Jean Prouvaire
Member
- Joined
- Apr 11, 2012
- Posts
- 448
Apologies if this issue has been posted before.
Last month I flew Sydney-London return via Singapore on a Qantas economy any seat award that I booked about three months prior. The flight was British Airways operated but code-shared with Qantas. (QF319 aka BA016 for the SYD-SIN leg, QF3345 / BA012 for the SIN-LHR leg and QF320 / BA015 for the two return legs.) This booking generated two different booking reference numbers which was confusing, but a search through previous threads on this site revealed that this is common; apparently the Qantas system allocates both a Qantas and a BA reference number to the booking.
A month or two before I departed I selected my seat using (if I recall correctly) the Qantas reference on My Bookings. I was quite excited as I was able to select an exit row for three of the legs and a seat in row 52 (where there are only two adjacent seats) for the fourth. However when I checked in the airport, both at Sydney and at Heathrow, I was allocated a normal economy class seat for each leg.
The experience was a bit disappointing because my expectation was that if the Qantas system allowed you to select a seat, then the seat allocation should have been honoured. I should mention that when I asked the Qantas staff members at the check in counter and then again in the J lounge in Sydney about this (and showed them my allocated seats on My Bookings on my laptop), they were very friendly and tried to help, but without success. The reason they gave is that don't have access into the BA booking system. (They also suggested asking again in SIN, but no luck there either as the flight was quite full.) Similarly, the check-in staff at Heathrow had no explanation either.
I'm guessing that this is a problem caused by the fact that flight was a code share and/or perhaps because my allocated seats were bumped by someone with a higher status, but wanted to find out the whys and wherefores, hence this post.
So... If this had been a Qantas-operated flight instead of a BA code share flight would my allocated seats have been honoured? Does my FF membership tier makes a difference? I was Gold at the time of the booking and the flights... but am about to tick over to Platinum for the first time ever this weekend - huzzah! Next time I book a flight should I ensure that it's on Qantas metal to hold onto the good seats?
Last month I flew Sydney-London return via Singapore on a Qantas economy any seat award that I booked about three months prior. The flight was British Airways operated but code-shared with Qantas. (QF319 aka BA016 for the SYD-SIN leg, QF3345 / BA012 for the SIN-LHR leg and QF320 / BA015 for the two return legs.) This booking generated two different booking reference numbers which was confusing, but a search through previous threads on this site revealed that this is common; apparently the Qantas system allocates both a Qantas and a BA reference number to the booking.
A month or two before I departed I selected my seat using (if I recall correctly) the Qantas reference on My Bookings. I was quite excited as I was able to select an exit row for three of the legs and a seat in row 52 (where there are only two adjacent seats) for the fourth. However when I checked in the airport, both at Sydney and at Heathrow, I was allocated a normal economy class seat for each leg.
The experience was a bit disappointing because my expectation was that if the Qantas system allowed you to select a seat, then the seat allocation should have been honoured. I should mention that when I asked the Qantas staff members at the check in counter and then again in the J lounge in Sydney about this (and showed them my allocated seats on My Bookings on my laptop), they were very friendly and tried to help, but without success. The reason they gave is that don't have access into the BA booking system. (They also suggested asking again in SIN, but no luck there either as the flight was quite full.) Similarly, the check-in staff at Heathrow had no explanation either.
I'm guessing that this is a problem caused by the fact that flight was a code share and/or perhaps because my allocated seats were bumped by someone with a higher status, but wanted to find out the whys and wherefores, hence this post.
So... If this had been a Qantas-operated flight instead of a BA code share flight would my allocated seats have been honoured? Does my FF membership tier makes a difference? I was Gold at the time of the booking and the flights... but am about to tick over to Platinum for the first time ever this weekend - huzzah! Next time I book a flight should I ensure that it's on Qantas metal to hold onto the good seats?