How to get seat assignment? So frustrated!

[GeorgiaPeach51]

We are new to Oceania and I am boggled by how difficult it is to figure out how to get airline seat assignments.

 

We are on the Marina, Istanbul to Barcelona, November 1.  When we log in to Turkish Air with the record locator, it pulls it up, but with no seat assignment and no ability to change or choose the seat assignment.  Called Turkish Air.  They said to call TA.  Multiple calls to our TA…..he says when we are fully logged in on the Oceania website, Oceania will be able to issue tickets.

 

We are fully logged in, both of us, on the website.  Still nothing. I called O and they said they do not issue tickets till 60 days out, and early ticketing has to be requested by the TA.  If so, he seems unaware, so I passed the information on to him.  But I question all this because we have friends on the same flight who booked thru Turkish Air independently and they already have their seat assignments.

 

I’m still not sure we have the right information about this.  Can anyone pick box A, B, or C for me and tell me which is the right one?  I really appreciate your help.

 

Joanie

[basor]

Turkish Air does require ticketing in order to have access to set assignments.  Also, for most economy tickets, they charge for pre-assigned seats.

If you want early ticketing then your TA does have to request from Oceania,  This is because once the flights are ticketed, you are put into penalty phases with the cost of the airline ticket.

Your friends that booked directly with Turkish Air would have purchased their tickets and have been ticketed so have the ability to get seat assignments,

 

Enjoy your trip....

Edited July 18, 2023 by basor

[GeorgiaPeach51]

@basor  Thanks for your response.  So from your response, the 60 days request is actually what the TA should do?  My concern is that he doesn’t know what or how to do what needs to be done for some reason.  We have Business class booked, BTW, so there are not many seats to pick from.  I’m not sure I understand what you mean by the penalty phases?

[basor]

26 minutes ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

@basor  Thanks for your response.  So from your response, the 60 days request is actually what the TA should do?  My concern is that he doesn’t know what or how to do what needs to be done for some reason.  We have Business class booked, BTW, so there are not many seats to pick from.  I’m not sure I understand what you mean by the penalty phases?

Your TA needs to contact Oceania and request early ticketing.  It appears your TA does not work with Oceania much as this is standard. 

Once an air reservation is ticketed than any penalties (non-refundable, change fees, etc.) will begin.

[SATaxman]

31 minutes ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

@basor  Thanks for your response.  So from your response, the 60 days request is actually what the TA should do?  My concern is that he doesn’t know what or how to do what needs to be done for some reason.  We have Business class booked, BTW, so there are not many seats to pick from.  I’m not sure I understand what you mean by the penalty phases?

 

2 minutes ago, basor said:

Your TA needs to contact Oceania and request early ticketing.  It appears your TA does not work with Oceania much as this is standard. 

Once an air reservation is ticketed than any penalties (non-refundable, change fees, etc.) will begin.

 

31 minutes ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

@basor  Thanks for your response.  So from your response, the 60 days request is actually what the TA should do?  My concern is that he doesn’t know what or how to do what needs to be done for some reason.  We have Business class booked, BTW, so there are not many seats to pick from.  I’m not sure I understand what you mean by the penalty phases?

We fly Turkish Air often, Business Class, no TA, not through O. There are times the seats selected suddenly do not show up. I call Turkish Air directly, and they still can see the selected seats. I am not sure why the 60 day thing; however, we always book and pay when we make the reservation ourselves. Yes, there are not that many Business seats on their planes.

 

 

2 minutes ago, basor said:

Your TA needs to contact Oceania and request early ticketing.  It appears your TA does not work with Oceania much as this is standard. 

Once an air reservation is ticketed than any penalties (non-refundable, change fees, etc.) will begin.

 

[LHT28]

If you have made  final payment  just ask your TA  to have the flights ticketed 

 

 

[qballer]

We had to use Turkish air out of Istanbul last year, booked by a TA, with oceania air. Will never fly Turkish air again, if I can avoid them. TA and Oceania air dept could not contact Turkish air to upgrade seats. I attempted to call many times, their customer service is a joke. We were able to upgrade all other flights,  just Turkish air.  Security at airport was kinda crazy too, maybe it was a bad day.

 

We have a cruise in 6 weeks. Had TA contact Oceania air dept, to get flights ticketed. They did and I was able to upgrade seats on Delta and Iceland air. 

[GeorgiaPeach51]

@LHT28  so our final payment is due on August 3.  That is well before the 60 days that the Oceania rep said we have to wait for the TA to request early ticketing.

 

it seems you are saying tickets can be issued as soon as the final full payment is made?

 

still not sure which is correct.  I’m trying to do the investigation because clearly, our TA has no clue.  Would you mind clarifying in case I am misunderstanding you?  Thanks,

 

Joanie

[cruisr]

Turkish Air is a nightmare for anything.Horrid planes and service I only fly them in Business.  I now avoid them like the plague.  The best thing about TK is the best Business Lounge (not for arrivals) in IST.  Great food and service whilst waiting for your flights. I know longer fly them.

[LHT28]

5 minutes ago, GeorgiaPeach51 said:

@LHT28  so our final payment is due on August 3.  That is well before the 60 days that the Oceania rep said we have to wait for the TA to request early ticketing.

 

it seems you are saying tickets can be issued as soon as the final full payment is made?

 

still not sure which is correct.  I’m trying to do the investigation because clearly, our TA has no clue.  Would you mind clarifying in case I am misunderstanding you?  Thanks,

 

Joanie

Once you are paid in full  Oceania can ticket you  but if any  changes happen  flight times port location you are on your own

We have been ticketed at 75 days out  by asking 

If you wait  then O will ticket you  45 to 60 days

IME

 

Booking direct with the airline  you will get the seat slection at the time you pay

booking via the cruise line   you wait

 

What would it cost you to book your own air now compared to Oceania?

 That may be an option

[GeorgiaPeach51]

1 minute ago, LHT28 said:

Once you are paid in full  Oceania can ticket you  but if any  changes happen  flight times port location you are on your own

We have been ticketed at 75 days out  by asking 

If you wait  then O will ticket you  45 to 60 days

IME

Can’t thank you enough!  I finally understand.  I appreciate you!

 

And I appreciate all of the responses from everyone!

 

Joanie

[pinotlover]

We flew Turkish Airlines round trip in BC in June for our cruise. We booked ourselves. Great airline with terrific service. Food the best I’ve had on any airline.

 

I booked seats by calling the airline.

[SATaxman]

9 minutes ago, pinotlover said:

We flew Turkish Airlines round trip in BC in June for our cruise. We booked ourselves. Great airline with terrific service. Food the best I’ve had on any airline.

 

I booked seats by calling the airline.

Their newer planes are even better. We like Business Class because we can sit together near the window.

[Redtravel]

I can understand your concern. Just sailed using Olife air.  We had 5 flights.  Got advanced seat assignments on 4 out of 5 .  I spent hours contacting reps, TA, airlines, etc.  trying to get seat assignments.  The big concern was a long haul flight on Eurowings Discovery.  We were told we couldn’t get seats until 23 hours before flying when we checked in online. I did my online checkin and was assigned an aisle seat.  My spouse did online checkin and got message that seats would be assigned at the airport. Crazy?  Called Eurowings and was told that we both had aisle seats across the aisle from each other. Too good to be true? My TA also called and got the same info.  When we got to airport, we checked our bags and got boarding passes.  Somehow, my aisle seat became the middle of a row of 4 across.  I asked for a different seat and was told that nothing could be done.  I am short and my knees touched the seat back in front of me.  Think crushed for 9 hours.  It was our first time using O air.