Why QF and LATAM have seat selection issues on their codeshares

[juddles]

Hi all, not sure in which forum to post this - it is about the QF/Latam codeshares trans-pacific, and the seat selection issues they have.

This is more a curiosity thread - I will explain.....

Qantas and Latam both fly SYD to SCL and vice versa. The Latam 787 flights do a stopover at AKL, the Qantas 747's fly direct. Both routes have codeshares. There has always been difficulties with these flights with people's seat selection not sticking. Especially if you book a flight as a codeshare ticket. The "interface" between the two airlines seems shaky, at best.

It appears that the airlines allocate a number of seats to the other airline, and these do not appear using such seatmap tools like expertflyer. So if you want to see all seats for a given flight, you have to search twice - once under the operating airlines flight number, then again using the codeshare. Each seatmap is only partial - like two pieces of a jigsaw. I get that now - took me a while

A day or so before the flight everything gets merged into a single seatmap.

Anyway, today I am looking specifically at the Qantas metal QF27 flight SYD-SCL, departing 20th March. The Latam codeshare for this is LA806.

When I checked it out, it wasn't a surprise to see the two different seatmaps, but I noticed that the LA806 codeshare map is from a DIFFERENT plane. Qantas uses 747's on this route, and almost all are the current layout, but there is still a single old 747 with the old arrangement of seats. This aircraft does this route still every so often. So for this specific flight, the Qantas flight shows it as a new 747, the Latam codeshare shows it as the relic 747.

The following are from expertflyer today:






These may look strange to someone not familiar with the usual butcher split of the flight seatmaps, but what this is showing is that the QF version is on a new 747 (the existence of rock-star seats 5B and 5J is the easiest giveaway), but the LA codeshare is on the relic 747 (the J seats availability in the upstairs rows 17 and 18 reveal this)

If I do a search using seatguru, again using the QF flight gives the new 747, using the LA codeshare gives the relic 747.

I will follow this out of sheer curiosity, as this must cause chaos when the flight day arrives and they have to fit everyone into the plane

 

[Mrmaxwell]

I’ve now been using this bus QF27/28 for several months. I’m surprised (not surprised) how busy the premium Y and J loadings are on these flights both ways...yet to see a flight with more than one or two vacant seats.

I only fly QF metal have not used the LATAM 787 due to the stopover and average seating options.

I gave up requesting seats on the LATAM leg from SCL to GRU due to the effort needed.

From experience I would assume QF is correct as LATAM generally have no idea what they’re doing

 

[juddles]

I’ve now been using this bus QF27/28 for several months. I’m surprised (not surprised) how busy the premium Y and J loadings are on these flights both ways...yet to see a flight with more than one or two vacant seats.

I only fly QF metal have not used the LATAM 787 due to the stopover and average seating options.

I gave up requesting seats on the LATAM leg from SCL to GRU due to the effort needed.

From experience I would assume QF is correct as LATAM generally have no idea what they’re doing

I agree.

It seems most flights are pretty full in all classes. Strange since airfares have come down also over the last few years.

I now only fly QF metal as I hate the short J seats in LATAM.

I also gave up yonks ago trying any sort of seat selection on QF metal if my ticket was through LATAM - now I book everything straight off the QF site anyway, so that is no longer an issue for me - but I still foresee problems like the one I refer to in this thread having repercussions for all pax seat selections, once they try to sort out the jumble.

 

[justinbrett]

I'm booked on QF321 (LA800) in a few months, but getting on in AKL - I'm on QF145 SYD-AKL. I probably would have gone QF metal the whole way but I wanted the extra SCs of the AKL stop (which was the same price).

I can see the seatmap for it on QF, but when I tried to select my seat I got errors. I called up QF and they could do it, and when I logged into LA's website the allocation stuck.

 

[juddles]

I'm booked on QF321 (LA800) in a few months, but getting on in AKL - I'm on QF145 SYD-AKL. I probably would have gone QF metal the whole way but I wanted the extra SCs of the AKL stop (which was the same price).

I can see the seatmap for it on QF, but when I tried to select my seat I got errors. I called up QF and they could do it, and when I logged into LA's website the allocation stuck.

I suspect that it works better one way than the other - ie a seat selection on LA metal (done via call centre) may stick, whilst trying to do a selection on QF metal when booked as LA codeshare is impossible?

 

[Kiwi_Flyer]

Much better chance of seat selection sticking when you are booked on the operating airline flight number, not the codeshare airline.

 

[nonscenic]

It might be a related interface issue between the two airlines, but when I returned SCL -AKL - SYD on LA801 a couple of months ago, and checked my QF points activity some time later I noticed that I had been awarded 2700 pts Discount Economy for SCL-AKL then 3500 pts Discount Economy for SCL-SYD , despite suffering only the once in LA Y. Some compensation, be it so minor for enduring LA's terrible food (or lack thereof ) on such a long sector.

