Qantas Removed Seat Allocation from Boooking

[Ansett]

I dropped from Platinum to Gold as of 1st January, with a number of flights booked that sees me sitting at 1380 status credits as of today and reaching 1500 by the 21st of the month.

Two of those flights are MEL-AKL in J in February. I selected seats 1C when I booked as a WP. I checked seat allocation and found that my selection had been removed form all my Qantas flights and noted as AISLE seats.

It was confirmed that upon status change any seat allocations made will be removed by Qantas and you will need to reselect seats based on your new status.

No notice was given of this change which is some what disappointing, had I not been checking these flights due to an unrelated notice of a security breach I would not have known.

Whilst not a major issue it just highlights the need to double check should you change to a lower status tier.

 

[Pushka]

I wouldn't necessarily believe what you've been told.

Two weeks ago Q changed our selected seats made months earlier and after WP status had been reconfirmed for my +1. We even had our boarding pass for the original seats. Thank goodness for the Qantas app that showed changed seats while in F lounge. Otherwise it would have been at the gate and not fixable. Two bulkhead seats and we loathe bulkhead seats. Approached the F desk in MEL and they said the host might have thought we wanted to sit together. Sure. Two issues. This was the new J class 330 where no one really sits together because of the fixed partition so we had chosen 2 solo window seats! But - the seats Qantas kindly 're selected' were on opposite sides of the plane anyway! So the reason given for the change was a nonsense.

Bottom line - they don't really know why things happen to seat allocation and make a guess.

 

[serfty]

Wow, that is the first I have come across that happening.

It indeed would represent a change in policy,or at least a change in what used to happen.

I wonder if there is a regular sweep or something that occurs on status downgrade.

 

[serfty]

...
Bottom line - they don't really know why things happen to seat allocation and make a guess.

I suspect that a differnt issue from what Ansett has been advised.

 

[Pushka]

I suspect that a differnt issue from what Ansett has been advised.

I guess my point is that when they don't know why they make something up.

 

[serfty]

I guess my point is that when they don't know why they make something up.

True - and is quite common and could be the case here.

However thsuchat tends to be sparodic - All Ansett's bookings were changed. It may have been a one off, with a correspondingly inventive story from the agent - time should tell.

I would suggest those dropping status going forward should keep an eye out.

 

[Pushka]

True - and is quite common and could be the case here.

However thsuchat tends to be sparodic - All Ansett's bookings were changed. It may have been a one off, with a correspondingly inventive story from the agent - time should tell.

I would suggest those dropping status going forward should keep an eye out.

Ok. I just checked. My status went up last week and nothing changed.

 

[docjames]

Have only seen this happen in an aircraft change (not on the day but well in advance).

Can also happen if you 'play" with the booking in another carrier's online seat selection (resets all seats, and when logged in to the other carrier, can only choose aisle/window so resets to that).

 

[Pleb Status]

I dropped from Platinum to Gold as of 1st January, with a number of flights booked that sees me sitting at 1380 status credits as of today and reaching 1500 by the 21st of the month.

Two of those flights are MEL-AKL in J in February. I selected seats 1C when I booked as a WP. I checked seat allocation and found that my selection had been removed form all my Qantas flights and noted as AISLE seats.

It was confirmed that upon status change any seat allocations made will be removed by Qantas and you will need to reselect seats based on your new status.

No notice was given of this change which is some what disappointing, had I not been checking these flights due to an unrelated notice of a security breach I would not have known.

Whilst not a major issue it just highlights the need to double check should you change to a lower status tier.

If true (and not just a general IT issue), it is extremely harsh to reset all seat assignments when dropping a status level. Does any other airline do this?

If the flights are close to the departure date, a forced reset may result in only very poor seats being available which are far below what even the new status level could normally select.

Some more reports from others who have dropped a QF status level recently are required to see if the advice above is actually correct.

 

[serfty]

Ok. I just checked. My status went up last week and nothing changed.

Well, it may be different if you drop status.

 

[eminere]

Ok. I just checked. My status went up last week and nothing changed.

Rows 4 and 5 on my B738 flights immediately became available for me to select from when I moved from Gold to Platinum.

 

[eminere]

If true (and not just a general IT issue), it is extremely harsh to reset all seat assignments when dropping a status level. Does any other airline do this?

I believe BA also turfs you out of your seat if you drop status and your seat is in a zone allocated to higher status passengers.

 

[Pushka]

Rows 4 and 5 on my B738 flights immediately became available for me to select from when I moved from Gold to Platinum.

Yes. Makes sense.
But automatically moving people out of seats without advice is a tad snarky. Hopefully just a snaffu for OP.

 

[JohnK]

I thought your seat allocation was changed only if you made changes to your booking which then reflected your new status.

 

[serfty]

I thought your seat allocation was changed only if you made changes to your booking which then reflected your new status.

That has been the case in the past.

Ansett has reported "It was confirmed that upon status change any seat allocations made will be removed by Qantas and you will need to reselect seats based on your new status.".

Whether it's a new policy, whether it relates to downgrades in status and not upgrades in status or both remains to be seen.

 

[Pleb Status]

I believe BA also turfs you out of your seat if you drop status and your seat is in a zone allocated to higher status passengers.

From the airline that charges revenue J passengers for seat selection, that does not surprise me at all.

 

[RichardMEL]

Unless I misread, Ansett referred to a specific trans-tasman J flight in Feb having been changed. I'd suspect more one of those funky aircraft change(but no change) deals. I bet you may a domestic config for a JC config type deal that reset the assignments.

The status change thing is a new one.. just because one agent "confirms" it doesn't have to mean it is actually policy. They could have been reaching for a reason to make sense of it.

Annoying though. Hopefully not a policy shift.

 

[serfty]

Unless I misread, Ansett referred to a specific trans-tasman J flight in Feb having been changed. I'd suspect more one of those funky aircraft change(but no change) deals. I bet you may a domestic config for a JC config type deal that reset the assignments. ...

Ansett did specify this:

... selection had been removed form all my Qantas flights and noted as AISLE seats. ...

I took it to mean all their bookings, but perhaps they meant "all their flights on that booking".

Some recent posts on the Upgrades/Loadings/Probability thread indicate they do have more upcoming bookings than just Trans Tasman.

 

[RichardMEL]

Ah I misread. Apologies.

Interesting and... disappointing.

 

[Ansett]

Just to confirm It was all my future flights 2 of them trans Tasman and others regional. There has been no change in aircraft configuration nor have I been accessing the booking via partner websites.

My main point of this was to alert others to the possible change should they lose and or drop status levels at some point.

For me I trust that I will be able to select the seats wanted when I regain WP on Saturday.

I shall go from Gold to WP with in 21 days of losing WP so not too worried and that would give me WP through to December 2018.