I have a plan to go to Hong Kong and booked a round-trip economy ticket with All Nippon Airways. At the same time, I reserved seats on the web. After several days, I noticed that the seat I had selected had been changed. Here is a note about the reason.
Details of the seat change
- The changed flight is the return flight from Hong Kong to Haneda.
- Originally I reserved seat 23C, which is the third from the left at 23.
- The seat after the change is 30C, which is the third from the left at 30.
- The seat has not changed in terms of being next to an emergency exit and an aisle seat. There would be no seat in front of the seat with more legroom and less pressure. I thought the change itself was fine.
- I decided to ask ANA, from my curiosity, why the seat got changed.
- Since the seat map showed “Premium Economy,” I also decided to ask if there’s such an arrangement. (It didn’t seem that there’s such a seat when I made the reservation)
Reason for the seat change and the Premium Economy setting
- I called ANA.
- The seat map has changed because the aircraft type has changed, and the seat I selected has been changed as well.
- I did not ask what type of aircraft was changed, but I believe it was originally a Boeing 787-8 (788).
- It was replaced by a Boeing 777-300ER (77W).
- I asked about the Premium Economy setting.
- This aircraft has seats with Premium Economy specifications. However, these seats are not sold as Premium Economy on this Hong Kong flight. They will be used as economy-class seats.
- I asked if I could change my seat to a Premium Economy seat.
- The answer was that I couldn’t.
- Since the fare I have booked is a fairly low discount fare (fare type – V), the seats with premium economy specifications are not open for reservations with such fares. They are open to those who have reserved an economy seat with a higher fare. It’s a shame but I understand it can’t be helped.
- I have Upgrade Points as a member of ANA Mileage Club. I asked if I could use the points to upgrade the current seat to a Premium Economy seat.
- The answer was that I couldn’t because these seats are not sold as Premium Economy and are just economy-class seats.
- The operator was friendly and easy to understand.
