Plat FF and requesting Award Flights

[monojoker]

Hi all,

I found a couple of threads which sort of discussed this but I wanted to make sure it's still valid and I understand how it works.

We have been invited to a wedding in India in January 09 and want to go over for a couple of weeks. I've checked for Award Flights and there are none that suit in January/February. I could use Any Seat awards but that would cost 450,000-odd points which would nearly use up my whole balance.

So I understand from another thread that as a Plat FF I can ring and request that extra award seats be made available? Does this still apply now that Any Seat Awards are in place?

Now I'm not a very good Plat FF as I held it genuinely for 1 year then fell short last year so I got asked for an itinerary for this year which I estimated and they reinstated my Plat for this year (ending Jan 31 09). I only have 160 status credits so far due to a job change so there's no way I'll make Plat again - will this be a factor in whether they'll help me out?

And lastly is there any secret to who to call to ask? In the discussion I read it mentioned a priority desk but that seemed to be debunked by ex-Qantas staff on here. I want to give myself the best opportunity to get a positive outcome so any tips/suggestions are welcome.

Thanks all, sorry for the essay I just want to make sure I'm on the right track here.

 

[moa999]

Just ensure the person recognises you as a Plat
- ask "Is this the priority desk"

As I had it explained to me, they won't even bother requesting First/ Business seats unless there are A / D inventory on the flight.
In economy you have a better shot.

 

[serfty]

Assuming you are after Economy awards ...

Use seat counter to look for flights with high N/O/Q numbers (9 preferably). (or even Xn - if you are looking for more than one seat and n < seats needed).

It's these that have the least amount of bookings and Qantas are selling seats at the cheaper rates - as such you have the greater chance of getting seats released.

If after Business awards, look for D/I/J being high.

 

[monojoker]

Use *removed to comply with 10 post limit* to look for flights with high N/O/Q numbers (9 preferably). (or even Xn - if you are looking for more than one seat and n < seats needed).

It's these that have the least amount of bookings and Qantas are selling seats at the cheaper rates - as such you have the greater chance of getting seats released.

What an excellent tool that is! Thanks for the heads up, it looks good because there are 9s on all the classes for the few dates I've tried already.

I will keep searching - can I ask the priority desk to look at multiple dates and try a few of them to release seats for? Or do I get one shot then that's it?

Cheers

 

[Optics]

What an excellent tool that is! Thanks for the heads up, it looks good because there are 9s on all the classes for the few dates I've tried already.

I will keep searching - can I ask the priority desk to look at multiple dates and try a few of them to release seats for? Or do I get one shot then that's it?

Cheers

Hi, I just booked award flights for my family to Hawaii mid next year. There was no award availability showing for QF flights on suitable dates (was some for JQ). I rang the premium desk no. and asked if 4 business class award seats could be made available for the SYD-HNL leg (didn't have enough points for the return leg until my CBA points cleared in the next couple of days), providing a range of 3 days. They sent off to the automated system, which did not give a positive response. They then said they would do a manual request which would take 24 hours. I rang back the next day and was told the "computer says no". However, the very helpful lady then tried to request 2 lots of 2 seats through the automated system, and got a positive response. As my points were still not through to cover the return leg, she put the seats on hold until I could book the return, which I did the next day (economy only, but its a daytime flight).

So, yes a WP can request award seats be made available, in either business or economy, you can ask them to look at various dates and the premium desk is very helpful in this regard.

Good luck.

 

[Danger]

I have been told by the premium desk that domestic award seats are no longer made available (or potentially made available) upon request, since the new FF system was introduced earlier this year.

 

[Optics]

I have been told by the premium desk that domestic award seats are no longer made available (or potentially made available) upon request, since the new FF system was introduced earlier this year.

I was also told by the first person I spoke to that she could not request economy seats, but the second somehow found me 4 economy seats when there was no availability showing on-line. I think it may be they can do the first automatic request I discussed in my earlier post, but not the manual request if the automatic is not successful. It may be just that there are additional seats "available" than are shown on-line, and it is these they can access through the automatic request.

Is it also worth noting they cannot request availability on JQ flights, only QF.

