Virgin seat selection

[Antoallison]

Just wondering what I can do about our Virgin Australia booking on VA682 09.45am from PER to MEL next Tuesday 27th March.

I booked and selected our (2) seats last June 2017. All rows from 10 to 27 were blocked so I selected 29 K and 29 H, I thought I would be able to select an aisle seat plus one next to it further up the front .... but now on checking I see that we have been relegated to two middle seats 15 F and E in a row of four.

I know it's only a short day time flight but I would prefer an aisle, seat selection plan shows all seats taken !

 

[kevrosmith]

Just wondering what I can do about our Virgin Australia booking on VA682 09.45am from PER to MEL next Tuesday 27th March.

I booked and selected our (2) seats last June 2017. All rows from 10 to 27 were blocked so I selected 29 K and 29 H, I thought I would be able to select an aisle seat plus one next to it further up the front .... but now on checking I see that we have been relegated to two middle seats 15 F and E in a row of four.

I know it's only a short day time flight but I would prefer an aisle, seat selection plan shows all seats taken !

Lots of seats showing free via ExpertFlyer. Very odd that you’ve been put into the very middle seats. Assuming you don’t have status and don’t want to be on hold to the Call Centre (what are non-priority cal Centre hold times these days anyway..?), maybe wait until online checkin opens and try then.

 

[Antoallison]

View attachment 121023

Lots of seats showing free via ExpertFlyer. Very odd that you’ve been put into the very middle seats. Assuming you don’t have status and don’t want to be on hold to the Call Centre (what are non-priority cal Centre hold times these days anyway..?), maybe wait until online checkin opens and try then.

Thanks I just got through to the call centre and was told that the change happened in November 2017 - guess I should have been checking our seats regularly but I assumed even if changed we would be assigned an aisle.

The call centre operator said all other seats had gone except Row 27 D and E, which although one is an aisle are near the toilets - so I may hold onto the middle seats we have been assigned.

 

[mrbraun]

Is this a common thing? To select seats and then be moved without notification?

 

[serfty]

Is this a common thing? To select seats and then be moved without notification?

I suggest at some stage this aircraft was subbed for a 737 and seats moved (since K & H don't exist on 738) then changed back to a 330 at a later date..

 

[mrbraun]

I see. It's a real pity that the effort isn't made to maintain the original selection in all that shuffling. Before reading this thread, my assumption would have been that my selection was set in stone unless otherwise notified. Thanks for the insight

 

[Antoallison]

An update ..despite calling GCC 3 times, emailing and explaining that there were lots of empty seats together showing (as per kevrosmith post) I was still told everything is booked - just check when you get to the airport as someone may have cancelled.

On Sunday evening I did a dummy booking to 'purchase' a seat on the same flight and there were plenty of aisle seats from to choose from. Now it was getting personal ! LOL

So after thinking about how Virgin had my $880 dollars in their account since June 2017, I rang again and said I can see aisle seats available and I want my booking changed please.

This time no problems and in minutes I was checked in with an aisle and a window seat closer to the front ...

 

[Jack_OC]

Is this a common thing? To select seats and then be moved without notification?

It's not very common to select seats and then get moved, but it does happen, especially if there is an aircraft change, which may have been the case here, as Serfty suggested. IME many airlines do no give you any kind of notification when that happens.

I've recently had my pre-selected seats changed by VA, Finnair and Lufthansa.

In the VA example, I had originally booked a flight on an Embraer plane, which VA no longer uses, so we were switched to a 737. I was travelling with wife and (young) kids, and had all 4 seats in row 3 (numbered 3A, 3C, 3D and 3F - i.e. there is no 3B or 3E). When we got switched to the 737, they kept us in those 4 seats, but now of course there is a 3B and 3E, which means random people could have been seated between me/my wife and our kids. I got no notification about the aircraft change from VA, and only realised when I did OLCI - and even then I only actually noticed because I chose to review our seat selection - VA's OLCI system invites you simply click "I am happy with my seats" or something along those lines, and skip reviewing seat selection - so best to be careful with that.

In the Finnair example, I selected 1A, 1C, 1D and 1F - again the only four seats in the row. I just happened to check the details online some time later, and found they had moved my wife to 2F and my 7 year old son to 3D. There was also an empty seat still available beside both my wife and my son, so I have no idea why they didn't keep them together. In fact, I have no idea why any change to seat selection was necessary, as the aircraft had not changed. Again I got no notification, and again it could have been a real problem if we actually ended up on those seats.

With LH, I did get a notification by email that "due to an aircraft change" our seats had been changed. In reality, the aircraft had not changed, they had simply bumped us back a few rows. However, at least they told us, and kept us with a similar arrangement as originally selected, just in a different row.

 

[Antoallison]

It's not very common to select seats and then get moved, but it does happen, especially if there is an aircraft change, which may have been the case here, as Serfty suggested. IME many airlines do no give you any kind of notification when that happens.

