Seat reservation changed [Moved from Paid Exit seats ($360 all up)]

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x'tine

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I booked a flight, direct with Qantas (November 2014 for flight in June LHR to MEL), at the same time reserved and paid for exit row seats on the upper deck of the A380. Discovered last week (whilst printing out spare e-tickets - not notified of the change by Qantas) that we had been changed to two separate extra legroom seats in different cabins on the lower deck! Spoke to Qantas and was advised to either turn up for the flight on the day with the seat reservation receipt and let the flight crew "sort it out" or fill out a Customer Feedback form - which we did. Checked our booking again yesterday and the seats have been changed again to 33J & 33K (standard seats)- still no contact from Qantas.
Question is, are the 33J & 33K good seats for two 70+ passengers. Also add that the trip is part of our Golden Wedding anniversary celebrations - not a good start!
Comments/advice most welcome.
Kind regards
 
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Re: Seat reservation changed.

33J & 33K are not exit row seats.

There are other much more experienced people on this forum than me. So I hope they can give you some advice as to what you can do.
But I would not want to accept these changes as you ave paid a considerable amount of money for exit row seats.

Happy Golden Anniversary, I hope you get it sorted.
 
Re: Seat reservation changed.

I booked a flight, direct with Qantas (November 2014 for flight in June LHR to MEL), at the same time reserved and paid for exit row seats on the upper deck of the A380. Discovered last week (whilst printing out spare e-tickets - not notified of the change by Qantas) that we had been changed to two separate extra legroom seats in different cabins on the lower deck! Spoke to Qantas and was advised to either turn up for the flight on the day with the seat reservation receipt and let the flight crew "sort it out" or fill out a Customer Feedback form - which we did. Checked our booking again yesterday and the seats have been changed again to 33J & 33K - still no contact from Qantas.
Question is, are the 33J & 33K good seats for two 70+ passengers. Also add that the trip is part of our Golden Wedding anniversary celebrations - not a good start!
Comments/advice most welcome.
Kind regards

33J/K certainly not exit row. They have side bins (32j/k do not have side bins and Tv in arm, so narrower seat), and no one behind 33J/K so you can lean back when you feel like it. But leg space is just your average Y space, so if you need that space you will need to pursue with QF.

Have a look here and the thread in general: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....-program/best-seats-economy-a380-31965-5.html
 
What specific seats did you pay for (e.g 35J/K?) ... and how much did you pay?
 
Re: Seat reservation changed.

Hi - seats were 35J & 35K, we paid $360.
 
Re: Seat reservation changed.

Hi - seats were 35J & 35K, we paid $360.

Wow! I'd be up in arms! Please PM Red Roo here on this site.

This IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

I suggest you also hit twitter and facebook. Make sure you are brief but be clear you were moved from your adjacent $180 each prepaid seating.
 
Re: Seat reservation changed.

Yes, it's safe to say we are up in arms. I have sent a letter to Simon Hickey (tracked and has to be signed for) so fingers crossed - have to say, I'm not very hopeful - we are only Bronze FF!
I'm new to forums, how do I PM Red Roo?
Thank you for your concern.
 
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Re: Seat reservation changed.

Sorry to hear.

Simply not good enough.
 
Re: Seat reservation changed.

Gotta say having side storage bins is pretty attractive. I see two options, in my order of attempt, 1) call and demand a refund of the exit row seat fee. They may very well put you back in an exit row rather than give back the money. 2) going into manage my booking and try to select exit rows again. There is no charge involved for this because you've already paid.
 
Re: Seat reservation changed.

Tried to change seats but a message popped up saying that the seat map was not able to be shown. It's a tricky one because I still haven't had an actual response to my written complaint and I guess that there probably won't be any exit/extra legroom seats left - the flight in on the 11th June. Who knows - they perhaps are enjoying this game of "musical chairs!" - can't say that I am!!!
 
Seat reservation changed.

Just checked the seat map for QF10 on 11 June 32JK might still be available. But you're right all other exit rows are gone. I'd say call and make them put you in an exit row, failing that demand your money back, this may prompt them to fix the situation.
 
Re: Seat reservation changed.

Thank you for the info. I will definitely get my money back, no doubt about that but I'm not going to accept a refund until they have ruled out re allocation to suitable alternative seats for us.
 
Re: Seat reservation changed.

