Seat Map/Availability Question [and "Selling J seats" for Y prices]

[Danger]

Sorry to resurrect, but did you get an op-up Danger?

I've refrained from posting until this point, but since you asked . . . No.

Here's the breakdown:

Person 1 (me): Platinum; PNR A
Person 2: nothing; PNR B
Person 3: nothing; PNR B
Person 4: Silver; PNR C
Person 5: Bronze; PNR D

At this stage, it's important to note two things. First, I split myself off from the others (originally persons 1 to 3 were on the same PNR) in order to increase my chances of an op-up). Second, person 5 happens to work for a major international mining company in the travel bookings department and has senior (loacal (in Australia)) contacts with QF.

So, at the time we all checked in, there were three seats remaining in J. I remarked the to check-in agent at SIN that it looks like the flight is oversold in Y, he concurred and said the lounge agents may contact me (for an op-up).

I'd been checking expertflyer regularly and the only thing that changed was a drop in availability in J, from 3 to 2. About two hours or before the flight I approached the F lounge agent for some information on persons 2 and 3 (with respect to their seating assignments, as we weren't on the same PNR). Knock me over with a feather but person 3 had been upgraded to business with the annotation "service recovery" along with the name of the QF contact known to person 5.

I was fuming. At this point I hadn't put two and two together and kept telling the lounge agent that person 3 (the op-up) had flown maybe twice with QF before and certainly had no "service recovery" need issues. She couldn't explain it.

I went back to the J lounge and told the others. Person 3 (the op-up) thanked me, thinking it was me who had got it for him. It wasn't. Next, persons 2 and 5 get paged to the desk. They return to say that there was only one other seat remaining in J and one of them could have it. One of them took it and the other was told there still may be a chance he/she would be op-upped.

And bang. It happened. Just a few minutes before we were going to board, the third op-up came through. This meant persons 2, 3 and 5, with no status, were op-upped, while myself and person 4 (the only ones with status) were left in Y.

The details then emerged. Person 5 had spoken to his/her QF contact and asked about the possibility of an upgrade for all of us. Person 5 gave the QF rep his/her PNR and the PNR of persons 2 and 3. Way back then, the PNR of persons 2 and 3 was actually also my PNR, before I split myself off in the hope of getting an op-up.

The end result was the three people with no status go upgraded purely because person 5 has a high-level QF contact. Person 5 has also received two long-haul (10+ hours) QF op-ups in the last year when travelling personally (ie. not on business), both explicitly due to his/her relationship with the QF contact.

Not happy.

While my plan to get an op-up ultimately bit me in the bumb, my anger comes from the fact that non-status passengers were upgraded purely because one has a high-level QF contact. Yes, some may well say that person 5's company has a lucrative arrangement with QF and that needs to be protected. But at the expense of loyal flyers (ie. me, Platinum). How many other passengers on the flight were Platinum (or even Gold) and, in my opinion rightly, should have received the op-ups over the others?

It would be a different story if, say, J wasn't full and other points upgrades requests had been processed. But to me, this person (and how many others) are having their bread buttered on both sides by QF, because they were for a company who spends big on QF.

One wonders how often this happens.

Again, it would be different if the cabin wasn't full and upgrade requests had been processed. But op-ups seem to have been required (oversold in Y) and surely they should go to status passengers.

Anyway, I've been bitter about it ever since. Perhaps you can tell!

 

[straitman]

Danger,

Have you spoken to Qantas and asked for their side of the story :?:

 

[Danger]

Danger,

Have you spoken to Qantas and asked for their side of the story :?:

No, I haven't. Person 5 is in a relationship with person 2 and person 2 told me not to rock the boat by way of a formal letter (something I'm known to do when things go run - 'open up the template, danger, fire off another letter') so that wasn't an option. Maybe there was a different option available to me there at the airport. If so, I'd be pleased for others' thoughts.

straitman, are you suggesting QF may have seen and therefore read what happened diferently? I would like to know how it went down but, from me perspective, it's pretty much as I've stated. An employee of a company with a cosy relationship with QF gets special treatment by way of op-ups at the expense of, in this case, status passengers.

I may welll have missed something and would be happy to discuss it further.

Incidentally, person 2 is travelling overseas later this year with his/her family. They are travelling back from SIN on a QF flight. No one has status. However, since person 2's relationship with person 5, person 2 seems to think they will all (three at least stage, all no status) get op-upped.

 

[medhead]

The issue here is person 5's company relationship. He might work for a company, and have enough influence to make him more valuable than a statused passenger. There is also that qantas are free to do whatever they want to do in relation to upgrades and such.

However, I would suggest writing a letter in generic terms about your situation to say you requested an upgrade and that you know for a fact the 3 others were upgraded who were bronze. That you don't feel that qantas values your business. Don't mention who was upgraded, or the relationship of person 5. Be non-specific. If they investigate further then they find out who the people where and the connection to person 5. Then you can judge the actions from there.

Btw you said person 2 is travelling with family and in a relationship with person 5. Is family like siblings and parents or is there an extramarital relationship involved? Certainly
If the parents/brother of a boy/girl friend are going to be upgraded over statused passenger that is a concern, IMO.


Sent from the Throne

 

[Danger]

The issue here is person 5's company relationship. He might work for a company, and have enough influence to make him more valuable than a statused passenger. There is also that qantas are free to do whatever they want to do in relation to upgrades and such.

Sorry, I may not have been clear. I did not put in a points upgrade request. I accept that others may well disagree with me on this ("if you want an upgrade, put in for one") and I respect that. But to reiterate, my beef is that a pile (okay, three) non-status passengers got op-upped because one has a cosy relationship with QF. In my opinion, priority for op-ups should be with status passengers, not those 'in bed' with QF. (I'd add also that I'm not one of those passengers who believes they should get a complimentary upgrade just because there are empty seats in J.)

Btw you said person 2 is travelling with family and in a relationship with person 5. Is family like siblings and parents or is there an extramarital relationship involved? Certainly
If the parents/brother of a boy/girl friend are going to be upgraded over statused passenger that is a concern, IMO.


Sent from the Throne

By family I mean person 2's parents.

And your final points has hit the nail on the head in terms of my issue.

Back in January, "parents/brother of a boy/girlfriend" was actually "person 5, boy/girlfriend (of person 5) and a mate (to person 2) of boy/girlfriend" who were op-upped over statused passengers. This is the whole thing that upsets me.

 

[medhead]

Sorry, I may not have been clear. I did not put in a points upgrade request. I accept that others may well disagree with me on this ("if you want an upgrade, put in for one") and I respect that. But to reiterate, my beef is that a pile (okay, three) non-status passengers got op-upped because one has a cosy relationship with QF. In my opinion, priority for op-ups should be with status passengers, not those 'in bed' with QF. (I'd add also that I'm not one of those passengers who believes they should get a complimentary upgrade just because there are empty seats in J.)

You've been clear enough. I understood all that, hence my later comments. I might have assumed you did a points upgrade request, but I still agree about op-up priority. And your flight isn't a case of leaving seats empty since they did give out op-up. However, my initial pouts remain valid, qantas do have the option of dealing with people however they choose (unfortunately or otherwise), it is their business after all.

Anyway, I would still encourage you to send in feedback without naming names or any of the other detail. If this was a case of favours overriding business rules at least that might be addressed.


Sent from the Throne