Seat selection at T-80

[wafliron]

I was under the impression that all available seats on the plane (minus any WP shadows and similar) become available to all pax at T-80?

I was just looking at seat selection for myself (WP) and a colleague (PS) - we are both travelling in J on QF408 MEL-SYD on Wednesday (on different PNRs).

I can see available seats towards the front of the plane (including 1A and 1B, and all of row 3), but my PS colleague can't see any available seats forward of row 4.

Am I mistaken in thinking that after T-80 all pax are treated equally WRT seat selection, regardless of status? Or has something changed recently? Or is this just a weird glitch?

 

[oz_mark]

Am I mistaken in thinking that after T-80 all pax are treated equally WRT seat selection, regardless of status? Or has something changed recently? Or is this just a weird glitch?

You were mistaken in your assumption. There is more to it than just status as to what seats you can select from, but suffice it to say, it could be different for every passenger.

 

[mannej]

It doesn't happen all the time.

The two times I have seen it generally suggests a full cabin. There may be other reasons.

 

[serfty]

I was under the impression that all available seats on the plane (minus any WP shadows and similar) become available to all pax at T-80?
...

No- search this site for 'Theoretical seats'.

Basically for domestic flights until T-80 seat selections are restricted to "zones".

e.g. on a 73H in economy, it could be up to rows 4 for ÜW/CL, 6 for WP, 11for SG and 19 for NB/thers.

Similarly in J, up to row 1 for ÜW/CL, 2 for WP/SG and 3 for PS/NB.

At T-80, notional seats comes into play, which can result in better seating becoming available for higher PVC level PAX.

More and further links can be found here:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer....program/t-80-qantas-seat-selection-28762.html

 

[wafliron]

Thanks for the info all - not sure how I formed that mistaken impression. Thanks also for that link sertfy, I'll read up on it.

The two times I have seen it generally suggests a full cabin. There may be other reasons.

I'm guessing "other reason" in this case - I don't think the cabin is that full. EF is only showing J9 (nothing in other J fare buckets), but I can select from more than 50% of the cabin. Also, after I moved myself to 1A it appears I have a shadow in 1B (blocked on EF), which from what I understand doesn't typically happen when the cabin is full.

 

[JohnK]

Unfortunately these days (fortunate for some) some seats at the front of economy are restricted to Platinum One and Chairmans Lounge past T-80 hours and not available to just plain old vanilla Platinum status.

 

[Kangol]

Unfortunately these days (fortunate for some) some seats at the front of economy are restricted to Platinum One and Chairmans Lounge past T-80 hours and not available to just plain old vanilla Platinum status.

Funny that, when I was QP NB, PS and now SG I have been able to get the front row of economy at T80 on both 737 and 767 aircraft.. not always though, sometimes I have checked right on T80 and found no row 4 seats but checking at a later time a day or two later and been able to get row 4.

As for why - no idea, I'm guessing the person who previously was in said row 4 seat has decided to move (for whatever reason)??

 

[serfty]

Unfortunately these days (fortunate for some) some seats at the front of economy are restricted to Platinum One and Chairmans Lounge past T-80 hours and not available to just plain old vanilla Platinum status.

I disagree with your post! Since the majority of your travel domestically is at peak times there are almost certainly booked pax with higher PCV's than you being looked after by their agents.

I have not travelled outside of row 4 on a QF domestic 73H in the last 2 years
Posted on a wing and a prayer ...

 

[JohnK]

Funny that, when I was QP NB, PS and now SG I have been able to get the front row of economy at T80 on both 737 and 767 aircraft.. not always though, sometimes I have checked right on T80 and found no row 4 seats but checking at a later time a day or two later and been able to get row 4.

Have you tried recently? I am struggling.

I disagree with your post! Since the majority of your travel domestically is at peak times there are almost certainly booked pax with higher PCV's than you being looked after by their agents.

Perhaps you are right and I get the impression that some people on AFF do not believe my account(s) of what is happening with seat selection.

All I know is that up until a few months ago I had no issue getting into row 4 on any of my flights at T-80 hours or even T-72 hours.

On Thursday at T-79 hours the whole of row 4 was blocked for my Sunday flight so I moved from 6D to 5C. I tried again a few hours later and low and behold 4ABC was available so I chose 4C.

I am 100% certain something has happened with zones on both 737s and 767s since Platinum One was introduced back in October/November 2011.

