No seat reservations? A few easy tips for getting a boarding pass

If you find yourself holding a reservation without confirmed seat assignments, like James Dobson did, here’s how to fix it.

(No, not that James Dobson.)

We have reservations this coming Sunday to fly out of Wichita, KS to Leon, MX with a change in Houston — all on Continental. We have seat assignments for every leg of the round trip with the exception of the first one departing out of Wichita.

Our previous experience tells is we don’t have seat assignments because the flight is oversold.

Do you have any advice on how we can make sure we get seats on this first leg of our trip? We are One-Pass Continental members and always fly Continental. If we don’t get on this flight for which we are ticketed, I doubt that we’ll be in Leon before Monday night which means we will miss important appointments in San Miguel de Allende Monday afternoon.

Any advice you have will be greatly appreciated.

OK, here’s how to get that done.

First, I would ask Alex, Continental’s virtual travel assistant, for help. It’s in the airline’s best interests to resolve this quickly and in an automated way, and Alex is the way to do that.

Here was my exchange with Alex:

You Asked: How do I send you a message?

Alex: I’m not sure I understand, please try rewording your question.

You Asked: What’s Continental’s email address?

Alex: There are a number of ways to contact us. See this page for more information. View Page.

Alas, the “view page” link went nowhere. So I found the email form here.

If that doesn’t work, I list some higher-level customer contacts on this page. These are real people. I’ve met them.

I heard back from Dobson after I sent him these tips.

Thanks so much for your suggestion. I had an e-mail from Anne Munoz of Continental waiting for me when I got home this evening. She obtained seat assignments for us!

Thanks, Anne.

  • http://www.expertflyer.com Peggy Lee

    The best bet to get a seat assignment in the situation he could have subscribed to ExpertFlyer.com and set up a seat alert, which automatically notifies you via email when a seat has cleared. It can be set up for “any seat”, “aisle seat”, “window seat” or even a specific seat number. Great tool!

  • Justin

    I for one have had nothing but POSITIVE experiences on Continental. I am CRINGING to think one of the last vestiges of honor is now going to merge with United. May the airline gods have mercy on our soul. It’s going to be a BUMPY RIDE.

  • Lianne

    I agree with Justin. I’m an Elite flyer on Continental but avoid United at all costs. Not happy about this at all.

  • Teri

    James Dobson was lucky that someone was able to help him get seat assignments. He states that his experience is that if you don’t get a seat assignment that the flight is oversold. Sometimes that is true, but the airlines only allow a certain percentage of the seats to be pre-assigned. (somewhere around 80%). The rest are held for airport assignment.

    When you don’t have a seat assignement, there are other ways to increase your odds to get a seat:
    * Check the upgrade schedule for the airlines elites – and check for seats on each of the days of the automatic upgrades. (ie: if it’s 5 days before flight for Platinum tier, they will move several people out of coach and into first – those coach seats become available for assignment again.)
    * Check in online 24 hours before your flight
    – you may be able to select a seat on check-in
    – if no seat available, then you are the highest on the standby list that you possibly can be by checking in early
    – check with the gate agent at the airport or the agent in the airline club (if you have a membership)

  • Craig

    “I for one have had nothing but POSITIVE experiences on Continental.”

    And I have had nothing but positive experiences on United.

    But I guess I’ll just start cringing about Continental for no good reason, too.

  • Kevin

    I would really like more information on this subject. This happens to me a lot, and it really frustrates me. I have tried calling many times but I always get the line “held for airport assignment”. Luckily, I have never been bumped, but I like to know what my seats are.

    How in the world is it acceptable to sell someone a seat on an airplane, but not be able to tell them their seat? Is there anything else I can do in this situation?

  • Christine

    I’ve had mostly positive experiences on both United and Continental, but everyone has their own experiences and their own preferences (I don’t have any desire to fly Southwest even though most people rave about it). Both United and Continental are on my short list of airlines I WILL fly. If either had merged with US Air, then I would be cringing.

