Booking flights

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Flashback

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Hi,

I've been having a read through many, many posts - and its all really starting to confuse me.

I've read about a D class, which puts you in business, but is a discounted business class ticket.

I currently book all my flights through qantas.com - and I've never come across these "D" fares, as from PER -> SYD/MEL business class always seems to come in around $1600 one way..

Is there some sort of trick to it? Should I be making my bookings elsewhere?
 
D-class is mostly available on the eastern states sectors. I don't think it is offered for retail sale on Perth flights to the east.
 
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D class MEL-SYD is currently $445; J is $610. Both fully refundable. (Main pain is that D is not as flexible on the day of travel).

On the Qantas web booking engine, look for direct West/East flights with different fare levels for Busines Class. The cheaper will be D.

Other than that; use an availability tool such as KVS, ExpertFlyer etc and look for D class.

FWIW, a Qantas D class fare PER-MEL is not revealed by EF; J is $1355 +++.

As a comparison, EF does show the D fare SYD-MEL as $363+++ (J is $513.48+++)
 
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serfty said:
D class MEL-SYD is currently $445; J is $610. Both fully refundable. (Main pain is that D is not as flexible on the day of travel).

On the Qantas web booking engine, look for direct West/East flights with different fare levels for Busines Class. The cheaper will be D.

Other than that; use an availability tool such as KVS, ExpertFlyer etc and look for D class.

FWIW, a Qantas D class fare PER-MEL is not revealed by EF; J is $1355 +++.

I don't think you can buy a PER/MEL D class on its own. Availability tends to be for things such as domestic sectors of international itineraries.
 
I'm also not aware of any discount Business flights from East Coast to West - or vice versa.

(Except of course normal Qantas discounts for valued business relationships)

D class was introduced on the East coast partially to combat OzJet, but also partially to combat an apathy that has crept in with pax - those who realise that Domestic J class on East coast is way overated. By pricing D class at a few more $ than Full Economy, they can try and persuade full J class cabins on non popular flights (eg weekend/mid morning etc).

If only OzJet ended up flying SYD/MEL - PER then the situation now would be totally different and J class fares to PER would be cheaper ...

Oh well. Maybe Virgin Blue will do something about the situation in the future.
 
Great - thanks for the clarification, as always a complete source of knowledge! :D

That brings me to my next question.. I was at a mate's place just then, and was having a look at his flights (seem to be booked through Qantas Business Travel) - J from PER - SIN - LHR - Tel Aviv (Unsure of the code), and return via the same.

Now.. when looking at that, it shows the seating he will be in, so obviously preallocated seats. How would a normal pleb such as myself access preallocated seating, or is it only when booking through a TA or something similar?

Thanks!
 
Flashware said:
Now.. when looking at that, it shows the seating he will be in, so obviously preallocated seats. How would a normal pleb such as myself access preallocated seating, or is it only when booking through a TA or something similar?

Thanks!

Pick up the phone and speak to a Qantas agent and you can pre-select a seat on an international flight as long as the limit for pre-allocation has not been reached

Dave
 
How about domestic flights? Or is it international only? And... if you're ringing up a Qantas agent, then you'd be needing to pay the booking fee - is that right?
 
No charge for selecting a seat when on mainline Qantas. The fee would come into play if making changes to the booking or actually booking the ticket via the phone or a person at Qantas.

Domestic flights don't have pre-allocation of seats unless they are an international flight doing a domestic sector (ie a very low number QFxx_ less than 399 I think). Seats are allocated around 48/24 hours before the flight by computer. (not sure on the timing as it seems to have changed with online checkin).

You can get a preference noted in the booking, but nothing is guaranteed. You can get a preference such as "window" or "aisle" through the "Manage my booking" part of the Qantas website.

If you're Qantas Club, Silver or above FF, then you have a more granular choice of "Forward Aisle", "Rear window" etc. You can access this via your profile under the "Additional Details" page.

If you want a particular domestic seat, then you can request it by phone but Qantas normally want a good reason (such as infant / broken leg etc) and it isn't guaranteed.
 
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