Thanks / QF A380 & B767 seating

[GaryTheDJ]

Hi,

My first post, and I'd like to say a massive THANKS to all the forum members ... I've been reading the site for a few days prior to booking our first holiday to Australia, and I picked up some invaluable tips so the forum *really* helped me out.

2 questions which perhaps someone can answer if you don't mind ?

1) Our LHR->SYD flight is an A380 flight and we have managed to request seats 80A/B which was a *huge* tip from this forum so thank you. Unfortunately 80A/B and 80J/K are already booked for our SYD->LHR return which is also on A380. 71D has also gone. So my question is this - is seat 70E (and F next to it) worth having ?

Seatguru says that the 3 seats in this row are narrower (to accommodate emergency exit from crew rest area), but I wonder by how much ? It's a looooong flight <grin>

I know these 2 seats don't offer any extra legroom but it's a nice thought that to get in & out of the seats we would only be disturbing ourselves which would not be in the case in any other row of 3. I've been told by a really helpful lady in Qantas customer services (who was MORE than happy to reserve 80A&B for us outbound) that the chances of us getting an exit row are "non-existent" as we have only just joined Qantas Frequent Flyer.

2) We have a SYD->CNS flight on 11th Sep (QF922) which is a B767. I've had a look on Seatguru and it lists 3 slightly different configurations for the 767. I don't suppose there is any way of finding out which one might be used, to try for some good seats ?

Thanks in advance for any answers, and like I said before, this forum has been most useful in my trip preparations!

Gary

 

[JohnK]

2) We have a SYD->CNS flight on 11th Sep (QF922) which is a B767. I've had a look on Seatguru and it lists 3 slightly different configurations for the 767. I don't suppose there is any way of finding out which one might be used, to try for some good seats ?

Welcome to AFF GaryTheDJ!

Sorry can't help you with seats on the A380 but unfortunately you cannot pre-allocate seats for the domestic SYD-CNS sector. Yes there are various configuration of the 767 and the configuration won't be known until closer to the date.

Generally you can pre-allocate a seat on domestic flights if you use OLCI between T-24 and T-1 hours from the scheduled flight departure time. Your seat choice will be mainly based on status. Do you have any Oneworld status?

Sometime before OLCI becoming available Qantas will pre-allocate theoretical seats based on frequent flyer status. First Chairman's Lounge then Qantas Platinum then Qantas Gold then Oneworld Emerald and so on. Unless you have some status you will more than likely be stuck down the back and little chance of getting some of the seats up the front if the flight is relatively full. I would not worry too much though as it is only a ~3 hour flight.

 

[GaryTheDJ]

Hi John,

Many thanks for the reply ... I had already noticed (after posting initially, sorry) that it was not possible to pre-select seats on the domestic routes. Unfortunately the only status that is likely to show up for me is "peasant" :mrgreen: as I don't do much as travel for business as I used to.

I know the flight to Cairns is not too long, and we probably won't be doing OLCI as not planning to be online whilst on holiday (resisting the temptation to check my emails, lol) but I can't see there being a problem getting 2 seats somewhere together on the 767 ... at the back won't be a problem.

Thanks again,

Gary

 

[Keith009]

Welcome to AFF GaryTheDJ. And an advanced welcome to Australia!

Unfortunately you'd find that only QFF WPs (ie Platinums) are able to allocate exit row seats.

As for the domestic sector, I wouldn't worry too much about not being able to OLCI. One thing I noticed about OLCI is that - often seats in the plane are blocked on OLCI but are in fact wide open when checking in at the airport (whether SSCI or with a check in counter). Also helps hugely having status of course.

Just out of curiosity - are you the same Gaz the DJ from FT? Apologies if you're not.

 

[GaryTheDJ]

Allocation of exit-row seats was explained to me on the telephone to Qantas and by reading both this forum and FlyerTalk (I joined there recently with the same username). I think we just struck it lucky getting 80A/B on our LHR->SYD sector. We've currently got 70E/F reserved for SYD->LHR but might change that to 80H/J as 80K is already reserved but he/she won't be disturbing us to exit from the row.

Just turning up at the airport to check-in isn't a problem for us, as I like to arrive in plenty time and just have a wander around and do some airplane/people watching. We actually have 2 domestic QF flights which are SYD->CNS and then BNE->SYD which is the first leg of journey home ... we have a connection time of 2hrs 30mins at SYD from domestic to international, have read the instructions on various posts on where to go & catch the bus etc. which was helpful.

We also have a Virgin Blue flight in the middle of those 2 QF flights, which is CNS->BNE. Am I correct that we don't need to use OLCI for that, we can just turn up 2hrs before to check-in ? Again, short flight so not bothered at all if we are stuck at the back. Planning to chill out a lot on this holiday, can you tell ? Unfortunately it's the advance planning that I tend to fret over, hence the posting on here & also FT. The advice I have been given is excellent, and much appreciated ... I am enjoying reading all the different threads even though I may not be able to contribute to them very much.

Gary

 

[Mr Somerset]

Gary - yep, you can just show up at the airport for your Virgin Blue flight. 2 hours will give you plenty of time for plane watching after you've checked in (you can either use kiosks or do it the old fashioned way at BNE).

Remember that you'll need to pay for things on board VB.

Have great holiday

Somerset