QF Op-up 'Blacklist'

[drewbles]

I certainly don't want to see Australia turn into the USA where op-up's are "expected" from top tier members. anat0l did a very good summary on what goes on in the "land of freedom" and l couldn't believe it. It's out of control. Top tier members complaining because they purchased a Y ticket, but didn't get J/F seat. :shock: How does that work?

I was thinking along the lines of;
"Hi Customer X, thank you for being a loyal customer and supporting QF for the past -x- years. As a reward, QF would like to offer you an upgrade on your next Domestic sector".

Hence why l think that the 5k points, 450SC "Loyalty Bonus" is a load of BS.

I was in the premium security queue at LAX T4 late last year and was commenting to a septic in the queue about the lack-of-disruption (this was the day of boycot for the nude-o-scopes). He then went on a rant about how AA had the nerve to offer seats for sale for $30 upgrades and wouldn't instantly clear him to F being an AA EXP.

The attitude of the EXP's in the USA really is a DYKWIA one. And F, well, it's average (it's pretty decent on the 76x's though, I don't mind F on a 763 transcon!).

 

[openseat]

I've had 6 op-ups this past year, most unexpected as an AA EXP. I never got an op-up travelling on my QFFF number.

My clearance rate for 2010 in the US on AA was 100% for domestic and all my VIPs have cleared on International sectors.

I certainly never expect to get another op-up from QF. I try to keep realistic expectations.

 

[Oneworldplus2]

I certainly never expect to get another op-up from QF. I try to keep realistic expectations.

Can l ask, does 'realistic' mean buying a Y fare and expecting a J/F seat on AA?

I've heard so many stories from people who have travelled to the USA, it seems to me than only a minority of people actually purchase J/F. I guess that from reports, the J/F isn't anything to write home about anyways.

 

[drron]

Of course there's no QF blacklist for upgrades.Otherwise how did Shane warne get upgraded as reported in a recent post on AFF.

 

[Sprucegoose]

Depends on the pond you swim in. A CL or WP in CBR, quite common. In HBA a bit rarer. Only so many op ups available big pond - rarer ?

 

[JohnK]

I certainly don't want to see Australia turn into the USA where op-up's are "expected" from top tier members. anat0l did a very good summary on what goes on in the "land of freedom" and l couldn't believe it. It's out of control. Top tier members complaining because they purchased a Y ticket, but didn't get J/F seat. :shock: How does that work?

I like the system in the USA but I agree that people should not expect to receive an op-up simply because there is a spare seat in Business or First.

The reason I like the system in the USA is because of the transparency.
If the airline was to hand out op-ups then there is a clear pecking order. And if op-ups are left to the gate this will almost guarantee that a Nobody, a Silver, a Gold will almost never get an upgrade before a platinum, Partner Gold or CL.

Agree with it, disagree with it. It is up to you. As I said I do not expect op-ups but if you are going to hand out op-ups it makes perfect business sense to hand them out to your most frequent flyers not to those once a year flyers who just happened to get lucky or the creep who asked for one at check-in.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Rebate travellers do not get priority over commercial passengers. Upgrades are processed usually at T-15mins (domestically) when acceptance for the flight is closed and everything is finalised re: upgrades/seat changes for commercial passengers. The only time where a rebate traveller may be assigned a premium class seat earlier on is if there is wide availability of seats in the premium cabin.

I've been on flexible Y tickets countless times and tried to ODU in the lounge only to be told it's entirely full up front. Walk onboard to find it full of crew, sometimes in uniform and sometimes with their ID showing. I can't begin to think how many times this has happened. Others on here have reported the same thing, so I'm doubting this is really the case that commercial pax have some kind of priority over staff.

 

[AWA2602]

Have been QFF Platinum for the past 4 years and Gold for about 3 years before that and have often received Op-Ups (about 1 a month) most commonly betwen SYD-MEL and SYD-PER. Also on 3 of my last 4 SYD-LAX or SYD-JFK flights I was upgraded from J to A. Dont know about there being a blacklist, because I routinely give QF feedback (good and bad) about my experiences with them.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

I've been on flexible Y tickets countless times and tried to ODU in the lounge only to be told it's entirely full up front. Walk onboard to find it full of crew, sometimes in uniform and sometimes with their ID showing. I can't begin to think how many times this has happened. Others on here have reported the same thing, so I'm doubting this is really the case that commercial pax have some kind of priority over staff.

And there's another benefit that can be added to Diamond - a few free upgrades/year.

 

[docjames]

I've been on flexible Y tickets countless times and tried to ODU in the lounge only to be told it's entirely full up front. Walk onboard to find it full of crew, sometimes in uniform and sometimes with their ID showing. I can't begin to think how many times this has happened. Others on here have reported the same thing, so I'm doubting this is really the case that commercial pax have some kind of priority over staff.

ISTR that some staff have "J seating when deadheading to commence/complete duty" (or similar) written into their award / agreement / whatever the PC term for group contract is.

 

[dfcatch]

I certainly don't want to see Australia turn into the USA where op-up's are "expected" from top tier members. anat0l did a very good summary on what goes on in the "land of freedom" and l couldn't believe it. It's out of control. Top tier members complaining because they purchased a Y ticket, but didn't get J/F seat. :shock: How does that work?

I was thinking along the lines of;
"Hi Customer X, thank you for being a loyal customer and supporting QF for the past -x- years. As a reward, QF would like to offer you an upgrade on your next Domestic sector".

