Airlines love to tout the benefits of code-share flights. But the truth is, the only people they really benefit are the airlines themselves.
For those who might find the jargon confusing, a code-share is simply a flight that shows it’s operated by one airline, but is actually operated by another.
In some cases, the code-share refers to a flight operated by a regional partner, usually with a regional jet or, in some cases, a turbo-prop plane. Examples of this are United Express, American Eagle and Delta Connection. The biggest hassle, most of the time, is discovering that instead of a standard cramped jet, you are traveling on an even smaller cramped jet.
In other cases, however, the flight is a decent-sized plane, but it’s operated by a completely different airline. Examples are American Airlines and British Airways, Delta and Air France, United and Swiss. These are bigger planes, and they can pose potentially bigger problems.
As travel problems go, this was a relatively trivial problem with a seat assignment. But, to my mind, seats for a 12-hour flight are not trivial.
My client, a United elite level flier, had chosen business class flights to Europe, with a return via Zurich on a Swiss flight as a United code-share. One of United’s qualifications for elite status requires flights to be booked at least one way on a United-designated flight. Since sometimes Mileage Plus awards more miles for flights booked as United, I went ahead as he requested.
Seat assignments with code-shares are often an issue, but usually my workaround is to look up the seat chart on the carrier actually flying the plane — in this case, Swiss — and then request an available seat through our GDS reservations system.
Upon seeing a number of window seats, I requested 6K, a window, and got an immediate confirmation of 6G. an aisle seat, which is not at all what he wanted.
So I dutifully called Swiss, and the first agent informed me that she couldn’t change the seat; it had to be done via United. In my experience, United phone agents generally can’t get code-share seat assignments, but I called. And, sure enough, United said they couldn’t do it.
Then I made a second call. This United agent I tried said she could request a window, but not a specific seat. Well, it was better than nothing, so I told her to go ahead.
No dice.
She suggested then that I try the Swiss.com website, which didn’t work at all, as bookings not made directly with Swiss can’t be retrieved for seats.
Finally, I went back to Swiss, told them nothing else was working, and what did I have to do to get one of the several window seats left?
“Nothing,” I was told.
They wouldn’t assign any remaining seats to a United booking, period.
At this point, I decided to cancel the return booking, void the ticket and rebook the flight as Swiss. Poof. Now there was instant availability of 6K, along with other windows, so I nabbed the seat.
Apparently, while this rule isn’t written anywhere, a number of seats on the plane can only be booked when the flight is booked as Swiss. This means anyone who books on United.com is out of luck, as is anyone who assumes it doesn’t matter and books as a code-share.
While seat assignments in business class are definitely a first-world problem, in this case, Swiss has an interesting plane configuration, with some window seats being paired with aisles. Other windows are single seats on the side, including 6K, which makes for a very nice experience for travelers wanting privacy and quiet.
This time all’s well that ends well. The fare is even the same, and because he was flying outbound on United, the traveler still gets the qualifying dollars for the whole trip.
What’s the point of all the craziness? In this case, we are talking a ticket that costs over $10,000, so it’s not like this is some weird low-priced deal Swiss isn’t matching.
And while it’s a topic for a whole different post, for flights on Swiss booked in economy, there’s a surcharge for any preassigned seat, unless someone is an elite member of Swiss or Lufthansa’s mileage program. So, a traveler used to booking United, which does at least assign some free seats in coach — for now — is going to have an unwelcome surprise.
Paradoxically, one of the points of code-shares is that they’re supposed to be seamless.
Janice Hough is a California-based travel agent a travel blogger and a part-time comedy writer. A frequent flier herself, she’s been doing battle with airlines, hotels, and other travel companies for over three decades. Besides writing for Travelers United, Janice has a humor blog at Leftcoastsportsbabe.com (Warning, the political and sports humor therein does not represent the views of anyone but herself.)