And by the way not that it means anything but I am almost always the first person to have pre-allocated seats on my flights when I book them....

 

[Kangol]

Have you tried recently? I am struggling.

Friday night's flight, at booking preselected 11C, at T80 the best was 8C, which after a day or so improved to 7C.
Last night, same again 11D at booking, at T80 got 4D.
FWIW there was a CL in 4F and an empty 4E. However 4ABC were occupied (looked like a couple in 4BC) and for rows 5-8 the middle seats both B and E were blocked. There were a couple of people in the few rows behind me who were WP. I've only been SG for less than 3 months and to me the seat availability at T80 hasn't changed too much compared to QP/PS or even NB.

I rarely travel on 767s - the last time was in July where I was a QP NB and got the front bulkhead aisle Y row (23 or 24 is it?)

Will be interested to see how it changes when I get to WP.

Maybe you are travelling on high load WP/P1/CL routes with passengers with higher PCV as serfty mentioned.. that's probably the most likely explanation? Have you by any chance found out the status of those in row 4 on your flights? (ie quick glimpse of their BP)

 

[JohnK]

Maybe you are travelling on high load WP/P1/CL routes with passengers with higher PCV as serfty mentioned.. that's probably the most likely explanation? Have you by any chance found out the status of those in row 4 on your flights? (ie quick glimpse of their BP)

For that I have no doubt that my flights have many Chairmans Lounge and/or Platinum Ones on them. Getting the first row in economy was not an issue in November but it is an issue now on most flights. Something has changed. Seats are now blocked past T-80 hours.

I could not view the seat map for Thursday's flight this morning so called Qantas at 6:30am to get it sorted. Best I could do at T-79 hours 55 minutes was to go from 25J to 24D. I could have had 23B as well but chose the lesser of 2 evils. Just wait now for the aircraft to be substituted to a 737 and me sitting down then back.

As for who is sitting in those seats at the time of the flight that varies. I do not make a habit of looking at people's boarding passes unless they are thrust in my face. Last night it appeared to be high status frequent flyers in most of the forward rows.

What irks me the most is when someone without any status is sitting in the seat I should be sitting in. And for the peanut gallery I do realise that I do not own the seat but someone checking in at the airport 35 minutes before the flight departure time should not be able to move themselves from 29E into 4B or 4C and then reclines.

There is way too much luck involved in seating and/or op-ups as it is now. Right or wrong that is my opinion on seating but I do realise that it is difficult to write a program to do it efficiently and heavily weighted towards frequent travellers at all times.

 

[serfty]

...

All I know is that up until a few months ago I had no issue getting into row 4 on any of my flights at T-80 hours or even T-72 hours.
...

Maybe your PCV has dropped...

 

[JohnK]

Maybe your PCV has dropped...

Nothing has changed on my part. Unless they had the wrong PCV for me which may well be possible.

I find it strange that 23JK, 24JK and sometimes 24DEF are blocked yet 23AB, 24AB are wide open. And on 737s I mostly see 4ABCDEF still blocked at T-80 hours. Ocassionally the block disappears some hours later. Something strange is happening....

 

[samh004]

Incase it helps, recently selected seats for my sister who was/is QF PS (her year just ended but not sure if she’s been given a comp year or not yet, nothing in the mail, but status still Silver). She’s flying MEL-HKG-MEL over Easter and I’d previously got her 27D over on a 333. Missed T-80 by half a day, but logged in to find 23A available for her.

I realise the discussion is domestic, not international, but just thought I’d throw it out there.

 

[serfty]

Nothing has changed on my part. Unless they had the wrong PCV for me which may well be possible.

I find it strange that 23JK, 24JK and sometimes 24DEF are blocked yet 23AB, 24AB are wide open. And on 737s I mostly see 4ABCDEF still blocked at T-80 hours. Ocassionally the block disappears some hours later. Something strange is happening....

Why wouldn't your PCV have dropped? From your posts, it seems you have spread the 'love' around a bit trying out other carriers.

Less QF travel would have a strong co-relation with a lesser PCV.

I don't travel domestically at peak time much these days and see little of such behaviour.

In reality your anecdotes do more to prove PCV being the main factor than not.

Remember, those with the higher PCV's tend to travel on expensive fares - the fare itself affects the PCV. Some business even have standard flexible bookings for their staff just in case they might need to travel - especially at these peak times. If not to be used these are cancelled some hours or a day or two before a flight.