I've recently had my pre-selected seats changed by VA, Finnair and Lufthansa.

In the VA example, I had originally booked a flight on an Embraer plane, which VA no longer uses, so we were switched to a 737. I was travelling with wife and (young) kids, and had all 4 seats in row 3 (numbered 3A, 3C, 3D and 3F - i.e. there is no 3B or 3E). When we got switched to the 737, they kept us in those 4 seats, but now of course there is a 3B and 3E, which means random people could have been seated between me/my wife and our kids. I got no notification about the aircraft change from VA, and only realised when I did OLCI - and even then I only actually noticed because I chose to review our seat selection - VA's OLCI system invites you simply click "I am happy with my seats" or something along those lines, and skip reviewing seat selection - so best to be careful with that.

In the Finnair example, I selected 1A, 1C, 1D and 1F - again the only four seats in the row. I just happened to check the details online some time later, and found they had moved my wife to 2F and my 7 year old son to 3D. There was also an empty seat still available beside both my wife and my son, so I have no idea why they didn't keep them together. In fact, I have no idea why any change to seat selection was necessary, as the aircraft had not changed. Again I got no notification, and again it could have been a real problem if we actually ended up on those seats.

With LH, I did get a notification by email that "due to an aircraft change" our seats had been changed. In reality, the aircraft had not changed, they had simply bumped us back a few rows. However, at least they told us, and kept us with a similar arrangement as originally selected, just in a different row.

Wow that is not on, Jack3193. - you would think commonsense would prevail when changing 4 seats that were booked together to check that children sat with parents. Lucky that you picked it up.

 

[mrbraun]

It's not very common to select seats and then get moved, but it does happen, especially if there is an aircraft change, which may have been the case here, as Serfty suggested. IME many airlines do no give you any kind of notification when that happens.

I've recently had my pre-selected seats changed by VA, Finnair and Lufthansa.

In the VA example, I had originally booked a flight on an Embraer plane, which VA no longer uses, so we were switched to a 737. I was travelling with wife and (young) kids, and had all 4 seats in row 3 (numbered 3A, 3C, 3D and 3F - i.e. there is no 3B or 3E). When we got switched to the 737, they kept us in those 4 seats, but now of course there is a 3B and 3E, which means random people could have been seated between me/my wife and our kids. I got no notification about the aircraft change from VA, and only realised when I did OLCI - and even then I only actually noticed because I chose to review our seat selection - VA's OLCI system invites you simply click "I am happy with my seats" or something along those lines, and skip reviewing seat selection - so best to be careful with that.

In the Finnair example, I selected 1A, 1C, 1D and 1F - again the only four seats in the row. I just happened to check the details online some time later, and found they had moved my wife to 2F and my 7 year old son to 3D. There was also an empty seat still available beside both my wife and my son, so I have no idea why they didn't keep them together. In fact, I have no idea why any change to seat selection was necessary, as the aircraft had not changed. Again I got no notification, and again it could have been a real problem if we actually ended up on those seats.

With LH, I did get a notification by email that "due to an aircraft change" our seats had been changed. In reality, the aircraft had not changed, they had simply bumped us back a few rows. However, at least they told us, and kept us with a similar arrangement as originally selected, just in a different row.

So based on what you're saying, it would be best to continuously check in on your seating status, especially on flights booked well in advance. At least you had a courtesy email!

 

[Strategic Aviation]

Always Remember to 'Garden' Your Travel Reservations - View from the Wing

 

[Jack_OC]

So based on what you're saying, it would be best to continuously check in on your seating status, especially on flights booked well in advance. At least you had a courtesy email!

Yep!

Always Remember to 'Garden' Your Travel Reservations - View from the Wing

I use AwardWallet, and it is true that its alerts about changes can be useful, but they are hit and miss. I didn't get any alert from AwardWallet when Finnair or LH changed our seats, but strangely I did get one when I discovered the Finnair changes and then made my own changes to ensure we are all together. I also didn't get one regarding the VA change, but I guess in that case our seat assignments had not actually changed, the issue was that there were going to be additional seats in between us!

 

[mrbraun]

Always Remember to 'Garden' Your Travel Reservations - View from the Wing

Great article. Amazing how many of my assumptions are just flat out wrong- the airline business is a different beast to a lot of other service industries...

 

[debgow]

Once when I had booked business class (probably upgraded with points) and deliberately booked row 2 as I dislike row 1. Someone with higher ranking must have come along and wanted my seat so I was changed to row 1. So no matter what class you book no guarantee.

 

[Jack_OC]

Once when I had booked business class (probably upgraded with points) and deliberately booked row 2 as I dislike row 1. Someone with higher ranking must have come along and wanted my seat so I was changed to row 1. So no matter what class you book no guarantee.

I agree that it can happen in any class. In my Finnair example we are booked into Business, and as it happens I have status (QF Platinum = OneWorld Emerald).