was comfortable. We booked the bulkhead seats with our agent when we booked the seats (less than 6 months before we flew). Which flight were you looking at with the 2-5-2 config? I assume that it was a Boeing 777, they are very comfortable and the seat back TV's are good - you even have an adjustable headrest (up/down and flex wings) which helped me no end - my neck didn't ache like it generally has with other flights - overall impression was very good. :D:D:D
It's worth contacting AA direct for anything you wish to know. I recently took a flight to Orlando Via JFK, the return saw my route from MCO to La Guardia, trans. to JFK and return to London. This was the only combination available for a fare of £305 in February, booked through Airline Network. The outward flight was fine but I didn't fancy the transfer between the two NYC airports. When I arrived at MCO to return the booking-in clerk said "who gave you this" and then promptly changed it so that I flew from MCO directly into JFK and then on to London.
The section on AA.com showing seat allocation has,in my experience, not given an accurate picture of the true availability. My Feb. flight showed only a few seats available, but on the day I was given a choice of seating. In theory you should have a code on your confirmation that will allow you to access the seating plan and allocate your choice, give it a whirl.
sammibabe
23-05-2003, 01:09
Does it add a lot onto the journey going indirect rather than direct? It certainly sounds a bit cheaper but we do have 3 children (youngest is still pre-school)
Sammi
I have found indirect is usually cheaper, although you have to consider the routing and timing, especially with pre-schoolers (we have two). Once when I was searching for our accountant the cheapest routing we could find was London - Los Angeles - Orlando! The other factor is the cost of getting to the UK departure airport. For example we usually fly from Inverness so can get an add on with BA and AA from INV which is usually much cheaper than two separate bookings, sometimes the BA INV-LGW flights are almost 60% of the cost of LGW - MCO, and with less availability. For our next holiday though (out 27th Dec, back 17th Jan) the price difference between BA all the way and BA - AA for 2 adults and 2 kids was £600 GBP. Downside is change at Dallas and arrive at Orlando at 00.02 am eight hours behind BA. Advantages are that we clear US customs and immigration at Dallas and on the return Atlantic flight we arrive into LGW at 10.00 instead of 07.00. As our flight to INV doesn't leave till 13.30 this is probably better.
I feel that the flight is an important part of the holiday, especially with two kids.
Guys/Girls,
Whilst we don't have any kids to worry about we had no issues with our routing with AA (maybe we got lucky) but were offered either of the gateways of Miami or Dallas, we chose the Miami option which was a whole £10 more expensive!!
At Miami we had a 90 minute stopover - by the time we cleared immigration and customs and crossed the airport they were calling our names over the tannoy and we got to the gate just before closing. We then had a 50 minute 'hop' to Orlando, where we walked straight to the car rental desk (Alamo now on site) and got the car - no hassles - we arrived 2 hours before the bulk of the other UK scheduled flghts so had a shorter wait/better choice at Orlando with the car etc. Then the return was via Boston was excellent, 2 3/4 hour flight MCO-BOS, they 'parked' all the connecting flights at the surrounding gates to the LHR flight. This meant that we had access to a duty free and internet access, so that even with a 2 hour stopover the time flew by. Broke the return journey up very nicely as 'only' had a 6 hour flight from BOS-LHR. Would do it again this way - had the advantage of checking in the BOS-LHR flight at MCO, helps if your after bulkhead seats and hadn't pre-booked like we had. Think that LHR-LA-MCO would be a bit much!!!! Might even forget the MIA-MCO 'hop' this time and drive up for the change of scenery, we'll just see what is available. Would not hesitate to fly AA and break the journey up, for us it worked faultlessly and allowed my 6'4" body a chance to 'stretch'!!
Guess the things with kids is whether they settle very easily on a flight, if they do the stop-start journey might not be the best, but if they are unsettled when flying, the 'break' in the middle with shorter flights might help.
athurstance
23-05-2003, 13:06
We've never done it before - mainly because when the children are younger it is easier to get them settled. Now they are 11 and 8 and they are so used to flying it is like a trip in the car. I quite fancy the chance to get off the plane for a couple of hours and move around so it was my idea to go indirect this time. If we like it we will do it again as it is so much cheaper.
Angela
When you fly with an American Carrier it is almost certain that you will fly into one of their 'Home' cities. For example, on a Delta flight you will enter the US at either Atlanta or Cinncinatti where you will clear customs and Immigration. From here your bags will be taken off you just passed the customs hall and you will be transfered to an internal flight, without the need to book in as that will have all been taken care of at your point of departure. Overall it will add a couple of hours to your flight but can also give you a little break, I enjoy flying into different destinations and Atlanta is a very nice airport. In geographic terms you are not making a big detour as the flights all follow the same route down from Canada.
If you check out the airline schedules you can see who flies into where. For us it is not a problem, but if you have small children it can add a couple of hours to the overall journey time which you may find unacceptable. It is all to do with the airlines having their resources concentrated in as few places as possible, and also only being able to bid on X amount of international routes. British Carriers and charter flights will go direct. You may also benefit from some of the American carriers offering free stop-overs in up to 2 other cities, IF your route is deemed to be a round trip eg, London - Las Vegas - Washington - Orlando - London, if you have the time for that. As for flying into MIA and driving up - don't. I did it once and that was enough. It will add 4 - 5 hours in the car both ways, you can do without it and to be honest the scenery isn't worth the time UNLESS you specifically want to visit Miami.