Finally, again for those on flexible fares, the passenger may reach an airport earlier than expected and simply jump to the next flight - a lot easier to do on a B class fare than O.

 

[MatF]

I must admit, I've found it more difficult to select a seat in row 23 on a B763 this year, with the same flight pattern as the last 3 years (WGA-SYD-BNE Monday morning, BNE-SYD-WGA Friday afternoons every second week). I generally do still manage to get into row 23/24 (B763) or 4/5 (B738) most of the time, but need to check more often after T-80 than I did previously.

At T-78 for my flight tomorrow afternoon I grabbed 24A, as all of row 23 was still blocked/taken.
I just logged in to OLCI at around T-22hrs, and 23K was now available, so I've moved to that.

I have noticed seats in rows 23/24 becoming available at some point after T-80. A few weeks ago all seats in rows 23 and 24 were still blocked at around T-75, but when I checked again at around T-40, I could take my pick - only 2 seats in rows 23 and 24 were blocked out.

 

[Kangol]

For that I have no doubt that my flights have many Chairmans Lounge and/or Platinum Ones on them. Getting the first row in economy was not an issue in November but it is an issue now on most flights. Something has changed. Seats are now blocked past T-80 hours.

I could not view the seat map for Thursday's flight this morning so called Qantas at 6:30am to get it sorted. Best I could do at T-79 hours 55 minutes was to go from 25J to 24D. I could have had 23B as well but chose the lesser of 2 evils. Just wait now for the aircraft to be substituted to a 737 and me sitting down then back.

As for who is sitting in those seats at the time of the flight that varies. I do not make a habit of looking at people's boarding passes unless they are thrust in my face. Last night it appeared to be high status frequent flyers in most of the forward rows.

What irks me the most is when someone without any status is sitting in the seat I should be sitting in. And for the peanut gallery I do realise that I do not own the seat but someone checking in at the airport 35 minutes before the flight departure time should not be able to move themselves from 29E into 4B or 4C and then reclines.

There is way too much luck involved in seating and/or op-ups as it is now. Right or wrong that is my opinion on seating but I do realise that it is difficult to write a program to do it efficiently and heavily weighted towards frequent travellers at all times.

One factor I haven't really considered is the booking class, which affects PCV - a lot of my dom flights are for work and not paid for by me. I now get them to book standard Y class fares (not discount Y any more due to flexibility... and increased SCs ) and that often varies so the times I may not be able to get row 4 may be when I am on a cheaper Y booking class.

I will keep that into account the next time I select seats...

 

[JohnK]

I must admit, I've found it more difficult to select a seat in row 23 on a B763 this year, with the same flight pattern as the last 3 years (WGA-SYD-BNE Monday morning, BNE-SYD-WGA Friday afternoons every second week). I generally do still manage to get into row 23/24 (B763) or 4/5 (B738) most of the time, but need to check more often after T-80 than I did previously.

At T-78 for my flight tomorrow afternoon I grabbed 24A, as all of row 23 was still blocked/taken.
I just logged in to OLCI at around T-22hrs, and 23K was now available, so I've moved to that.

I have noticed seats in rows 23/24 becoming available at some point after T-80. A few weeks ago all seats in rows 23 and 24 were still blocked at around T-75, but when I checked again at around T-40, I could take my pick - only 2 seats in rows 23 and 24 were blocked out.

This is exactly my situation and I do not buy that my PCV has dropped in the past couple of months. Yes in relation to Platinum One but there is definitely something happening.

I honestly believe that it is not good idea to continue with Platinum One and Platinum as separate status levels.

- Platinum One is the old Platinum with a few extra frills and very hard to obtain
- Platinum is almost identical to Gold

 

[TonyHancock]

- Platinum is almost identical to Gold

I think if the majority of one's travel is domestically this is true. Platinum offers a fair bit more internationally.

 

[serfty]

This is exactly my situation and I do not buy that my PCV has dropped in the past couple of months. Yes in relation to Platinum One but there is definitely something happening. ...

Something similar to Platinum 1 has existed the last few years - it was just neither publically labelled nor had published criteria.

I am pretty sure my PCV has dropped significantly in the last 20 months or so - just a few little things here and there ...

No real problem; for the time being most of my bookings are in class(es) I prefer to travel in any case makeing status somewhat less important - certainly not relying on upgrades from Qantas - operational or otherwise.