So, I have just booked flights to Dublin from Melbourne in late November, using Virgin Velocity points, which cost about $1000 for two people, return. About half what it used to cost without points, pre-Covid-19! Purpose of the trip is to visit my mother for her 90th birthday.
As it's my first overseas trip since Covid-19, I'll be wanting it to be as non-negative as possible, and am exploring the options on the Etihad site, using the Virgin booking reference.
So choosing a seat at this stage costs $50.20 for the long leg and $34.50 for the shorter leg. There's another $300+ gone, so I'll wait until check-in (presumably online, despite it being Velocity Points on an Etihad flight).
But, here's the bit that confuses me. Etihad is offering me Neighbour Free seats for $232 on the long leg, and $110 on the short leg.
Now, travelling as a couple, that starts to look like pretty good value to get a block of three seats to ourselves, especially for the shorter leg (although on the way home to Australia, we won't want sleep on the short leg as it's an early morning departure).
So my question for the collective Australian Frequent Flyer brain, is "Does this work (and how) if I haven't chosen seats?". Would I have to pay to choose seats when I pay for a Neighbour Free seat, or are they independent of each other (i.e. Etihad works out where to give us our three seats instead of two, when we check-in and choose seats for free)?
Also, instead, at the back of the 777-300ER, there are only two seats on each side of the plane. What are they like? Would it be worth paying to book those two, saving the Neighbour Free cost and being far more certain of having some space to ourselves (just not as uch space)?
Finally, and unrelated, it looks like Park Royal Hotel at Melbourne Airport isn't doing day-rooms any more. Is there anywhere else on the airport campus?
As it's my first overseas trip since Covid-19, I'll be wanting it to be as non-negative as possible, and am exploring the options on the Etihad site, using the Virgin booking reference.
So choosing a seat at this stage costs $50.20 for the long leg and $34.50 for the shorter leg. There's another $300+ gone, so I'll wait until check-in (presumably online, despite it being Velocity Points on an Etihad flight).
But, here's the bit that confuses me. Etihad is offering me Neighbour Free seats for $232 on the long leg, and $110 on the short leg.
Now, travelling as a couple, that starts to look like pretty good value to get a block of three seats to ourselves, especially for the shorter leg (although on the way home to Australia, we won't want sleep on the short leg as it's an early morning departure).
So my question for the collective Australian Frequent Flyer brain, is "Does this work (and how) if I haven't chosen seats?". Would I have to pay to choose seats when I pay for a Neighbour Free seat, or are they independent of each other (i.e. Etihad works out where to give us our three seats instead of two, when we check-in and choose seats for free)?
Also, instead, at the back of the 777-300ER, there are only two seats on each side of the plane. What are they like? Would it be worth paying to book those two, saving the Neighbour Free cost and being far more certain of having some space to ourselves (just not as uch space)?
Finally, and unrelated, it looks like Park Royal Hotel at Melbourne Airport isn't doing day-rooms any more. Is there anywhere else on the airport campus?
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