Seating Allocation??

[serfty]

Here are my experiences with booking international flights in the last year or so:

- QF QP NB mrs serfty: Automatic Premium Preallocation.
- QF NB mini serfty: No preallocation, allocation available on request.
- QF PS associate: Automatic premium preallocation.
- QF SG/QF WP (moi!): Automatic premium preallocation.

From this I surmise that anyone with QFF Status PS or above and QP gets Premium Preallocation.

i.e. nufin' nufin's and nufin' bronze's don't get it; CL, WP, SG, PS & QP do.

 

[NM]

Here are my experiences with booking international flights in the last year or so:

- QF QP NB mrs serfty: Automatic Premium Preallocation.
- QF NB mini serfty: No preallocation, allocation available on request.
- QF PS associate: Automatic premium preallocation.
- QF SG/QF WP (moi!): Automatic premium preallocation.

From this I surmise that anyone with QFF Status PS or above and QP gets Premium Preallocation.

i.e. nufin' nufin's and nufin' bronze's don't get it; CL, WP, SG, PS & QP do.

Was this after the pre-allocation limit had been reached?

 

[serfty]

Was this after the pre-allocation limit had been reached?

I really can't say for sure if the seat limit had been reached in any of the situations. With the first example I had booked mrs serfty on a flight I was already on; as a QP NB she was actually automatically allocated in the premium zone (in the seat directly behind me as a matter of fact).

With the second, mini serfty was booked on award tickets and no preallocation occurred; I was able to get pre-allocation for her by calling and only because my WP QFF points were used. This request had to be referred and took about 5 days to come through.

The PS associate was booked Monday on a flight to SYD-LHR next week; he was automatically allocated seating. It's showin F2 A2 Z0 P0 J9 C8 D7 I0 U0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 R0 L9 V0 S9 N0 Q9 O9 G0 T0 X0 E0 so I can't really tell if the allocation limit may have been reached; although expert flyer won't return a seat map.

 

[NM]

The PS associate was booked Monday on a flight to SYD-LHR next week; he was automatically allocated seating. It's showin F2 A2 Z0 P0 J9 C8 D7 I0 U0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9 R0 L9 V0 S9 N0 Q9 O9 G0 T0 X0 E0 so I can't really tell if the allocation limit may have been reached; although expert flyer won't return a seat map.

If ExpertFlyer returns a seat map for Y, then the limit has not been reached. If it does not return the map, then the limit has been reached.

So that would indicate that your Silvr status associate was able to allocate a seat after the seat allocation limit had been reached.

 

[simongr]

I really can't say for sure if the seat limit had been reached in any of the situations. With the first example I had booked mrs serfty on a flight I was already on; as a QP NB she was actually automatically allocated in the premium zone (in the seat directly behind me as a matter of fact).

With the second, mini serfty was booked on award tickets and no preallocation occurred; I was able to get pre-allocation for her by calling and only because my WP QFF points were used. This request had to be referred and took about 5 days to come through.

It seems crazy to me assuming that the three of you wanted to travel in the same row of seats (I know mrs sim wouldnt sit not next to me on any flight just to get a more comfy seat for her) - that Qantas wouldnt pre-allocate you (or allow you to allocate/choose for yourself) the family together - esp as you are WP...

 

[newflyer]

Hi y'all,

I've been watching this post for a while now, and thought I'd throw in my two cents worth - or at least my own experiences over the past 12 months.

I've been FF Silver for most of the year, and finally made FF Gold a month back (was quite proud of that - the old timers here will recall one of my first posts when I was actually talking about being pretty sh-t scared of flying!) and have had almost no problems getting an exit row seat on almost all flights I've done this year.

On Monday, I flew home to Canberra from Brisbane with two mates (neither of them FF's) and successfully managed to get all of us in the exit row AND into QP. Same story on the way up, too (a Friday evening flight)!

Week before that, down to Melb - exit row - week before that, Adelaide and Sydney - again, exit rows for both. In fact, I don't think I can recall a flight where I haven't been able to nab an exit row.

