Qantas Seat Allocation For Husbands and Wives.

[Renato1]

On my last trip in June to the USA, I paid $30 each to pick seats on the plane for my wife and I for the Melbourne to LA leg of the trip, and I paid the same to pick seats for the return trip. My aim was to pick seats that minimized having to hear crying babies the entire trip, and my picks turned out quite well.The e-tickets were issued on 22 March for flying on 1 June.

But for the LA to New York flight, I figured the trip time wasn't so long and didn't want to pay yet another $60 to Qantas. I had asked the lady at the Frequent Flyers call centre how seats would be allocated, and she said that they endeavoured to put husbands and wives together (which is pretty much what happens with most non cut-price airline we've flown with. Also, our FF preferences on our profiles were Window Seats.

So, when we boarded the flight in LA, we were shocked to find that I was placed between two people in the middle aisle (nowhere near a window), and my wife was placed between two people in the window aisle opposite my side and further ahead than my row.

We weren't together, she was sort of near a window, and I was nowhere near a window, and my wife was somewhat distressed. Eventually, we managed to arrange a swap of seats, so that we sat together.

With the tickets issued 9 weeks before the flight, I'd have thought we would have been placed together - not separated as if I was flying with Iberia.

Has this occurred to any of you with Qantas?
Is paying the $30 each for seat allocation pretty much a must to be able to sit together?
Regards,
Renato

 

[sausagefingers]

Who was the airline LAX-DCA?

 

[Denali]

I can understand being distressed about the middle seat but why was your wife distressed about not sitting next to you?

I would have been more upset about the middle seat, I mean if my husband was 12 rows behind me in the middle and I had an aisle, sucks to be him but Im happy

 

[Renato1]

Who was the airline LAX-DCA?

With Qantas. All the flights were on the same E-ticket.

We flew back from Washington to LA with United - no problems there.
Renato

I can understand being distressed about the middle seat but why was your wife distressed about not sitting next to you?

I would have been more upset about the middle seat, I mean if my husband was 12 rows behind me in the middle and I had an aisle, sucks to be him but Im happy

It's much easier being able to chat with each for four and a half hours, and swap the bits of the meals that we don't like.
Plus, I'm awesome to be with. Very handy for lifting her bag into the over head compartment too.
Cheers,
Renato

 

[wandering_fred]

With Qantas. All the flights were on the same E-ticket.
We flew back from Washington to LA with United - no problems there.
Renato

It may have been a Qantas ticket and perhaps even a QF flight number, but it wasn't a QF plane. You needed to have gotten the PNR (likely AA) from the airline providing the metal and then have selected seats - likely for free.

Better chances for happy wandering (next time)

Fred

 

[Denali]

It's much easier being able to chat with each for four and a half hours, and swap the bits of the meals that we don't like.
Plus, I'm awesome to be with. Very handy for lifting her bag into the over head compartment too.
Cheers,
Renato

Oh. Youre one of thosssseeee. You talk to your spouse while flying

Did you get the airlines PNR and select your seats?

 

[Renato1]

It may have been a Qantas ticket and perhaps even a QF flight number, but it wasn't a QF plane. You needed to have gotten the PNR (likely AA) from the airline providing the metal and then have selected seats - likely for free.

Better chances for happy wandering (next time)

Fred

Thanks, but no - it was a Qantas plane with Qantas staff and the flying kangaroo too.
I don't understand what "PNR" stands for, please let me know.
Regards,
Renato

 

[BillytheFIsh]

Thanks, but no - it was a Qantas plane with Qantas staff and the flying kangaroo too.
I don't understand what "PNR" stands for, please let me know.
Regards,
Renato

The point others have been making is that Qantas don't fly from LA to Washington. So that flight must have been on a partner airline. [QF do fly LAX-JFK, but it seems unlikely you would have flown LAX-JFK-IAD]

 

[Batesy]

Thanks, but no - it was a Qantas plane with Qantas staff and the flying kangaroo too.
I don't understand what "PNR" stands for, please let me know.
Regards,
Renato

Are you sure you weren't flying to NEW YORK JFK?? Qantas does not fly to DCA Washington DC Ronald Reagan airport. The only internal flight in the USA is QF107 from Los Angeles LAX to New York JFK

A PNR is the booking reference number issues by Qantas for all flights booked by them regardless of the airline (the actual plane) you may actually fly with.
It might be something like AIB25X.

Hope this helps..

 

[Renato1]

Oh. Youre one of thosssseeee. You talk to your spouse while flying

Did you get the airlines PNR and select your seats?

We've only been married for nine years.
Do things change?

So this "PNR" has something to do with checking seats on-line? I foolishly forgot to check this the day or two when the seat allocations become visible, just assuming that an airline such as Qantas would put us together, since we were flying on the same E-Ticket Itinerary. The plane was fully booked out - so I don't know that it would have made much difference even had I checked.