Hence why l think that the 5k points, 450SC "Loyalty Bonus" is a load of BS.

But in the US, top tier members receiving automatic upgrades (space available) is a published benefit. In fact I should say NA as AC does it too.

Of course, the only way to guarantee First seating is to actually buy a premium seat.

But if you've flown that many segments to earn top status in NA, then fair enough.

Sorry - a bit OT

 

[Boris spatsky]

The op up sure is a fascinating beast. I posed the original q because I have travelled twice with work colleagues on J int'l long haul where the other guy is WP but has held it for less time than I, and they get upgraded and I don't. Not complaining, I just don't get the philosophy. Oh and I gave greater $spend too??!!??

Certainly not expecting an op up, very happy to travel J long haul!!

 

[FlyingProf]

Funnily enough, although being on FlyerTalk for years, I've only recently discovered AFF so this is my first post. I joined QFF 10 years ago when I moved from HKG to AKL, having had CX Gold for about 15 years before that. Got WP in the first 6 months of membership and have been WP ever since. In 8 of the 10 years I've had PG and I got LTG almost 4 years ago. So, nowhere else to go in QFF as I'm certainly not a candidate for CL. In all that time my total op-ups on QF have been AKL-SYD twice from Y to J and SYD-PER once from Y to J. I have NEVER had an op-up from QF on long haul, on which I generally travel in J (occasionally F). Over the same period I have had 4 op-ups from J to F on CX (all after losing CX status) and 1 from J to F on BA. I have to conclude that QF op-up policy is unfathomable.

 

[JohnK]

I've been on flexible Y tickets countless times and tried to ODU in the lounge only to be told it's entirely full up front. Walk onboard to find it full of crew, sometimes in uniform and sometimes with their ID showing. I can't begin to think how many times this has happened. Others on here have reported the same thing, so I'm doubting this is really the case that commercial pax have some kind of priority over staff.

Your story reminds of what Platy used to post on AFF quite a lot. He used to get frustrated that he could not use FF points to upgrade CNS-BNE many times due to dead-heading crew. Surely it has to be a case of (revenue) passengers first (including ODUs) and then if space left try and accommodate dead-heading crew. And I still feel crew going home should not be in business full stop.

I really don't care what is written in their award/contract but it simply does not look good for business to have 2 paying passengers in J on a 737 and the other 10 seats taken up by staff.

Interestingly I saw a JQ crew member in uniform once sitting in the J cabin and looking very lonely. How would JQ crew have written J class QF travel into their contracts when they are not even the same airline?

 

[Smackbum]

Black list? Maybe. But I think it would only happen in rare circumstances. Could be a White list though, or at the very least some interesting Op-up algorithms.

Very anecdotally (i.e. - based upon the apocryphal stories told on AFF) I would have to say I get more upgrades than I should ... though less than I deserve! But these have all been either Y to Y+ or J, and have all been international. I don't know how many hundreds of times I've flown Qantas domestically over the years, but I'm sure they've never upgraded me.

I'm not complaining, mind. I would happily swap 5 domestic upgrades for 1 international, and when I have been upgraded whilst travelling with my wife and kids it has always been all of us. And their average SC count per year wouldn't hit double figures!


It must be down to the chuckles they have reading my AFF posts.

 

[dot]

I am not sure about a black-list, but I am quiet confident there is a whitelist. A colleague at work is only a SG, yet she gets Op-ups from Y to J more than 50% of the time regardless of load. I'm not sure how she managed to get on that list, but I have witnessed it in action.

In terms of my op-ups, I've had quite a few. In the past 12 months, I count nine (two on CX, seven on QF) - in all cases, my booking class (all Y except for one Y+) was chock-o-block and there was space in Y+, J and or F. (FYI, in 2010, I did 93 flights and 364,899Km all booked in Y except for two booked in Y+)

In my opinion, picking the right flights (full in your class and below* with space ahead of you) and having high status has a lot more to do with how frequently you get op-ups than any other factor.

If you are flying on MEL-SYD all the time, I would think Op-ups from Y to J would be very rare because there are flights every 30 mins or so, but if you fly MEL-HKG (one per day) over school holidays when Y demand is much higher than J demand AND if you are WP, you stand a reasonable (>40%) chance of an op-up from Y to Y+ or even J. That's exactly how I got a Y to J op-up last December on MEL-HKG-LHR and then an op-up from Y to Y+ for the LHR-SIN leg of my return LHR-SIN-MEL.

* I don't know of any way of finding out out if a flight is oversold, so I use the class availability as an indicator.

 

[serfty]

As far as "Whitelist" goes*, search for the term "Proactive Onload".

In realtion to CNS, for many many years they have been a law unto themselves - don't expect "Involuntary Upgrades" out of there unless you know the staff quite well. :-|


*and "Blacklist" for that matter.

 

[oz_mark]

The only blacklist I have known is the one that stops you flying on the airline altogether. I know someone that was on that - and discovered they were on it at check-in :shock:

 

[TheInsider]

There are no such 'lists'. Only the 'watch' list which is linked up with US DOTs list, and the i guess 'black' list where they are banned from travelling on the QF group. Which can include people who make false bomb threats, abusive to staff etc etc.

 

[Febs]

1 Y->J op-up SYD-MEL, and 4 Y-J op-ups LAX-SYD or AKL. Go figure. :shock:

(I also doubt the existence of a blacklist. I just think op-ups are very rare, and I've been very lucky with my LAX flights.)