Don't know why this happens and with such ease, especially when I read some of the other experiences here. I don't think I'm ever allocated an exit row initially (it's usually a few rows behind), but I just ask the folks at the QP desk if I'm able to change it to an exit row. I don't give them any BS about being special - I just say, "if it's no problem, and one is available, could I grab an exit row?" and it works.

It's been said many times before, but I think it just comes down to being nice, unassuming and most important of all, polite!

As I said - just my two cents worth!

NF

 

[NM]

Sorry for repeating the same information again, but in my experience as a PS and booking flights less than a week prior to departure I would always have an allocated seat. Did not use expertflyer or similar software to check and could not really tell if pre-allocation limit had been reached but majority of flights were full anyway.

Prior to the pre-allocation limit being reached, ANYBODY can pre-allocate a seat, even with no FF membership at all. So I am not sure of the relevance of your comment? If you don't know if the pre-allocation limit had been reached, then how do you know if your Silver status made any difference to the process?

However, Serfty's example does show for that for a flight where the pre-allocation limit was known to have been reached (per his comment that EF would not return the map), his Silver associate was able to have a seat pre-allocated.

 

[Reggie]

Somewhere in this really long thread, I read that on EF, QF in F and J show premium seats as taken rather than held. Is this the same for BA? If not, the seats shown as taken are actually taken.

 

[NM]

Somewhere in this really long thread, I read that on EF, QF in F and J show premium seats as taken rather than held. Is this the same for BA? If not, the seats shown as taken are actually taken.

For BA flights on ExpertFlyer, the seat maps show premium seats as "Blocked" if the are as yet un-occupied. This is displayed for F, CW, WT+ and WT cabins.

However, for Qantas flights, any blocked seats in F and J seem to show as occupied whether they are or not, while QF Y seats show as blocked if not occupied.

 

[serfty]

... on EF, QF in F and J show premium seats as taken rather than held. ...

No this behavior is with Amadeus CheckMyTrip

... Is this the same for BA? If not, the seats shown as taken are actually taken.

As for expertflyer, with both BA and QF, most unallocated premium seats show as empty, but with a darker grey than that shown for empty standard seating. Exit rows/bassinet positions and some few others show as allocated always.

 

[serfty]

Some Expert Flyer Icons

Available

Blocked/Premium

Occupied

 

[Reggie]

Exit rows/bassinet positions and some few others show as allocated always.

Ah this could be why the exit row seats in the upper deck are shown as occupied. However it could be shown because others have reserved the seats. The flights are 4 months away.

 

[The Hammer]

Why not simply advise check-in staff of your seating preference at check-in?
The earlier you arrive, the better your chance of getting something you want.

Exit rows/bassinet positions and some few others show as allocated always.

I suggest that is because they have been requested at the time of booking, either by the passengers themselves, or by the airline staff who have observed that there is an infant as one of the booked pax.

Allocation of specific seats IS important for the Weight & Balance (trimming) of the aircraft for take-off - once airborne, you can move to wherever you like. But remember, if you've ordered a special meal, that meal is going to be delivered to the seat number shown on the pax inventory that the F/A's have.

Someone else mentioned about upgrading some EY pax so that the unallocated Business Class seats didn't "go to waste".
Airlines are tightly run these days, and the beanies would probably find some way to show that upgrading an EY class pax to Business Class resulted in a loss for the airline
It is still done sometimes, pre-boarding, when EY seats are tight.
But who do you upgrade?
And standby for objections from other EY passengers who considered themselves more worthy of an upgrade than the person selected!

 

[Dave Noble]

Why not simply advise check-in staff of your seating preference at check-in?
The earlier you arrive, the better your chance of getting something you want.

Umm. because the decent seats will have already have been taken by those who have status or who phoned and selected decent seats in advance. If wanting an aisle seat and all the aisle seats have been pre-allocated, getting to the airport early will not help at all

I suggest that is because they have been requested at the time of booking, either by the passengers themselves, or by the airline staff who have observed that there is an infant as one of the booked pax.

