Seat Assignments

I think your chances are slim to none. Also, I find Air Canada to have pretty horrible service and very surly folks (both on the phone, at the gate and in the air). Albeit, I have only flown them a few times, but I have talked to folks who regularly fly them - I have now sworn not to fly them again. I will stick to United or any other star alliance carrier (except US airways).

My advice would be to check online everyday to see if any better seats open up and to then move into that since you still have a couple of months to go.

My husband and I both got stuck in middle seats (one in front of the other) during one leg of our recent Ireland trip. When we got on the plane we discovered that we were sitting between two couples traveling together. They had reserved the window and aisle seats hoping they would have an empty seat between them. They very kindly moved together so we wouldn't be between them. We both ended up on the aisle. Maybe you will encounter a similar situation.

Thanks for the replies. I like the thought of checking everyday to see if another seat opens, but I have not been able to figure out how to do that. Can you direct me? Thanks.

Calling them is your best bet. They're hit and miss - terrible rep here for customer service (here as in Canada), but they can occasionally be decent. I'd booked through BMI (for $400 cheaper) and it took forever to get Air Canada to admit that we had tickets (they operate the flight) and while cranky about helping, did get us what we needed and did our seat reservations. They might require a doctor's letter to do it, but persist.

Update: I called them again and pleaded my case. Got what appeared to be a very "crabby" reservationist! Here it was just last evening I was given seat assignments, and she said nothing had been entered into the system, if you can believe that! I told her about my knee problem, and she gave me an aisle seat (though the person last night told me no aisle seats were available). She also told me to carry a doctor's note with me. Something tells me I should call again tomorrow just to make sure I've actually been booked. How nerve wracking can this be??!!

Well, I should have stayed calm. All is settled. I called Air Canada back again, and my seat assignment (aisle) is in the system. Talked to a very nice flight agent. (I'll admit, it does surprise me when one agent says there are no aisle seats left and another gets one for me??) Thanks again for all your comments.

Your experience proves what I have found to be helpful over the years. When I don't get a satisfactory answer to my needs, I call back hoping to get helpful agent. In half the cases I talk with an agent to helps me. I always suggest calling back later.

Carl brings up a good point....DON'T GIVE UP. If the first agent you call says it can't be done, wait a while and call back. Keep on calling until you get a friendly agent who's willing to spend some time trying to solve your problem. Unfortunately, with all the vagaries of the human experience, you may not get such a person on the first call, or the second, or the third.....

Yes, and I should have known that. A couple years ago when I was trying to make a reservation to fly to England, I had to call "5" times. Every agent I got until the 5th one told me a ticket would be $3K!! The 5th one put me on a United Partner and the price was more than cut in half. I think I was overly sensitive this time since for the first time I have a medical issue - but, it appears to have worked out.