  • Rich

    Unfortunately airlines don’t guarantee seat assignments. Like free checked bags and complementary sodas, we’ve become used to just having them. Even if you have a “seat assignment”, the airline makes no guarantee that’s the seat you’ll get. On United, if you PAY for a premium economy seat, you’re not guaranteed a specific seat assignment.

    Lack of a seat assignment doesn’t automatically equate to an oversold flight; though with less planes flying now than a few years ago, that’s becoming more common.

  • Arizona Road Warriors

    I had four flights on CO last week and they were outstanding. Before America West acquired the old US Airways, I used to be an elite on CO since I had to take a few trips every month where America West had no service and CO was my best choice plus they were ‘partner’ with Alaska Airlines and I always used my CO FF# for my flights on Alaska and Horizon Airlines. Back then as well as over the years, I thought and still think that CO is the best US-based airline. I had have taken several flights on UA since the America West’s acquistion of the old US Airways. I had good flights on UA but I think that CO is better overall.

    Last week, I had to call UA to reissue an unused ticket and it wasn’t very customer centric. The agent didn’t want to disclose the fees, the fares (he selected the highest price fare and didn’t want to give me the lowest fare) and etc.

  • Chris in NC

    Agree with Teri 100%

    Unless you have elite status, purchase an overpriced premium economy fare (ie Y/B), available seats can be slim pickings. Many of the premium seat assignments are not available for mere mortals who purchase a low cost ticket.

    Held seat assignments seem to become available within a week of the flight, as passengers are “upgraded” to first/business class. Checking in online 24 hours before the flight also gives you a chance to snag a seat. 2 weeks ago, I flew Delta and didn’t have a seat assignment. I was automatically assigned a middle seat at time of check in. When I got to the gate, I asked if any aisle or window seats were available and was moved to a exit row/window seat.

    Several airlines around the world (ie Air Canada) now require you to pay extra for an advanced seat assignment. Many airlines around the world do not process seat assignments until the day of departure. We’ve been fortunate in the US that seat assignments are done in advance, but times are changing.

    BTW, even an advanced seat assignment doesn’t mean you are guaranteed a seat. My dad flies trans-Pacific frequently and once his seat assignment was removed because of a schedule change. When his new itinerary was received, his seat assignments disappeared. The airline could not assign him a new seat because the flight WAS oversold. Fortunately, on the day of departure, he ended up snagging an exit row seat that was released due to an upgrade.

    Chris

  • http://sogin@mbl.edu nigos

    Wait a minute – I don’t understand. The operation of this new merged airline will be under control of Continental Execs. That should translate into perpetuation of the Continental operational philosophy for the merged airline. I think too many people are paranoid.

  • Sean

    @ Christine – I can’t agree with you more.

  • liz

    nigos, you’re right – Glenn Tilton is going to head the board but will not be involved in day-to-day. I’m mostly hoping that they get rid of the India call center; that place is worthless.

  • http://www.singleparenttravel.net John Frenaye

    @teri–great tips.

    Reason to hold seats for airport assignment. Very often, the carrier will need to rearrange the seats to accommodate people–say a family of three is separated with a kid in a separate row…someone with a leg brace that needs an aisle seat…someone handicapped that needs to be near the front exit…there are a myriad of reasons to move people around and if you have 20% of the seats to work with, it is an easy chore. Not so much if they are all assigned.

    Personal example. I was flying SMF-BWI with my girlfriend. We were in first on UA and got the last two seats. I had a window and she had a window on the other side and one row behind me. We asked each of our seatmates if they would swap so we could sit next to each other and you would have thought we asked for their first born.

  • http://www.clarkecomputer.com Charles Clarke

    I didn’t see any explicit tips, only some implied ones.
    Let’s see if I understand the tips.
    1. Have status
    2. Book a trip where if they bump you it’ll cost them lots.
    3. Contact the airline early and let them know that it would cost them lots if you were bumped and so it is in their best interest to give you seat assignments.

    I like Peggy Lee, Teri and Chris in NC’s tips. They are also useful for those hated schedule changes.