Cheers,
Renato

The point others have been making is that Qantas don't fly from LA to Washington. So that flight must have been on a partner airline. [QF do fly LAX-JFK, but it seems unlikely you would have flown LAX-JFK-IAD]

Thanks very much - I stand corrected (I'm still in jet lag mode, staying awake most of the night).
We indeed flew from LA to JFK New York and not Washington (I have amended the original post).

Cheers,
Renato

Are you sure you weren't flying to NEW YORK JFK?? Qantas does not fly to DCA Washington DC Ronald Reagan airport. The only internal flight in the USA is QF107 from Los Angeles LAX to New York JFK

A PNR is the booking reference number issues by Qantas for all flights booked by them regardless of the airline (the actual plane) you may actually fly with.
It might be something like AIB25X.

Hope this helps..

It does help indeed thanks, as I just responded to another member - I stand corrected (I'm still in jet lag mode, staying awake most of the night).
We indeed flew from LA to JFK New York and not Washington (I have amended the original post).

Cheers,
Renato

 

[RooFlyer]

We've only been married for nine years.
Do things change?

So this "PNR" has something to do with checking seats on-line? I foolishly forgot to check this the day or two when the seat allocations become visible, just assuming that an airline such as Qantas would put us together, since we were flying on the same E-Ticket Itinerary. The plane was fully booked out - so I don't know that it would have made much difference even had I checked.

Cheers,
Renato

PNR = Passenger Name Record - that 6 alpha-numeric code that's often referred to as the "Flight Booking Reference". If you and your wife were travelling on different PNRs, then the 'system' wouldn't see you as together and therefore could split you, unless told otherwise.

Also, a multi-sector journey on one ticket using different airlines may have the same PNR used by the different airlines, or different PNRs (for the same trip), depending on the airlines' booking engine (Amadeus Vs Sabre Vs Galileo). PNRs have become more important with oneWorld's changed policy on interlining, but that's a different thread ...

 

[russ]

The only internal flight in the USA is QF107 from Los Angeles LAX to New York JFK.

Isn't it QF11 now?

 

[Princess Fiona]

Isn't it QF11 now?

Yes QF 11 LAX-JFK
QF12 JFK-LAX

 

[MEL_Traveller]

On my last trip in June to the USA, I paid $30 each to pick seats on the plane for my wife and I for the Melbourne to LA leg of the trip, and I paid the same to pick seats for the return trip. My aim was to pick seats that minimized having to hear crying babies the entire trip, and my picks turned out quite well.The e-tickets were issued on 22 March for flying on 1 June.

But for the LA to New York flight, I figured the trip time wasn't so long and didn't want to pay yet another $60 to Qantas. I had asked the lady at the Frequent Flyers call centre how seats would be allocated, and she said that they endeavoured to put husbands and wives together (which is pretty much what happens with most non cut-price airline we've flown with. Also, our FF preferences on our profiles were Window Seats.

So, when we boarded the flight in LA, we were shocked to find that I was placed between two people in the middle aisle (nowhere near a window), and my wife was placed between two people in the window aisle opposite my side and further ahead than my row.

We weren't together, she was sort of near a window, and I was nowhere near a window, and my wife was somewhat distressed. Eventually, we managed to arrange a swap of seats, so that we sat together.

With the tickets issued 9 weeks before the flight, I'd have thought we would have been placed together - not separated as if I was flying with Iberia.

Has this occurred to any of you with Qantas?
Is paying the $30 each for seat allocation pretty much a must to be able to sit together?
Regards,
Renato

It's not so much a case of sitting 'husbands and wives' together as an airline trying to sit passengers on the same booking together. You may be completely unrelated (other than being friends or work colleagues).

But it's not always possible to seat passengers together, for a variety of reasons.

You can generally select seats on line as soon as on line check-in opens. Or even earlier on airlines such as Qantas where seating opens for general selection at 80 hours prior to departure. There is usually no fee for doing this at this stage. On line check-in opens on most airlines either 24 or 48 hours prior to departure. Again usually no fee for selecting seats at this stage.

If you didn't take advantage of this, you would have known your seating allocations as soon as you received your boarding passes. This would also show you that you were not sitting together. You could then raise the issue with check-in staff, transit desk staff, or finally, at the gate with gate agents. If there are spare seats they can move you.

 

[Renato1]

It's not so much a case of sitting 'husbands and wives' together as an airline trying to sit passengers on the same booking together. You may be completely unrelated (other than being friends or work colleagues).

But it's not always possible to seat passengers together, for a variety of reasons.

You can generally select seats on line as soon as on line check-in opens. Or even earlier on airlines such as Qantas where seating opens for general selection at 80 hours prior to departure. There is usually no fee for doing this at this stage. On line check-in opens on most airlines either 24 or 48 hours prior to departure. Again usually no fee for selecting seats at this stage.

If you didn't take advantage of this, you would have known your seating allocations as soon as you received your boarding passes. This would also show you that you were not sitting together. You could then raise the issue with check-in staff, transit desk staff, or finally, at the gate with gate agents. If there are spare seats they can move you.

