Strange Expert Flyer Results

[Sdtravel]

So i am on a flight in a few months where i have put a request for an upgrade from PE to Bus on QF107

I thought i would check out what the flight was like this far out and compare it to the same QF107 flight leaving tomorrow. I know there is a huge difference and the travel season will change depands ect but i thought would take a gander
Its QF107 - SYD - JFK via LAX. A B747 (hopefully refurbed)

Expert Flyer doesnt show me PE for some reason for tomorrows flight. Which is fine i guess.
The interesting thing is that over half the plane is blocked. Not allocated jsut 'X' blocked. And a lot of it is economy

Any thoughts why you would block a large amount of economy?





Also there are a fair few business seats blocked as well. I read this could be for the higher class flyers WP ect.
But say i was on tomorrow's flight and i put a points upgrade request in from PE to J. Am i going for the pool of 5 seats free? or are some of these blocked likely to open up?
All the 5 free seats are terrible (according to seat guru - toilets, galley, stairs ect) and if i was on the flight and these were the seats i had to choose from i would stick with my PE seat. But once you get the upgrade you cant go back

THougths anyonw?


I found another thread about how accurate expert flyer is but it was a bit old and this is slightly different

 

[Sdtravel]

those are terrible terrible images. let me know if you want me to try again

 

[medhead]

What is your status level? That will determine the seat blocking.

I can't see any PE in those seat maps, the 5 free seats are all business seats and are most likely being used by PE customers. I certainly wouldn't say those are terrible seats, they are going to be much better that an economy seat if you get the upgrade. Upgrades are determined by the fare buckets rather than the seat map, so it might be more useful to look at the fare availability for that flight.

 

[serfty]

Premium economy is simply not being shown. There's 36 seats. Sometimes QF decide to block publication of the seat maps from various cabins (reasons might include Low loads, High loads, etc.).

Here is the seat map for that configuration: www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/flying/inTheAir/ourAircraft/744ER-58J36W270Y.pdf

sdtravel, with your booking, what do you see on Qantas.com if you try to select seating?

 

[Sdtravel]

I am a QC Bronze. Bottom of the pack.
I booked at PE(T) ticket

I can see all the PE seats that are available which is fine.


My query is really about a upgrade request to J.
If it does go through will i be left to pick seats from the 5 free business seats whcih according to seat guru arent the best (close to toilets, galley & stairs) ?
Or will these blocked seats open up? I read reviews that say to avoid the middle seat in business because if both left and right skybeds are in flatbeds its difficult to move get out.

Just to let you know that my flight is not for another few months but i just want to know what i should look at with my upgrade request and am using tomorrows flight as an example as it has a large number of X seats.

 

[AnonymousCoward]

I am a QC Bronze. Bottom of the pack.
I booked at PE(T) ticket

I can see all the PE seats that are available which is fine. The seat map is showing a B747 with Skybed Mark II seats


My query is really about a upgrade request to J.
If it does go through will i be left to pick seats from the 5 free business seats whcih according to seat guru arent the best (close to toilets, galley & stairs) ?
Or will these blocked seats open up? I read reviews that say to avoid the middle seat in business because if both left and right skybeds are in flatbeds its difficult to move get out.

Check the flight loads. If it's saying J5, then those five seats are probably all that's left. If it's J9 D9 C9 I9, then there's lots of seats that QF is still willing to sell in that cabin.

Also, J seats are, relatively, changeable. People are far more likely to change their plans, cancel flights etc. if they are booked in J (i.e. a lot more are business travellers) than in Y (which tends to be leisure pax who need to fly on a particular schedule), so seats may open up that are taken today.

Lastly, any J seat (and service) on this leg is going to be better than PE. The seat map you've posted shows a B747 with Skybed Mark II seats. These are fully lie flat, and it's much easier to get out of a middle seat compared to the older Skybed Mark I.

 

[Sdtravel]

Here is the seat availability

J2 C2 D2 I0 W0 R0 T0 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 G0 E0

Here is an updated view of the seats now we can see PE. Only one business seat free and still a lot of blocked seats.



Dont know why it keeps making the picture so small

 

[AnonymousCoward]

If your flight is still a few months away, and it's already showing only J2 D2 C2, then it's unlikely that your upgrade is going to come through (especially as you are Bronze).

Some of those "blocking" you see will be because they're bassinet positions, however status pax (or people with babies) will be able to get those seats.

 

[Sdtravel]

OK so those blocked seats dont really become unblocked and i am really only looking at the available seats whcih was minmal. So if it still looks bad a day or so out ill think if i want to not go for the upgrade. (you will probably see another thread when the time comes)

 

[AnonymousCoward]

OK so those blocked seats dont really become unblocked and i am really only looking at the available seats whcih was minmal. So if it still looks bad a day or so out ill think if i want to not go for the upgrade. (you will probably see another thread when the time comes)

As I'm trying to tell you, it's highly unlikely that your upgrade request would come through:
a) there's only two seats left for sale - they'll probably be sold in the next few months
b) even if there's still two seats left on-the-day, QF might keep them for last minute sales, or people making last minute changes to plans
c) even if there's no last minute change of plans, all it takes is two people with status (Silver, Gold, Platinum) who want to request an upgrade to block you (as upgrade requests are ordered by status of requesting pax)
So, in summary, I'd stop worrying about whether to request an upgrade or not, and accept you'll be flying in PE.

 

[NM]

Blocked seats means that they are not available to be selected by the membership account that was used by ExpertFlyer when it made the search. Have you included you QFF membership details in your ExpertFlyer account settings? If so, then the seat map presented by ExpertFlyer will resemble what is available for you to select. Blockings change regularly in the last few days before the flight. Exactly what seats are blocked depends on the FF status of the person making the enquiry. So its not a case of a physical seat being blocked or not, its a matter of a particular seats being offered for selection to a specific passenger or not.

The QF system has a "view" of all passengers booked on the flight and it works out what seats will be offered to each passenger from those available (unallocated), so each passenger may have a different view of what is blocked verses available for selection. The only thing that will be consistent is the view of what has already been allocated to passengers.