 

[KLMCM]

Hi, hoping someone can help and this thread seems pretty pertinent. I am looking to organise flights to South America from Perth and am tossing up between booking directly with QF or LATAM. On the QF site the flights to/ from SYD to SCL are given a QF code but are listed as being operated by LATAM. I would have thought this leg would be a QF one. How will this work for seat allocation - will I be able to pay (they are sale seats) for advance selection via QF in the normal way, or will I have to log onto LATAM? Do LATAM charge for seat selection, I find their website confusing. Anything I should be aware of in general? Any help gratefully accepted!

 

[juddles]

Hi, hoping someone can help and this thread seems pretty pertinent. I am looking to organise flights to South America from Perth and am tossing up between booking directly with QF or LATAM. On the QF site the flights to/ from SYD to SCL are given a QF code but are listed as being operated by LATAM. I would have thought this leg would be a QF one. How will this work for seat allocation - will I be able to pay (they are sale seats) for advance selection via QF in the normal way, or will I have to log onto LATAM? Do LATAM charge for seat selection, I find their website confusing. Anything I should be aware of in general? Any help gratefully accepted!

KLMCM, it is very common that when Qantas sells sale tickets across the southern Pacific, that at least one of the long flights is on a codeshare. I suspect this is due to them getting cheap seats on the other airlines metal. I have in the past been able to snag QF metal both ways (either through QF buy or via LATAM getting codeshares), but that is very rare.

From my experience and what I have heard from others, it is effectively impossible to do seat selection if the ticket is purchased through LATAM. When buying through Qantas it works much better. Even so, I would expect issues on a QF code when flying a LATAM aircraft.

I am not up to date on the purchase of better seats on Latam - I know that they do sell them, I also know that if I am flying LATAM using my QF status (Emerald equivalent) I get free choice of the front row, emergency exits etc, but even if the LATAM system has my QF FF number in, and recognizes it as Emerald, I usually have to call them to get a seat allocated. It can be painful.

Your best bet is to buy via Qantas, and check to see if on any date you can snag QF metal both ways.

 

[KLMCM]

Thanks for that. I feel stupid asking but what is meant by QF metal - a QF actual plane?

 

[juddles]

Exactly - it means the physical aircraft is from that airline - helps to avoid some of the confusion when discussing codeshare flights etc

 

[KLMCM]

Cool! Now all I have to do is wait for QF website to settle down for flights next Jan-Feb (I find inconsistent flight info each time I look at moment). Don't suppose you know how much they charge for sale international economy seating selection?

 

[eminere]

Cool! Now all I have to do is wait for QF website to settle down for flights next Jan-Feb (I find inconsistent flight info each time I look at moment). Don't suppose you know how much they charge for sale international economy seating selection?

AU$35 per passenger, per flight sector. If you have status or book a Saver fare and above seat selection is free.

 

[KLMCM]

Thanks for that

 

[justinbrett]

KLMCM, it is very common that when Qantas sells sale tickets across the southern Pacific, that at least one of the long flights is on a codeshare. I suspect this is due to them getting cheap seats on the other airlines metal. I have in the past been able to snag QF metal both ways (either through QF buy or via LATAM getting codeshares), but that is very rare.

That, and possibly the more likely explanation- QF27/28 (SYD-SCL direct) is not daily. KLMCM may be looking for a day where it doesn't operate (for Feb 20 it's Tu, W, F, Su).

 

[jastel]

^^ this caught me out at first when booking a few weeks ago.
I now have an extra day in Lima before the tour...
But was definitely going on QF with DSC booking!
Not looking good for J Upgrades according to the above posts.

 

[justinbrett]

^^ this caught me out at first when booking a few weeks ago.
I now have an extra day in Lima before the tour...
But was definitely going on QF with DSC booking!
Not looking good for J Upgrades according to the above posts.

I booked pre-DSCs so going via AKL to get more SC. QF to AKL then LA to SCL. I've had my "last ever flight in a QF 747" about 4 times now I really would like to keep it that way...

 

[juddles]

Just to give update on the original post - these are the new seatmaps for QF27 and LA 806 now as at T - 6 days. The LA one still shows the old aircraft.



So there are still 4 pax in business who bought this flight via LATAM, who have seats allocated in positions that do not actually exist on the real aircraft. More of the same back in economy too.

 

[jastel]

I booked pre-DSCs so going via AKL to get more SC. QF to AKL then LA to SCL. I've had my "last ever flight in a QF 747" about 4 times now I really would like to keep it that way...

I hadn't really though about that...but it will probably be my last 747 too.

Wonder what my chances are to see "upstairs"?...not much probably unless I wait until after the flight and ask to take a peek

 

[RooFlyer]

Somewhat related to the thread topic so i'll put it here.

Current experience of a friend. They have 3 separate bookings on a QF codeshare on LATAM in December (there are reasons for the three separate bookings, but not relevant here). All paid for, etc. Some Y, some J.

They have all been moved from the codeshare direct LATAM flight MEL-SCL LA804 to the pure Qantas direct flight SYD-SCL QF27, same day.

The LATAM flight is still flying, same B787, but the QF5027 codeshare does not appear as bookable from 15 December to 18 December.

Anyone like to hazard a guess as to why this would be the case?

Are the J seats on the old B747 Qantas uses SYD-SCL flat bed or inclined?