Seat Unit

How do you get the best seat assignments on international flights?

I called Lufthansa and they stated the best seats are first come first serve, and that the earliest I can check in is at the airport at 10am the morning of the flight. The flight is scheduled for 1:55pm. Is this really the best way to get the best seats? ALSO, I've got an international United flight, and they haven't assigned us any seats and won't tell me when they will release seat assignments, but just to call back "whenever I'd like". HELP! My wife and I are both 6'2" and my wife's legs are very long, so getting a seat with the most legroom is what we consider "the best". Thanks very much. I know about seatguru.com -- What I don't know is how LH's system works for seat assignments. I've called their customer service line, but they indicated they can't pass out better seats until the day of the flight. I wanted to see if there were any other ways to secure a seat before the day of the flight. I fly frequently, but not internationally, and never on LH. Thanks again.

Public Comments

1. Bulkhead and exit row are always the seats with more space. However bulkhead seats usually do not open before checkin or are restricted simply because this row is reserved for any passenger who may have disabilities or infants for bassinets (sorry, heighth doesn't count). Sometimes you can checkin for your flight online (24 hours before but since it's international not sure what LH is going to regulate) and seats may open there, no guarantee. Even if you get them they may warn you on checkin that they can take them away. Exit row seats are always a toss up in the way an airline may let them open. Sometimes they open them up if you are an "elite" member with their frequent flyer program or if you have a high-yield fare which means you paid quite a bit of money. If that's not you then you'll have to show up really early for your flight at checkin to try to snag any if there are any left! LH may not open that flight until 3 hours prior. My suggestion is to make both calls the day before as well as going online (if online checkin applies) to see if they open up. My last suggestion is to give puppy dog eyes to the gate agent and ask them if anything were to open up and express your tallness they may warm over. If you're pushy they may disregard/pay little attention to your request. As far as United, international flights can be pesky in that the airline will hold seats as they may be near oversold or simply they want their agents at the airport to have control of some seats in case of rearrangments...you may have to simply be patient and get those on day of departure too. Calling back may not help at all in that case!
2. Try to get into both Lufthansa and United web sites and check your Reservation with your name and locator (Numbers and letters) Sometimes thay allow you to assign your own seats, depending on flights and availability and fare paid. But is worth the try. For your information once you know the plane, you can check seats at: www.seatguru.com
3. I have always used seatguru.com. I purchase the ticket, find out what kind of plane it will be on, then immediately call customer service and tell them which seat I want. I usually get regular coach seats; however, I do tend to book more than a month in advance, so there are lots more choices. http://www.seatguru.com Add: If you're flying United, you can join Economy Plus; those seats have about 4" extra legroom. It costs a few hundred dollars, but it's worth it.
4. If you booked through a travel agent, they may be able to do certain seat allocations before you fly. Unfortunately though they cannot allocate exit row seats and sometimes cannot allocate bulkhead seats either. Exit row seats are only allocated at the airport as staff need to see that you are physically able to operate the exit doors. I don't believe that getting to the airport early is really going to help. Think about it, people doing connections from another flight onto your flight may have checked in many hours before hand at their original airport...