Originally Posted by
El Grifo
We specifically booked the 2 seats, window and aisle upstairs on the A380. We booked and paid early to avoid any hiccups
I'm sure that all here are just trying to assist, but one must point out that, although one regularly reads in such situations about how the passenger "had booked and paid early", that doesn't give any preference of treatment, in fact the opposite, for many months beforehand the airline timetable can only be an estimate, and is commonly subject to rearrangement, maybe more than once, as situations change. Now in return for this you are, in fact, paying what is often a notably reduced fare. When I go to LAX it is commonly booked by the office a week or less before departure, when I likely find that I have paid maybe five TIMES what you have paid, possibly even more, to sit next to you with the same service, and furthermore commonly get the worst seats when only single middles are left, separated from my colleague who has paid the same high fare.
Paying early is not all in the airline coffers, also contrary to belief, as the credit card companies use intermediary organisations called Merchant Card Processors, who, simplistically, may hold all or part of the funds until the service is actually provided, dispatched, or whatever. The way this is done varies by type of business and the credit card company's experience of liabilities. This is in part driven by the legal requirement that if the service is not provided, you can get the money back from the credit card company, who of course are not keen to fund all the commercial problems that can happen, so don't pay it across to the airline or whoever in the first place until it's reported done.