Divorce Pending

[realestate]

This is my first post/blog so please go easy on me.
My wife and I are travelling SYD/LAX on May 25th on QF11 and to date have been able to get only 1 business class seat using points and that could lead to divorce if I cant get a second. I check daily but never see another business class seat nor even a premium economy anywhere near the date.
As a bronze FF member, is there any point in buying an economy seat and trying for an upgrade with points? From what I read in the Forum, seems most unlikely.Is there a better chance if I buy a premium economy seat and try upgrading?
Seatcounter.com shows 9 seats in all classes including "I" class which they state is Business Award Class, so I am more confused.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Realestate.

 

[ejb_nz]

Hi realestate and welcome to AFF!

To prevent divorce the only sure way is to pay for J.

This is more than likely not affordable so checking daily would be the best bet.

Buying Y and hoping is risky and buying Y+ is also risky, but at least if you buy Y+ you will be flying better than Y if the upgrade does not clear.

Putting the wife in J while you travel Y+ is surely going to earn you some good husband points.

ejb

 

[zig]

Putting the wife in J while you travel Y+ is surely going to earn you some good husband points.

ejb

My suggestion exactly. Not sure why the automatic assumption would be that you take the only available J class seat

 

[jamesatfish]

Seatcounter.com shows 9 seats in all classes including "I" class which they state is Business Award Class, so I am more confused.

I class on that flight is the Business Saver fare, not a business award point seat, which is why you're seeing I9 but no award seat availability through Qantas.

The Business Saver fares are around $7500 return at that time (I booked one for early May myself) so perhaps that's an option if you want to travel in the same class as your wife.

For what it's worth, as a WP I made some requests to open award seats SYD-LAX and LAX-SYD in May - the flights there were opened for me but I could not get any availability LAX-SYD (or -MEL, -BNE, -AKL or anywhere else). In the end the Business Saver fare was the easiest way to go and a pretty good deal for that route.

 

[kiwitripper64]

The flight staff will generally understand if you want toswap seats with spouse half way through so you can each get a taste of business. Not perfect, but could prevent divorce.

 

[jb747]

The flight staff will generally understand if you want toswap seats with spouse half way through so you can each get a taste of business.

Actually, they won't. This is specifically not allowed.

Be a man, sit down back. I'm sure your wife will meet someone nice in business.

 

[ejb_nz]

Actually, they won't. This is specifically not allowed.

Be a man, sit down back. I'm sure your wife will meet someone nice in business.

I think they even discourage "visiting" people in J so I think you should make yourself comfortable in Y+ and enjoy the extra love you will get from letting your wife ride in style.

ejb

 

[anat0l]

Actually, they won't. This is specifically not allowed.

Wow. I didn't know that one. So once you're set into a seat, you can't move away from it? (I guess within the same cabin is alright, but between cabins maybe not).

I guess I can understand because this messes with the manifest, which has implications if things go wrong, but apart from that.....

Be a man, sit down back. I'm sure your wife will meet someone nice in business.

Ummm.... maybe that's not such a good thing to suggest. That might give the wife a different reason to divorce the OP (touch wood! touch wood!).


But to sum up - get a J seat and if you can't get a second, put the wife in J. As a NB, your chances for an upgrade are quite small. Other than that, you can try calling QF to see if they will yield you another J seat. I would suggest Any Seat Award too, but I know the price will be nothing short of extortionate.

 

[Alanslegal]

Actually, they won't. This is specifically not allowed.

And where is this rule specifically written?

Wow. I didn't know that one. So once you're set into a seat, you can't move away from it? (I guess within the same cabin is alright, but between cabins maybe not).

IME cabin crew have said to me 'it's all Ok to move down cabin classes but never the other way.'

 

[drewbles]

You could also sign up for expert flyer and create an alert to be notified if a J award seat becomes available. It won't be the second it becomes available, but it'll notify you during the day if it becomes available after you've checked for the morning.

Expert Flyer isn't free, but for the $100 or so (for 12 months) it may be worth it to save you having to check each morning (And possibly snag one if it's released later in the day for any reason).

As a NB I wouldn't chance it buying an expensive Y fare and hoping for an upgrade. I'd probably do the EF route, failing that, purchase the fare, or have a good pre-nup in place

 

[serfty]

And where is this rule specifically written? ...

jb747 is employed by Qantas at the pointy (upstairs) end.

As such they would know the rules.

 

[Hvr]

Of course if you do get divorced then you can fly J as often as you want.



There is a reason divorce is so expensive.. because it is worth every cent.

 

[UP4014]

Maybe accept you can't get a second seat and divorce before the flight and enjoy business yourself.

 

[Alanslegal]

jb747 is employed by Qantas at the pointy (upstairs) end.

As such they would know the rules.

Those may be the rules but I have not yet been refused to freely wander from J to Y for example. Another example was a steward offered to take me on a tour of the plane after meal service.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Those may be the rules but I have not yet been refused to freely wander from J to Y for example. Another example was a steward offered to take me on a tour of the plane after meal service.

