Why didn't I get an aisle seat with ANA? I made sure that I reserved an aisle seat online before I flew!?

Question

I flew 4 flights with ANA (all nippon airlines), two of them were pretty full. on the non-full ones, my online aisle seat reservation worked fine. on the full ones, my aisle seat reservation didn't work and I got the middle seat. WHY???

Answer 1

someone took your space, get over it or tell them to move

Answer 2

as per the previous answers and ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS tell them you have a crook back and need the support of the window/plane wall!

Answer 3

Only ANA can give you a real answer. Everything posted here are just peoples' guesses.

There are usually two reasons why this can happen. One is checking in late, which you say didn't happen. The other is an unscheduled aircraft change. You may have booked a specific seat based on a certain type of aircraft. However, airlines sometimes have to take aircraft out of service (usually for maintenance) and a different aircraft is substituted with a different seating arrangement. Your reserved seat may not exist on the new aircraft, especially if it is smaller. In that case, you are reassigned to whatever seat is available. I've had that happen to me.

Answer 4

Most likely there was a party of two or more people who checked-in before you did and they tried to seat them together. Did you say something to them when you checked-in or have your seat number printed on your confirmation or e-ticket? I would have complained and asked them to change the seat, but there usually is some kind of disclaimer that the seat you chose was not guaranteed which I don't feel is right because sometimes I choose flights based on what seats are available. I don't what time you checked in, but it's usually a good idea to check-in early so that you can get a good seat.