I booked a flight, direct with Qantas (November 2014 for flight in June LHR to MEL), at the same time reserved and paid for exit row seats on the upper deck of the A380. Discovered last week (whilst printing out spare e-tickets - not notified of the change by Qantas) that we had been changed to two separate extra legroom seats in different cabins on the lower deck!

Spoke to Qantas and was advised to either turn up for the flight on the day with the seat reservation receipt and let the flight crew "sort it out" or fill out a Customer Feedback form - which we did.

The time to sort it out is in advance through reservations ie now, the problem shouldn't be handballed to the F/A's who cannot magically reproduce a second lot of seats 35JK. All that's going to happen is two sets of people are going to produce seat reservation receipts for 35JK assuming you still have a copy of the original somewhere.

If 35JK have already been reassigned to other people it is their names that would be in the checkin system against those seat numbers plus those people would also be holding boarding passes reflecting 35JK.

Checked our booking again yesterday and the seats have been changed again to 33J & 33K (standard seats)- still no contact from Qantas. Question is, are the 33J & 33K good seats for two 70+ passengers. Also add that the trip is part of our Golden Wedding anniversary celebrations - not a good start!

Comments/advice most welcome.
Kind regards

33J/K certainly not exit row. They have side bins (32j/k do not have side bins and Tv in arm, so narrower seat), and no one behind 33J/K so you can lean back when you feel like it. But leg space is just your average Y space, so if you need that space you will need to pursue with QF.

Have a look here and the thread in general: http://www.australianfrequentflyer....-program/best-seats-economy-a380-31965-5.html

I flew in 32K last week on OQA DXB/SYD which is the front row of economy class upper deck on the A380 and I definitely had a side storage bin because I found it very handy to stow all my stuff in. I didn't feel the seat was any narrower as the arm of the tv doesn't come out of the armrest as that's where the tray table is.

I wouldn't rely solely on seating descriptions from Expert Flyer as the description of those seats is still "premium economy" plus it states the seats has no power but it did. Although the usd port charged my mobile it didn't charge my ASUS netbook.

As it is a bulkhead row nobody can recline their seat into you. I found the leg room to be adequate for me however someone who is very tall or has very long legs may prefer to be able to stretch their legs out under the seat in front of them rather than have a bulkhead in front. The seats 35JK have masses of legroom which trumps all other economy class seats upstairs.

If you're not a silver, gold or platinum frequent flyer who get complimentary seat selection then $25.00 is worth paying for upper deck seating where there's just two seats on the side however if you've paid $180.00 pp for the exit row that's what you should get. If they can't give you the exit row after already confirming it to you I'd want to know why I was moved and I'd expect a full refund of the $360.00 you paid.

Did you only have the one QF flight on your trip LHR/MEL? I'm just checking in case the fee you paid was for the way over and you just had a standard seat on the way back. Have you double checked your credit card statement to make sure the card was actually charged for the exit row, just in case the payment didn't go through?

Passengers seated in an extra must be able to physically open the exit door in the unlikely event of emergency and must not be visually or hearing impaired eg no hearing aids etc.
 
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Re: Seat reservation changed.

Thank you all that information!I have contacted Customer Support and I am assuming that they are responsible for the latest seat change ( sequence of changes is 35J&K to 71D & 80K to 33J&K). I'm not sure if reservations in the UK are able to step in at this point. My main concern now is that I may loose 33J&K - I suppose I'm getting a bit paranoid as this situation seems to be totally out of my control. I will keep your suggestion in mind though in case I hear nothing from Qantas - I have also written to Simon Hickey (Mascot NSW) in the hope that he has some influence that he can excercise on our behalf.
We paid a total of $720 - 4 exit row seats - LHR - MEL & return (66A&B for return flight - unchanged)
 
Re: Seat reservasidetion changed.

Thank you all that information!I have contacted Customer Support and I am assuming that they are responsible for the latest seat change ( sequence of changes is 35J&K to 71D & 80K to 33J&K). I'm not sure if reservations in the UK are able to step in at this point. My main concern now is that I may loose 33J&K - I suppose I'm getting a bit paranoid as this situation seems to be totally out of my control.

I will keep your suggestion in mind though in case I hear nothing from Qantas - I have also written to Simon Hickey (Mascot NSW) in the hope that he has some influence that he can excercise on our behalf.
We paid a total of $720 - 4 exit row seats - LHR - MEL & return (66A&B for return flight - unchanged)

I believe Mr Hickey is now "exploring new opportunities" outside QF after last year's management restructure.