Thanks - yes, we knew in Melbourne that we weren't sitting together and raised it there with Qantas staff. They said to raise it in LA when we landed. At LA, the answer was tough luck, as the flight was fully booked.

With other airlines I've flown, when I have checked on-line before hand - they have always had my wife and I together somewhere, and the choice was whether we wanted to shift to some other set of seats. Never have we been separated in the initial allocation like on this occasion. When the seats have been allocated, some other passenger can't just split us apart by going on-line.

I had actually paid the taxes and fees on this award flight back in November or December, but after I modified the trip a few days later, for some inknown reason they couldn't take a direct debit of $16 off my Visa card - the exact same card that had made the initial payment. I annoyed them for months to confirm the ticket, until it finally came through on 22 March.

Certainly, when I did look at the seats available on the plane a few weeks before we travelled, I could have purchased hundreds of pairs of seats on that plane.
Regards,
Renato

 

[MEL_Traveller]

Thanks - yes, we knew in Melbourne that we weren't sitting together and raised it there with Qantas staff. They said to raise it in LA when we landed. At LA, the answer was tough luck, as the flight was fully booked.

Apologies - my advice was given on reading your original post where you seemed to indicate you didn't know you had been separated until you boarded the aircraft. In this case it looks like the flight was actually full. Not a lot you can do sometimes unless you pay for pre-allocation.

 

[drron]

It's much easier being able to chat with each for four and a half hours, and swap the bits of the meals that we don't like.
Plus, I'm awesome to be with. Very handy for lifting her bag into the over head compartment too.
Cheers,
Renato

We've only been married for nine years.
Do things change?

So this "PNR" has something to do with checking seats on-line? I foolishly forgot to check this the day or two when the seat allocations become visible, just assuming that an airline such as Qantas would put us together, since we were flying on the same E-Ticket Itinerary. The plane was fully booked out - so I don't know that it would have made much difference even had I checked.

Cheers,
Renato

Absolutely right.And after 44 years I am still awesome.:shock:

 

[Renato1]

PNR = Passenger Name Record - that 6 alpha-numeric code that's often referred to as the "Flight Booking Reference". If you and your wife were travelling on different PNRs, then the 'system' wouldn't see you as together and therefore could split you, unless told otherwise.

Also, a multi-sector journey on one ticket using different airlines may have the same PNR used by the different airlines, or different PNRs (for the same trip), depending on the airlines' booking engine (Amadeus Vs Sabre Vs Galileo). PNRs have become more important with oneWorld's changed policy on interlining, but that's a different thread ...

Thanks for the thorough explanation.
But I've looked all over my E-Ticket and can't see a PNR anywhere.
Regards,
Renato

Apologies - my advice was given on reading your original post where you seemed to indicate you didn't know you had been separated until you boarded the aircraft. In this case it looks like the flight was actually full. Not a lot you can do sometimes unless you pay for pre-allocation.

No problem, I could have phrased it much more clearly. It hadn't dawned on me at Melbourne (since I didn't have a floor plan handy) that we would be so far apart, and that not one of us had a window seat. I had thought that perhaps I had a window seat, and could have it swapped with my wife. But when physically on the plane, and looking at where we were, that was the shocking part - since it had been unimagineable that Qantas would do that to us.
Regards,
Renato

 

[RooFlyer]

Thanks for the thorough explanation.
But I've looked all over my E-Ticket and can't see a PNR anywhere.
Regards,
Renato

What are you calling your 'e-ticket'? Something titled or headed E- (or Electronic) Ticket, I hope, and not an itinerary or your on-line check-in bit of paper? It may not be called 'PNR' (as many, like you don't know what that means). Its often called 'booking reference' or 'Passenger reference' and will be something like KWXHTZ or FR6ZE9.

This is what a Qantas e-ticket has at the top (I've blued out the full bar code):



I've just checked electronic tickets for seven different airlines and its always there; its the single most basic thing in a confirmed reservation, along with your name. You cannot get a ticket issued without one (and as I mentioned, sometimes you might be lucky enough to have two for the same flight).

 

[Renato1]

What are you calling your 'e-ticket'? Something titled or headed E- (or Electronic) Ticket, I hope, and not an itinerary or your on-line check-in bit of paper? It may not be called 'PNR' (as many, like you don't know what that means). Its often called 'booking reference' or 'Passenger reference' and will be something like KWXHTZ or FR6ZE9.

This is what a Qantas e-ticket has at the top (I've blued out the full bar code):

View attachment 74577

I've just checked electronic tickets for seven different airlines and its always there; its the single most basic thing in a confirmed reservation, along with your name. You cannot get a ticket issued without one (and as I mentioned, sometimes you might be lucky enough to have two for the same flight).

Thanks, the Booking Reference 7PAR41 is indeed on my ticket.
So that is what everyone here is refering to as a PNR?

Well, my wife and I were on the same BR or PNR.
Cheers,
Renato