A seat assignment, even one held for 11 months, is only valid until somebody more important than you needs it. That’s my takeaway. it seems, from LATAM…
LATAM Gave My Reserved Business Class Seat To An Elite Flyer, Then Made Excuses
11 months ago, I booked a LATAM award from São Paulo to Los Angeles, using Alaska Airlines miles. At the time of booking, I chose seat 3L on the LATM 787–9. I chose that sea, because it’s a window seat on the starboard side, a type of seat I always choose whether I’m writing a review or simply traveling for leisure.
I did not just set it and forget it–I actually gardened the reservation. Every few weeks I checked it, confirming seat 3L was still assigned. Even the day before, I checked it on the LATAM app and I was still in 3L. Same story on the morning of departure. But, when I got to GRU and proceeded to the premium check-in desk, I was handed to boarding pass for seat 6D.
I immediately raised the issue, asking the agent what happened to the seat that I had reserve for 11 months. This is where the gaslighting began.
The agent appeared to see something in her system and called over a supervisor. A supervisor took a look at the system. He looked at the screen and he looked up at me and said:
SUPERVISOR: “Sir, I’m sorry the IFE was broken on your seat so we needed to move you.”
ME: “Why can’t the IFE be fixed before the flight?”
SUPERVISOR: “No it’s not working and we can’t put you in a seat that doesn’t have IFE.”
ME: “Is the seat blocked?”
SUPERVISOR: “No, there’s a frequent flyer sitting there and we can give him compensation for it but we can’t give it to you.”
I thought that was so strange. I asked him to clarify and he said that it was ok for a LATAM elite flyer to have a seat that didn’t have IFE but not for me. I asked him if he could move me back to the seat and I’d accept the broken IFE, and he refused. He told me to ask again at the gate to see if any seats opened up. The cabin was booked full clearly just a way to get rid of me but what you do at this point?
So I went to the lounge and I asked at the lounge, but the agent had no idea. So I left the lounge early, found a trio of gate agents at my gate, and asked there. One said, “Oh, there was an equipment change.” I said an “equipment change from what to what?” She said oh to a “different aircraft.” Sorry, but no. That doesn’t work with me: I had Expert Flyer alerts set for this flight and if there was any aircraft swap, I would know about it and receive an alert.
This aircraft has always been a 787–9 had not changed in 11 months. I asked her supervisor about what had happened and he pretended he didn’t speak English. I turned to her again and said, “Is there anything you can do?” And all of a sudden her English stopped working too…
So I boarded the flight, resigned to see 6D which is an aisle seat in the middle of the cabin. Whatever…I’m a big boy I can take a middle seat. I was still in business class, but it just all seem so suspicious to me. Well onboard, I saw that the IFE system was working just fine in seat 3L. In fact, I asked a flight attendant about it and she said no there had been no reported IFE issues and that the systems “works perfect.” I thought, what could be going on?
Then, I got my answer. A man boarded and took his seat and 3L. Three flight attendant came over and swooned over him. He looked to be a high-value LATAM “Black Signature” elite. I guess LATAM is willing to give away better seats in the cabin for those who they consider to be their better customers. But it’s so disappointing the way I was gaslit via the way LATAM lied to me and said the oh, the IFE is broken or oh, the aircraft swapped.
I understand that that excuse may work for the average flyer, but it doesn’t work for me and it’s truly lousy customer service that I had that seat reserved for 11 months, and they swapped it because they felt that I wasn’t worthy enough for it. Culturally, I do not value the lack of honest door. I cannot respect that sort of gaslighting. So however, the flight went (and I’ll offer my impressions of the flight tomorrow), my experience was already soured before I even stepped on board.
Look, I certainly acknowledge that this is a first world problem…oh the poor man groaning about which business class seat to sit in….break out the tiny violin. However, in terms of comparing airlines and offering, honest reviews, this sort of policy deeply bothers me. And it should bother you.
A seat may never be 100% guaranteed, but it should take something serious to move your assigned seat that you booked 11 months in advance. It should not be that somebody who has elite status decides they can just take a seat that you had already assigned. Bad job, LATAM.
It is indeed hard to value the lack of honest door, especially if the seats did not have privacy doors to begin with.
But yeah, no bueno.
A lot of typos and grammar issues recently. No big deal, but you should be aware…something has changed.
So LATAM has two versions of the 789, one with the 2019 VantageXL seats and another with the 2026 Recaro R7 seats. Annoyingly, they have different configurations: the former has odd rows as the “true” window seats and uses ACDEFHJL seat lettering, whereas the latter has even rows as the “true” window seats and uses only ADHL seat lettering. The former seems to be loaded as the default seatmap, whereas it seems like you flew on the latter. Perhaps that explains your seat swap and you had a severe case of misinformed agents all over GRU.
After some experiences a few years back on other airlines, on international saver awards, I began looking for business class seats that are good (e.g., direct aisle access, mid-cabin), but not so good that someone might covet it (like a throne seat). To me, most business class seats are usually acceptable, but a few might be materially less desirable (e.g., no direct aisle access, next to lavatory), and if you are switched last minute, those are what you will get. I will never know, but strongly suspect that I had been changed out of seats, particularly in the first row that I used to prefer, to accommodate someone who was an elite on a paid ticket, an air marshal or a deadheading pilot.
I flew LATAM on an AS award before and the IFE was broken. They knew about it but I kept my seat anyways and after a few times trying to fix it on the plane the lead FA said she would fill out a form and I might get some compensation. I really wasn’t expecting anything since its LATAM, but a few hours later I got an email from them offering me $150 directly deposited into my bank account. Gave them the details and the $150 was in my account within a few days. I was shocked at how easy that was.
“Culturally, I do not value the lack of honest door.”
Can someone please translate?
On this, Matthew, you are 100% right on all counts.
Alas, we live in the Age of Lies and Bullshit. Like a fish in water, it’s all around us and so pervasive most people can’t even recognize it, never mind care about it enough to see it as a valid issue.
That said, I miss the days of Alaska redemptions on LATAM. Very much enjoyed my trip to Easter Island last fall on that LATAM 787.