Booking Two seats + upgrade question

[stigsfilocousin]

Before deciding to post this thread, I have done some research on booking two seats for one person but I still have some questions regarding the matter as I'm about to decide whether to use QF or SQ to fly SYD-BKK-SIN-SYD:

1. If I use QF, do I need to book both seats via the contact centre or can I do them separately? STA Travel, when I spoke to them, said that they could do it at the same time I book my seat.
2. Is it still the case wherein you technically should only pay the base fare for the second seat? The last thread I saw in here about the issue was at least 12 months old so want to know the latest rule
3. Currently got 3500pts on QFF but can boost it to 18500 (thank you BMW Amex for the 10k bonus plus the whacked points system wherein I seemed to get 3-5 pts per dollar instead of the usual 1=1) which means i'll only be around 7k short on an upgrade with QF on the way back. What happens if I was successful for the upgrade with regards to the two tickets booked?

SQ I don't muck know how they work out the two seats for one person booking so ill leave that issue later on once I get answers from you folks regarding my 3 questions above.

 

[JohnK]

I believe it needs to be booked over the phone and could take up to 30 minutes to process.

You are correct in that you only pay base airfare for second seat.

Upgrade requests will need to be done via call centre and I am sure they could get around the issue of having 2 seats booked.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I'd be careful using a TA unless they could demonstrate they know the difference between booking an extra seat for personal comfort where there is one name on the manifest but with two seats vs just booking two seats in the same name. The latter example being how not to do it.

There are some dopey agents out there who just book two seats under the one name so not only are you paying taxes on the second seat (ie not just the base fare) but it would look like a duplicate booking so you may end up with your alter ego cancelled off the flight we they fail to board & have a standby pax next to you.

Either way I would still call the airline the day prior to confirm that the booking is in fact for one person with an extra seat rather than a booking for two seats with the same name.

 

[stigsfilocousin]

Thanks for the replies JohnK and ozbeachbabe. I'm starting to think that the guy I spoke to was a bit too eager to get me to do it there and then seeing its is EOFY and wants to boost his booking value up. On the same note, another thought came up; on the A330-300 which QF now uses on SYD-BKK, are the armrests on the 2 seater fixed or do they somehow retract up? I hope they are because if aint, I think ill have to go SQ and pick off SQ232/SQ231 which are the A380 legs ex SYD.

 

[Simo]

TO book the extra seat for comfort you have to ring the contact centre.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

I flew in an A330-300 yesterday and the armrests on the JK side did come up between the two seats however they are usually fixed on the front row like row 23 or other bulkhead rows. You could check out seat maps on Airline Seating Charts - Best Airplane Seats - SeatGuru or Flight Availability | Upgrades | Frequent Flyer Information which has comments on each seat. There is more room several rows back in economy between the armrest and the side wall of the plane. There is more legroom in the B or J seat vs A or K due to the comms box for the IFE enroaching on leg space in the window seats.