Hopeful seat pre-allocation?

[serfty]

I was checking the seat map for a flight I have in a few weeks (standar booking health check) and saw that following pre-allocation for 43J.



This is the front row of economy. The seat's armrests will not lift up.

Given the area of allocation which being some weeks in advance is generally reserved for WP or higher status and assuming this was done deliberately (In earlier checks I noticed no-one in the block of 3 seats until now) I wonder what the chances are of the H and K seats remaining free.

E/F shows the loading as middling with 9's down to the S fare bucket (no N/O/Q listed), although a substantial number of the seats are preallocated.

 

[JohnK]

I'd hazard a guess there'd be little chance of H and K remaining unallocated.

I have witnessed an AFFer a few years back making themselves very comfortable in the middle seat of 3 in exit row. They had belongings/blankets in the aisle/window seats. Leg room and avoiding recliners would be a huge plus even if armrest divider is there.

 

[Robyn Jorgensen]

Does anyone know when Qantas release the vacant seats. I know that domestic is 3 1/2 days which means I can move my seat but does anyone know when International is released by Qantas

 

[serfty]

It's 3 days and 8 hours for domestic.

Internationally it can appear to vary - it is a good idea to check the seat avalability 2 or 3 times a day in the week leading up to the flight.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Does anyone know when Qantas release the vacant seats. I know that domestic is 3 1/2 days which means I can move my seat but does anyone know when International is released by Qantas

Front row, bulkhead, exit and bassinet seats are generally blocked off and held for use by the person in the pax control unit who oversees a particular flight so airport staff would need to ring that person and ask if the seat could be unblocked and allocated to their pax. At least it gives families with infants a chance at getting a bassinet seat otherwise you'd end up with the same scenario as domestic when WP's without infants snaffle the bulkhead/bassinet seats days or weeks in advance so they're all occupied by the time pax checkin at the airport despite having a BSCT SSR in the pnr when they booked.

 

[Strategic Aviation]

Internationally it can appear to vary - it is a good idea to check the seat avalability 2 or 3 times a day in the week leading up to the flight.

I don't recall having ever seen international seatmaps open at anything but T-80. Out of interest, are there particular routes (or other circumstances) which are more likely to not be T-80?

Front row, bulkhead, exit and bassinet seats are generally blocked off and held for use by the person in the pax control unit who oversees a particular flight so airport staff would need to ring that person and ask if the seat could be unblocked and allocated to their pax. At least it gives families with infants a chance at getting a bassinet seat otherwise you'd end up with the same scenario as domestic when WP's without infants snaffle the bulkhead/bassinet seats days or weeks in advance so they're all occupied by the time pax checkin at the airport despite having a BSCT SSR in the pnr when they booked.

Good to know. Are bassinet seats allocated in order of status, date of booking, time of checking in or something else?

 

[serfty]

I don't recall having ever seen international seatmaps open at anything but T-80. Out of interest, are there particular routes (or other circumstances) which are more likely to not be T-80?...

Not specifically, it's more of a case that Qantas seem to use somewhat different processes for domestic than they do international.

e.g. WP can allocate front row on QF15 if available but not on QF604 un til T-80.

"Notional Seating" appears to have far more relevance domestically for example.

Also having to pay for seat selection has a bearing.