Questions and Answers

Something interesting happened over the weekend to our booked reservation on American. My wife and I and another couple all had Business Class seats for flight 111 FCO-ORD, the 2 couples had separate PNRs, we paid with miles while they paid cash. Just doing a random check on the trip status and noticed our seats had been changed to row 12H&J. This row has never been included in the Business Class cabin, and is now considered “main cabin extra.” I notified our friends and the same thing had happened to them. I was able to snag the last 2 side by side seats in Business while our friends were not so lucky and are sitting by the window one behind the other. Any ideas as to what happened?

Sounds like an equipment change? When you board your flight, have your friends check with folks sitting in the center section who may prefer the individual window seats.

No equipment change this time. There had been an equipment change sometime in 2016 from 777 to 767 where we all were downgraded to Business Class from First Class due to no First Class cabin on American’s 777-200s. I had paid for our tickets with miles and finally decided to call them about the First to Business change on 10 Feb. They gave me back the difference in miles from First Saver to Business Saver and I am a happy camper about that. After that transaction, I was sent a ticket/trip update showing the change to Business and seats 3D & 3G which we had chosen. All was fine. On 3/12 I checked the trip to find we had been moved to 12H & 12 J. I know American has just introduced Main Cabin Premium, but this flight only shows Main Cabin Extra. Still scratchin’ my head.

If I paid with cash, I would be furious. Yes, on a 767 row 12 is a regular MCE economy seat (unless they have magically upgraded their MCE seats already). It’s all out there on the Seat Availability Charts on the Plan Travel “Flight Schedules” pull-down. We purchased cash MIA-CDG on a 777 in First and it was changed to a 767 in Biz for travel in May. Disappointing but not so bad for us as the First was a super nice discounted fare to begin with……and the 767 has fully flat beds. I would have cancelled my trip if it was downgraded to MCE Economy.