Bassinet positions are blocked and are pre-allocated to eligable passengers requesting them. Any unallocated ones should be available at check in

Exit rows are blocked in the system and can only be allocated by the reservations agent phoning or sending a message to seating control to allocate in advance should a Platinum or Chairman's Lounge member request it. At check in, any remaining ones should be available but may often still show as blocked and require a check in/Qantas Club/Flounge Agent to get the seat released.

Someone else mentioned about upgrading some EY pax so that the unallocated Business Class seats didn't "go to waste".
Airlines are tightly run these days, and the beanies would probably find some way to show that upgrading an EY class pax to Business Class resulted in a loss for the airline
It is still done sometimes, pre-boarding, when EY seats are tight.
But who do you upgrade?
And standby for objections from other EY passengers who considered themselves more worthy of an upgrade than the person selected!

It makes no business sense to upgrade people unless there is an operational need to do so and QF seems to follow this model and doing so would lead to loss for the airline. If there is an operational need, the selection criteria is often done on status, though any reason may be used. e.g. single travellers may be easier to move rather than families

Dave

 

[simongr]

One of the reasons that I as a beanie wouldnt advise the airlines not to provide frequent and regular upgrades is that this would be a dis-incentive for people to either pay for a business class seat or burn their FF points on upgrades.

Why if you knew that Business class was generally empty and if empty they would upgrade you - why would you buy a business class seat? The marginal cost of a domestic upgrade to the airline is very little (food and a few glasses of wine) so better that someone burns through their points on upgrades rather than taking up a valuable economy seat that you could sell cheep cheep!

Edited to make it actually make sense....

 

[serfty]

... I suggest that is because they have been requested at the time of booking, either by the passengers themselves, or by the airline staff who have observed that there is an infant as one of the booked pax. ...

These seats always show as taken on ExpertFlyer and www.checkmytrip.com.

I flew MEL-AKL six weeks ago in an exit row seat I had preallocated as a QF WP. These 767's have 8 exit row seats.

Both the above web sites were showing all 8 as taken. However for the flight only two were actually occupied.

 

[The Hammer]

If wanting an aisle seat and all the aisle seats have been pre-allocated, getting to the airport early will not help at all

It's unlikely that ALL aisle seats will have been pre-booked.

It makes no business sense to upgrade people unless there is an operational need to do so

I hate to disagree with that sentiment - but I do.
Some occasional GOODWILL - a word that does NOT exist in the vocabulary of today's short-sighted airline management - goes a long way towards attracting and KEEPING customers.
And it costs ZERO!

Both the above web sites were showing all 8 (Exit row seats) as taken. However for the flight only two were actually occupied.

The pax making the request may not have been eligible to occupy those seats, due to age or disability perhaps.

 

[serfty]

... The pax making the request may not have been eligible to occupy those seats, due to age or disability perhaps.

Generally ONLY CL & WP (or oneWORLD equiv.) can request preallocation of exit row seating, so I sincerly doubt that.

 

[Dave Noble]

It's unlikely that ALL aisle seats will have been pre-booked.

Why take the gamble unnecessarily

The pax making the request may not have been eligible to occupy those seats, due to age or disability perhaps.

On QF. only QF Platinum and Chairman's lounge members can request these seats in advance. The seat map ( except in v rare occurrences ) will show these seats as taken since they have been blocked out.

Dave

 

[garyjohn951]

Goodwill does put bums on seats. Iregularly fly to HK and at times from there to other places especially in Asia. I first flew Q but 3 yrs ago had to use a CX flight with a connection to Taipei. Got an upgrade on the short second flight, and Y was only half full. Since then I now always use CX ex Mel and have been upgraded HK to Seoul, HK to Tokyo on about 1 in 4 flights. I might add I do go J with then to Europe once a year, so they do get business out of me at times. So goodwill has got CX my ex Australia business. Bean counters need to think ahead of the $ at times.