We flew with AA this Easter from LHR to MIA, with two young children. We decided to drive from MIA to ORL for many reasons, and are really glad that we did. The customs at MIA was a nightmare and friends with connecting flights missed them. At least we didn't have that stress after the 8 1/2 hour flight.
We prebooked our seats with AA directly and I am sure we didn't have to wait until 6 months before. I think it has to be within 331 days. First go to:
http://www.aa.com/apps/reservations/CheckAvailableSeats.jhtml?anchorEvent=false
put in your flight details and check which seats you would like (we had row 30 which had the best leg room). You will see on here that seats are already being booked for easter next year!
Then call AA customer relations:
United Kingdom
02-08-814-4567
9:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. GMT Mon. - Fri.
OR if you are an AAdvantage member (we joined online so that we could call this number):
United Kingdom
08457-567-567
0:700 - 20:00 GMT, Mon. - Fri.
0:800 - 17:00 GMT, Sat - Sun.
They will be able to book your seats and meals for you. They do not do kids meals or activity packs any more. The children get the same meals as adults, so I would recommend taking your own food for them. Mine wouldn't eat the meal and snacked all the way on the food I brought with me.
If you have any other questions please ask.
All,
The driving up to Orlando from Miami bit would just be the change of scenery from the wall in front of row 30 - yes netmum we bagged row 30 very early on - it is clear from the 'check available seats' option at AA.com that these are the best seats for legroom on a Boeing 777 with AA. We had fewer children on the flights than would be on a direct BA/Virign flight, but the staff were excellent with them from what I can gather.
Hi Biggus,
Some of the flight attendants were good with the children - mainly the ones who said they had young children of their own. The rest just steered clear! It is nice that there are less children on board.
The drive was great. We put the children in the back and after 10 mins they fell asleep (as 4pm was 9pm to them). They slept all the way and when we arrived at the villa we just lifted them from the car into their bed. They slept right through to the next morning, when they woke up raring to go. We couldn't have done that it we had got a connecting flight to MCO, so with a 6yr old and 3yr old it worked really well for us.
And row 30 ( I think we should keep it a secret between us - and all the others who know about it):D
Hi,
I wonder if row 30 is pre-bookable as it is a bulkhead row. With BA you have to put in a special request for these rows with your justification. On our flights two trips ago we got these rows in BA and were able to use their fantastic Britax toddler chair. On our last trip we again requested the same and were re-assured by our travel agent that we had. When we arrived one of us had the bulkhead seat and the other would have to sit elsewhere with our older daughter (age 4 then). The other bulkhead seats were reserved for someone very tall and they wouldn't move them even though we were checking in well before them. Anyway we decided that it would be better to sit together as a family in a normal row and that worked okay, especially as they were having a frantic time at the gate to try and re-organise the seating to get families sitting together. Now I am not a very tall person, but this alledged long legged person was shorter than me on the flight, I was pretty annoyed! To claim that when it was simply not true, just to get a more comfortable seat is really quite unfair.
We had a fabulous holiday, however, and we made sure when we were checking in for the outbound flight that we had the bulkhead seats for our return flight and that was fine, especially as it is the overnight one.
This time we have to pay for a seat for Nathan and my mum is coming with us on the outbound flight, returning home earlier. So we have pre-booked rows 24 and 25 on the right side where it is 2 seats then aisle, no fighting for the window seat, and my mother is booked across the aisle on row 24. Hopefully this configuration should give us the most space.
Euan
Hi Euan,
We travelled with AA this year after all the trouble we had prebooking seats and skycots with BA last year. We prebooked a skycot months in advance, got the the airport early to find that they had reallocated us seats in the middle of the plane, with my daughter on my knee. They would not change us and onboard we found people in the bulkhead seats with no children, not even using the skycot. So never again!
We booked Row 30 with AA almost a year before our trip at Easter. It is a bulkhead row, but does not have any pull down cots/seats. It is just the wall of the toilets. I think everyone could justify needing a bulkhead seat if given the chance, so it is nice that AA allocate these seats on a first come first serve basis. It is nice to have some perk for booking a year in advance. Obviously exit row seats are not prebookable. As AA have removed lots of seats on their planes, all the seats have more legroom, so I don't think most people are bothered about the bulkhead. On our return flight in 2 seats x 2 seats, we had almost as much leg room as in the bulkhead row - it is just that the children insist on kicking and swinging from the seat in front, and I spend the flight constantly telling them not to (and both mine are usually sick during the flight) so in that respect it is nice to have a wall in front.
Rebecca
Hi
We had a good trip with AA this Easter, Gatwick- St Louis _Tampa, 2 adults 2 Children Return For £1010
Booked it with Expedia in December 02 We also booked the seats on line, linked via Expedia.
The drive From Tampa to Kissimmee took 1h 20m
We were so pleased with the flight we ended up buying a home on Indian Point!!!
Lester