Pros and cons of single PNR when travelling with a work colleague

[Berlin]

Nothing could be more like a living hell nightmare scenario than being stuck long-haul with a work colleague of mine. Saying that- luckily, staff has always been very accommodating if I've requested to get seated as far away from one of them as possible. My colleagues luckily are never smart enough to figure out that it's more than coincidence and "bad" luck that I'm up the front and they are rows further behind

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Nothing could be more like a living hell nightmare scenario than being stuck long-haul with a work colleague of mine. Saying that- luckily, staff has always been very accommodating if I've requested to get seated as far away from one of them as possible.

My colleagues luckily are never smart enough to figure out that it's more than coincidence and "bad" luck that I'm up the front and they are rows further behind

If you do happen to find yourself on the same pnr as a colleague you don't want to sit next to you could ask the TA ahead of time to split the pnr the day prior to travel.

That way if the airline needed to op-up one person, you wouldn't be overlooked because there's two of you.

Another option if still on the same pnr is to ask a QF CSA at the airport to 'de-link' you which is done in Altea checkin mode. Your Amadeus pnr will remain untouched ie you will both still be on the same pnr.

The main benefit here is once delinked you will both appear as single travellers. Just make sure that if you were already pre-allocated seats together that after you've been delinked, ask the CSA to move you away to another seat & confirm those seats are not together.

 

[Berlin]

Another option if still on the same pnr is to ask a QF CSA at the airport to 'de-link' you which is done in Altea checkin mode. Your Amadeus pnr will remain untouched ie you will both still be on the same pnr.

The main benefit here is once delinked you will both appear as single travellers. Just make sure that if you were already pre-allocated seats together that after you've been delinked, ask the CSA to move you away to another seat & confirm those seats are not together.

Yes- I think that's what the lovely QF staff have always done for me in those cases

 

[defurax]

Thank you all for your feedback!
So I think I will book separate tickets. If my co-worker commutes to the airport with me, then he will enjoy F checkin as my travelling companion (Is this right? Will he also get an express pass?). I will be able to guest him in the F lounge. At T-80 I will try to get him a good seat but not next to me.

 

[openseat]

AA had a pretty good commercial based on the cons of travelling with a work colleague and the benefit of seat changing on a mobile site.

American Airlines Win-Win - YouTube

 

[Archphoto]

After one time of not being able to change my flight because I was on shared PNR ( I wanted to head to LHR, my colleague just wanted to fly home), I never again had bookings made with shared PNRs.

If you want to sit together, you can always request at checkin, if not, then it's not a problem. (I usually select my seat asap after booking to get what I want - my colleagues on the other hand, just waited until checkin.) We would spend upwards of 4 months travelling together and working closely together - sometimes the plane journey was the only chance we had to ourselves.

 

[harvyk]

Just quickly, there is nothing wrong with putting in buffer seats. Luckily every work colleague I've had to travel with (except for 1, but we where driving not flying) has been a friend of mine as well. That said when picking out our seats, I'd always try and put at least one seat between us. (eg on a 737, I'd take 14A, and assign my colleague 14C, leaving 14B free.)

The only time I've had trouble doing this is with AirNZ's site which insisted that the group traveled together, but on QF's site there is nothing stopping you from choosing any available seat.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

After one time of not being able to change my flight because I was on shared PNR ( I wanted to head to LHR, my colleague just wanted to fly home), I never again had bookings made with shared PNRs.

If you want to sit together, you can always request at checkin, if not, then it's not a problem. (I usually select my seat asap after booking to get what I want - my colleagues on the other hand, just waited until checkin.) We would spend upwards of 4 months travelling together and working closely together - sometimes the plane journey was the only chance we had to ourselves.

I don't see why in the case of a shared pnr they can't split the pnr & file the other person away with a new pnr still with the original flights intact then just change your booking. If it was an agent booking I can understand some reluctance to makes changes as it should be done by the travel agent so that might have been the issue here.

 

[Archphoto]

I don't see why in the case of a shared pnr they can't split the pnr & file the other person away with a new pnr still with the original flights intact then just change your booking. If it was an agent booking I can understand some reluctance to makes changes as it should be done by the travel agent so that might have been the issue here.

You got it in 1 - it was booked through our agent, and the agent wouldn't/couldn't (?) change it; I've had QF do other changes for me, once I found out the difference in $$$ to change flight dates (Agent=$250 vs. QF=$50 - although I did need to explain why I didn't want to use the agent to change, but after hearing that they would charge me 5x more, she was happy to do for me.)

That is actually why I don't really like using TAs - I know some do some great work sourcing some good deals and odd routings, but the cost to change a date left a rather bad taste in my mouth (and almost 12mths to get a refund from an airline, that was only resolved after my threatening to go to the industry's Consumer Affairs Department).

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Thank you all for your feedback!

So I think I will book separate tickets. If my co-worker commutes to the airport with me, then he will enjoy F checkin as my travelling companion (Is this right? Will he also get an express pass?). I will be able to guest him in the F lounge. At T-80 I will try to get him a good seat but not next to me.

I would still keep your colleague 'on probation' until you've been able to observe their behaviour over several flights and are satisfied they're not going to be one of these needy travellers that are a right PITA.

If you lay all the goodies on the table & other WP accoutrements then they will expect this every time they travel with you so just take the softly softly approach.

There's a saying about donkeys somewhere about having the owner needing to find the right balance of the carrot & the stick which may be appropriate here. :shock:

 

[defurax]

I would still keep your colleague 'on probation' until you've been able to observe their behaviour over several flights and are satisfied they're not going to be one of these needy travellers that are a right PITA.

If you lay all the goodies on the table & other WP accoutrements then they will expect this every time they travel with you so just take the softly softly approach.

There's a saying about donkeys somewhere about having the owner needing to find the right balance of the carrot & the stick which may be appropriate here. :shock:

Good idea! Maybe I should go downstairs and guest him in the J lounge before I proceed to the F lounge alone