Airline Scam

[OldConch]

I only book directly with the airlines now.
But even then, I got scammed by British Airways.
I booked directly with American Airlines and I was able to choose my seats, but one connecting flight was with British Airways, from London to Munich.
And British Airways wants me to pay for my Seats even if it is classified as "First Class seats". I thought all first class seats included seating choices. At any rate, I paid $32 for DW and myself ($64) on the British Airways website. When we boarded the British Airways jet, there were no First Class Seats, we were given 3 economy seats. I notice everyone on the first 10 rows had an empty seat in the middle. The leg room was still cramped. But they should have told us these are not first class seats.

BA is one of the few airlines that charges for seat assignments in all but first class. You did NOT have to pay for seat assignments. DW and I flew long haul business class LHR to SEA today and were auto assigned seats at check in. We chose not to pay for our seat assignments.

As Audreyh1 pointed out, business/first on short haul Europe flights frequently have blocked middle seats and the same legroom as economy. You still often get priority check in, fast track through security, lounge access, priority boarding and pretty good meals on some very short flights.

I don't think what you're complaining about is a scam. When flying on partner airlines you need to know the rules. The short Europe leg on your itinerary was likely sold as business class not first.

 

[Rianne]

Follow-up from my OP. After making the airline reservation to Vancouver on AA, AA encouraged me to become an AA member. I signed up and now have a log-in to AA. After I did that AA changed my flight times! The same days but different, much better departure and arrival times. I have my assigned seats. I then contacted Expedia, told them AA changed my flight times and send me a new agenda with the corrected times. They did.

 

[SecondAttempt]

Last night I was reviewing our trip to Vancouver (Expedia) and I noticed our seats were not assigned from Vancouver to Dallas. The Expedia site said to contact American Airlines for any changes. I googled AA and a phone number popped up on Google. I pressed and got what I thought was an AA agent. I asked to assign the seats on the leg of the flight. Long story, bottom line they said this was a discounted airfare and purchased through a 3rd party, I'd have to pay to have seats assigned. The first offer, +$1000, I said no way, I can't afford that. Supervisor comes on, we can offer $300 per seat extra because this ticket was purchased through a 3rd party and there are no refunds. Scam! Be aware. It's happening on several airline sites. They had current flight information. DH and I figured it out eventually and hung up. I contacted Expedia and they resolved the seat issue. All good, but beware!

"Upon further investigation, Evers found that the Google listings for many major airlines were displaying fraudulent numbers."

"The scammers were able to do this via a local business listing for Delta customer service at JFK because Google allows members of the public to suggest edits to a company's contact information. This is done with the intention of providing people with the most relevant and up-to-date information, but some dishonest people try to use this feature to their advantage."

Flyer beware: Don't fall for this airline customer service scam - The Points Guy

Always buy directly with the airline these days. You will never save money with Expedia but will expose yourself to fraud

 

[Retired Expat]

So looks like two things here:

There is a scam operated by some unknown party putting fake numbers for airlines on Google - so you call that number and get some outrageous fee that would result in CC fraud and no seat in reality - lesson to always call the airline at the number on their actual website.

3rd party bookings can always result in things like no upgrades, no points, no seat assignments. You might have a lower price, but you will give up some nice-to-have stuff to get it. If you want a seat assignment, it's better to know your airline and book direct.

Also you need to make sure you aren’t getting the “Basic” fare. No assigned seat, no baggage not even carry on sometimes, no points, no food etc. And they won’t sell you an up charge for just the seat or they charge You $50 if you want to call and speak to a live person but you need to go to their full fare tier and pay for everything and it costs more than if you had booked it that way to begin with! Is all a scam these days. Resort fees at hotels with no resort services or that we don’t use just piss me off!

 

[SecondAttempt]

Also you need to make sure you aren’t getting the “Basic” fare. No assigned seat, no baggage not even carry on sometimes, no points, no food etc. And they won’t sell you an up charge for just the seat or they charge You $50 if you want to call and speak to a live person but you need to go to their full fare tier and pay for everything and it costs more than if you had booked it that way to begin with! Is all a scam these days. Resort fees at hotels with no resort services or that we don’t use just piss me off!

I would not necessarily avoid the basic fare on principle. But you do have to understand that you are paying for nothing but transporting your body and clothes you are wearing, If I'm on a day trip with no bags with a short flight, I'd book that.