Qantas executives Simon Hickey and Lyell Strambi to depart

I have pasted a copy of the economy seat map of your flight from Expert Flyer below. Try not to stress too much about it - much better to find out now when there's time to get it sorted rather than when you arrive at the airport (like I did recently only to find out AA had cancelled my onward booking when they shouldn't have).

Results from ExpertFlyer.com
Code:
Seat Map Search:
Departing LHR on 11/06/15 for MEL
Flying QF flight 10 in Economy


            A   B       D   E   F   G       J   K   
32  U       -   -       X   X   X   X       X   X       U   
33  U       -   -       X   X   X   X       -   -       U   
34  U                   -   -   -   -                   U   
35  U   E               -   -   -           -   -   E   U   
36  U                   X   X   -           -   -       U   
            A   B       D   E   F   G       J   K   




        A   B   C       D   E   F   G       H   J   K   
48  E   -   -   -                                       E   
49      X   X   X                                           
50      X   X   X                                           
51  W   X   X   X                           X   X   X   W   
52  W   -   X   X       X   X   X   X       X   X   X   W   
53  W   X   X   X       -   -   X   X       X   X   X   W   
54  W   X   X   -       X   X   X   X       X   -   -   W   
55  W   -   -   X       X   -   X   -       -   -   X   W   
56  W   -   -   +       -   +   -   -       +   +   -   W   
57  W   +   -   -       H   +   +   +       -   -   +   W   
58  W   -   +   +       H   +   +   +       +   +   +   W   
59  W   -   -   +       H   +   +   +       +   +   +   W   
60  W   -   +   +       H   +   +   +       +   +   +   W   
61  W   -   +   +       H   +   +   +       -   +   -   W   
62  W   +   +   -       H   +   +   +       +   +   +   W   
63  W   +   +   +       +   +   +   +       +   +   +   W   
64  W   +   +   +                           +   +   +   W   
65  W   +   +   +                                       W   
66  E   -   -   -       -   X   X   X       -   -   -   E   
67  W   +   -   -       H   +   +   +       +   +   -   W   
68  W   +   +   +       H   +   +   +       +   +   +   W   
69  W   +   +   +       H   +   +   +       +   +   -   W   
70  W   +   +   +           +   +   +       +   +   +   W   
71      +   +   +       -   +   +   +       +   +   +       
72      -   -   -       H   +   +   +       +   +   +       
73      -   -   -       H   +   +   +       +   -   -       
74      -   -   +       H   +   +   +       +   +   +       
75      +   +   +       H   +   +   +       +   +   +       
76      +   +   +       H   +   +   +       +   +   +       
77      +   +   +       +   +   +   +       +   +   +       
79  E       -   -                           -   -       E   
80      -   +   -                           -   -   -       
81      X   X   X       X   X   X   X       X   X   X       
82      X   X   X       H   +   +   +       X   X   X       
83      X   X   X       X   X   X   X       X   X   X       
84      X   X   X       X   X   X   X       X   X   X       
85      X   X   X       X   X   X   X       X   X   X       
86      X   X   X       X   X   X   X       X   X   X       
87                      X   X   X   X                       
88                      X   X   X   X                       
        A   B   C       D   E   F   G       H   J   K   








Seats
Premium Only             P                        
Available                +                        
Handicap-Accessible      H                        
Paid & Premium           #                        
Occupied                 -                        
Blocked                  X                        
Lavatory                 L                        
Paid                     $                        


Location
Exit Row                 E                        
Wing                     W                        
Upper Deck               U
 
Re: Seat reservasidetion changed.

Hi and welcome to AFF x'tine. I also check the seat maps and ensure my seats on upcoming trips remain the same.

I note you and your spouse are both 70+, are you both able to fulfil the requirements of the exit row? If not and you are removed on the day of travel then there wont be a refund and you be put where ever there are spare seats.
 
Re: Seat reservasidetion changed.

Yes we are! But doesn't look as thought we are going to have an exit row seat:mad:
 
Re: Seat reservasidetion changed.

That's amazing - can you clarify - does "blocked" (X) mean that it is available but they are not allocating yet. So in theory I could insist on having seats 32J&K?
Contacted Qantas and they say that they cannot transfer me to 32J&K - I have to take my chance at the airport and hope no one else gets to reserve these seats before me. They couldn't even organise a refund!!!! I've sent another message to Customer Services - getting very angry now!!!!
 
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