The question should be "have you been allowed to wander freely from Y to J"?

Wandering is one thing but moving from Y to J & back again for part of a flight would possibly annoy other pax in the J cabin, or Y cabin for that matter too.

I would think above all it might make other pax nervous about 'new' people sittng in seats they weren't originally in on take-off & you'd have to question their possible motives for doing so.

My wife and I are travelling SYD/LAX on May 25th on QF11 and to date have been able to get only 1 business class seat using points and that could lead to divorce if I cant get a second.

If you have already got a J seat using points, don't you have to put a pax name down in order to secure the booking? Whose name is down in the booking for the J class redemption?

Be a man, sit down back. I'm sure your wife will meet someone nice in business.

You might even meet someone nice in economy!

As mentioned in an earlier post on this thread, sign up with Expert Flyer - it may prove to be the best $100 you've ever spent.

Keep us posted on the outcome.

Cheers

Oz

 

[Alanslegal]

The question should be "have you been allowed to wander freely from Y to J"?

Wandering is one thing but moving from Y to J & back again for part of a flight would possibly annoy other pax in the J cabin, or Y cabin for that matter too.

I would think above all it might make other pax nervous about 'new' people sittng in seats they weren't originally in on take-off & you'd have to question their possible motives for doing so.

Point taken, I'm not trying to argue what is right or wrong, or what is or is not permissable. I don't fly J much so when I do, I ask an attendant can I explore the plane or if I can have a quick visit to a friend in Y .... I always get the green light, except since you are in J, you won't be allowed into the F cabin direction.

I totally understand that a pax in whatever cabins can get a bit annoyed at movement esp. between cabin classes, but at the same time, I can pace up and down the aisles in one cabin I'm flying in (to stretch my legs) as much as I want.

I've never seat swapped but I can see the point about other pax being apprehensive to why it has happened.

 

[JohnK]

This is my first post/blog so please go easy on me.
My wife and I are travelling SYD/LAX on May 25th on QF11 and to date have been able to get only 1 business class seat using points and that could lead to divorce if I cant get a second. I check daily but never see another business class seat nor even a premium economy anywhere near the date.

I can see availability for 1 business class award seat SYD-LAX on May 26 and May 28. If you do not have to travel together then that is an option.

The question should be "have you been allowed to wander freely from Y to J"?

Interesting question. I have been allowed to move from economy to First Class, and sit in seat, for around an hour while my friend/work colleague was talking to an FA. I don't know if there is a specific policy but I find most FA's are very flexible.

Wandering is one thing but moving from Y to J & back again for part of a flight would possibly annoy other pax in the J cabin, or Y cabin for that matter too.

I have been on a number of flights where a couple with kid(s) have been sitting in separate cabins and they have swapped seats throughout the flight to give each other a rest.

Those may be the rules but I have not yet been refused to freely wander from J to Y for example. Another example was a steward offered to take me on a tour of the plane after meal service.

No one has ever said to me I cannot walk through the economy cabin since I have had my first long haul op-up to QF business class in 2004. In fact I go for a long walk on every flight whether I am seated in economy or business class although if I am in economy I do not go for a walk through business class cabin.

 

[adrian]

Have you thought about SYD-SFO-LAX instead of SYD-LAX? If you get a Y+ ticket, (by points or purchase), they are currently seating the Y+ passengers in the downstairs J cabin in skybeds.
There is a flight on 24 May that is avail to purchase.

 

[anat0l]

Have you thought about SYD-SFO-LAX instead of SYD-LAX? If you get a Y+ ticket, (by points or purchase), they are currently seating the Y+ passengers in the downstairs J cabin in skybeds.
There is a flight on 24 May that is avail to purchase.

Only problem is that SYD-SFO is serviced by (usually) a 2-class 744, which as you say means Y+ pax get Skybeds, but they are just that - Skybed Mk I, or Skyslopes. QF11 - barring an equipment swap - is serviced by a A380, which means Skybed Mk II.

Moreover, with a Y+ ticket it will mean Y+ service even though the physical seat is J. In saying that, there isn't much the OP would be missing out on in this case, except for lounge access, J amenity kit and J priority handling.

 

[medhead]

I've never seat swapped but I can see the point about other pax being apprehensive to why it has happened.

Frankly, it is none of the other pax business, as long as their, what is the phase they use on rental agreements, right to freely enjoy their seat isn't removed. The crew have the ability to make whatever changes they want without explanation to other pax. If a different pax sits in a seat the other pax have no ability to know if the FA might have made that change.

I'd also say that if one pax entered the J cabin had a chat to one of the pax and then they said goodbyes and the original J pax when away that anyone observing this would realise that the swapped seats. I can't think of any reason for someone to be apprehensive. "Ohh no, someone who has been on this aircraft the whole time in Y is now sitting in J, look out they might have turned into a terrorist or something"

Ohh and I got to move from Y to J from SIN-DRW (QF81 or 82) because the IFE wasn't working in my seat but was in the J seat. The other J pax didn't seem to notice and they certainly weren't looking at me wuth a scared look on their faces.