Daughter and friend long haul flight - sit together?

[ExRAFRadar]

Good morning all, (UK time)
I know this has probably been asked before but my search Kung-Fu is not it's normal self today and I am having no luck getting an answer

So I turn to you good people.

Daughter and friend are starting a Southern Hemisphere sojourn on Oct 3rd, flying with Emirates to Abu Dhabi.

She is getting a bit nervous that she and her friend will not be seated together.

Is there anyway they can book seats next to each other before checking in?

Thank you for any replies.

[Squawk 6042]

Emirates to Abu Dhabi? Is that actually to Dubai, or is the airline Etihad?

As far as I know, both these airlines allow you to pre-select general seating for free anytime after the booking - Just go onto the website. If they both log in in succession, or simultaneously on different devices, they should be able to get two adjacent seats.

Then to be extra sure, check in online as soon as this is allowed.

[Metro man]

Emirates to Abu Dhabi ? They fly via Dubai, Et-ihad fly through Abu Dhabi.

Seats can be preselected with most airlines, increasingly this is being charged for, especially bulkhead and exit row seats with more leg room.

If not willing to pay, then get to the airport very early and ask nicely at the counter.

[Dryce]

Emirates used to allow seat selection for free. Now things are a bit more complicated.

(1) If flying economy then the lowest fares don't automatically include seat selection prior to the online check in opening. In this case you can pay extra to select your seats.

(2) If flying on a higher economy fare or you have high enough frequent flier status then seat selection prior to the online check-in open is complementary.

(3) It's getting a bit more complicated in that it now looks like they they are also marking a few seats as extra leg room for which there is an additional charge over and above the regular seats.

[ExRAFRadar]

Thanks for the advice everyone, much appreciated.

[Innominate]

We have a similar situation. My wife and I are going to New Zealand in November with a few days in Singapore en route. Our travel agent booked us flights with Air New Zealand, operated under a codeshare by Singapore Airlines. I’m trying to book seats, as we want two together, one of which has a window, but it seems impossible online.

The Air NZ website says that it has to be done via the Singapore Airlines website, but that says “Specific seat selection is not available on this flight, as it’s operated by our partner airline. Please choose your preferred seat type, and we’ll do our best to ensure that our partner airline fulfils your selection.” So we have a situation whre ANZ says we have to talk to Singapore, but Singapore say they can't do it because it's operated by ANZ!

Somehow we’ve managed to get a window for my wife, but the only other options available are aisle seats – so we can’t sit together. I phoned both airlines some time ago, as my wife needs a special meal, and the person at Singapore said she’d arrange for us to sit together. So far there is no sign of this having been done. Do we simply have to hope that a pair of seats with a window will be available when we check in? It seems fairly unlikely, even if an A380 has more windows than most aircraft.

We'd be grateful for any advice.

[Metro man]

Singapore Airlines are excellent when it comes to customer service and will do their best to help you out. Get to the airport as early as you can so there will be seats to choose from.