 

[ejb]

I have been told by the premium desk that domestic award seats are no longer made available (or potentially made available) upon request, since the new FF system was introduced earlier this year.

That is incorrect as I frequently have them open seats for me to use points.

ejb

 

[Va Bene]

Also ask the Premium Desk to check availability with Cathay as they are part of the one world group.
I wanted 4 Y seats from Rome to MEL next year and there were no classic award flights on QF for the return trip during school holidays. I called the premium desk and they secured these with CX which means we do not have to go via LHR.

 

[Danger]

That is incorrect as I frequently have them open seats for me to use points.

ejb

Like many questions to Qantas, I think it depends on who you ask! Two years ago I got five different answers from four different QF phone operators on a question relating to checked baggage allowance.

 

[Evan]

Like many questions to Qantas, I think it depends on who you ask! Two years ago I got five different answers from four different QF phone operators on a question relating to checked baggage allowance.

Sounds about right
But for sure in the latter half of this year i have managed to get international seats made available when there was none.
E

 

[dajop]

Also ask the Premium Desk to check availability with Cathay as they are part of the one world group.

The tempation for some (not all) QF customer service agents on the phone would indeed to just look at the QF routing SYD-BOM.

Cathay is one option via HKG in it own right (or QF to HKG) or they also fly BKK-BOM, so routing SYD-BKK on QF then BKK-BOM on CX may be an option.

Another option is Jet Airways who are a QFF partner. Jet fly to Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong & Shanghai so there might be also options to use QF to get to one of those ports and Jet onwards.

 

[SMH1971]

as i understand it - there is always the opportunity for QF 'load managers' to release seats where they remain (or QF expect them to remain) unsold. in my experience different FF staff seem to have different levels of experience/training in this respect - perhaps another 'who you know'.

All the other comments here are valid and helpful - but a fair degree of sucess seems to sit who who you get on the phone!

 

[Commuter]

I've had an international upgrade seat released by request (the kind phone operator offered to request it), so I would think it's worth a try.

 

[Ikara]

Slightly off-topic.

How can I see the availability of F & J seats using the Qantas & Partner Classic Award program? There is no where to select the class and this only appears when using Any Seat. All it shows is Economy. I'm pretty sure I've done it before, but can't remember how.

Many thanks
JB

 

[MelUser]

I've had an international upgrade seat released by request (the kind phone operator offered to request it), so I would think it's worth a try.

At what stage (ie how many hours before flight departure did you do this)?

 

[lovetravellingoz]

Slightly off-topic.

How can I see the availability of F & J seats using the Qantas & Partner Classic Award program? There is no where to select the class and this only appears when using Any Seat. All it shows is Economy. I'm pretty sure I've done it before, but can't remember how.

Many thanks
JB

METHOD A

When you search for an Award Flight after you have put your dates and departure and arrival cities in the next screen (if you select are flexible with dates) comes up with availability...

Here you tick the boxes of the class of travel you want:

Search Travel Class

Economy Premium Economy Business First


Tick the box of one or more classes to gain the availability of that class or classes.

METHOD B

If you had selected instead that you must travel on these dates the next screen will come up with all available classes. Note that it will only show what is available and so if Economy, Business and First are not available it will not show them.

 

[Ikara]

Many thanks lovetravellingoz. I knew I had done it before. "Flexible Dates" is the trick.

Cheers
JB

 

[Commuter]

Slightly off-topic.

How can I see the availability of F & J seats using the Qantas & Partner Classic Award program? There is no where to select the class and this only appears when using Any Seat. All it shows is Economy. I'm pretty sure I've done it before, but can't remember how.

Many thanks
JB

On the screen that displays the economy class availability, there are tick boxes to select which class you want to see.

 

[Commuter]

At what stage (ie how many hours before flight departure did you do this)?

After the 5-hour 'normal' cut off for international upgrade. I had already requested it ages ago and and the upgrade didn't come through. But because of something I saw when checking the upgrade status online, I noticed something that didn't seem like the usual state (I can't remember what it was now).

So I called to see if there was a glitch because there were lots of empty seats in business class (more than half empty, in fact).