Hawkerhunt

So, I admit I'm more of a lurker than a poster here, but I feel obliged to make a callout to the exceptional service the FB platinum line has provided recently. We criticize, correctly, all the problems, but there are areas where we do get good service, and I feel these should be recognized.

Recently over the last 6 months perhaps, I've been having issues with the KLM/AF seat assignment algorithms. Typical of this is examples such as I select a window seat at time of booking and then as I check in, I've been moved to a middle seat, so I have to move myself back to a window seat. Then on the return trip I find the same, I've preselected a window seat , but I find myself in a middle seat, and I have to move myself back to a window seat at check in. It's actually getting so predictable, I assume it will be the case, so I have to always log-in and move myself.

(To explain, I always book long distance business and this is not a problem, but I book short haul economy, and it's nearly always a problem.)

Recently I've been making bookings for my daughter and her partner, and with 100% of these, even though they are on the one ticket, they get assigned seats separating them, and usually 2 middle seats a row or two apart!..

So this is a callout to the exceptional service I've received from the Platinum Line. I hope one of them is reading this. Because of the mess of the seat assignment algorithms, I've found myself calling them more in the last 2 months than the last 10 years, to fix the mess. And every time they have been exceptional. Every time they have fixed it. Even the bookings I have made for my daughter , who is Ivory, when the automatic system has messed up, they have stepped up and fixed these for me.

I cannot fault the service. It is polite, responsive, and they fix it.

As a long time Platinum writing here, we all know many parts of the service are badly broken, but the Platinum line service is a ray of light in the gloom.

So I hope one of them is reading this, and thank you for the exceptional service I have had, from everyone I have dealt with in the last few months.

Lewis42

Great news.

To be honest I'm with you, the few times I've used them they have bent over backwards and really helped me out!

SkyteamEP

Agreed. I called them a couple of times, and they've always been able to sort my issues quickly and smoothly.

Ditto

I agree indeed that they are usually quite good, although in NL most of them should work on their soft skills (it is a cultural thing though), having said that I must ask what is it in your mess that they've fixed? Have they done anything except for changing the seats?

Goldorak

I fully agree we have to recognized the good service as well as the bad one. I have had only good to very good experiences with the platinum line, with one exception.

Zembla

I also agree. The platinum line is excellent for anything booking or FB related. They never let me down and I think it is an excellent perk to have this dedicated platinum line with such excellent service. And it's a perk that works.

bodory

+1

So far my (limited) requests to the Plat. line have always been good experiences.

Lewis42

Interesting, I normally find the Dutch more amicable than the French on the line...

Hawkerhunt

Yes, it's mostly changing seats but it's not quite that simple. An example from a few days ago: flying EDI-CDG, it would not let me pick seats at time of purchase, with only a "seat selection at check-in" notice. At check-in, we'd been assigned 2 seats separated by a few rows. Trying to change them, the flight showed no seats available. Had to phone them to fix it.

This seems to be common these days, that they lockout the seat map. And when I've been in a lounge, and tried to get them to fix it , they frequently cannot access it. But the Platinum line can, so I end up phoning them from the lounge and they access it.

And while it's mostly seat assignment issues, they have also helped on more complicated stuff like getting award tickets for a route that I've used before (to NZ), but never shows up any more online when you try to book it.

And again, getting seat assignments on codeshare (but not Skyteam) partner airlines where you can't get a seat reserved, and they call the partner airline and arrange the seat reservation.

These are just examples. It might seem trivial, but the difference of knowing you've got a preferred seat and not a middle seat for a 5 hr flight just makes it all a little less stressful, and the ability to get that done is something I appreciate.

Ditto

Well, I never tried calling the French number (nor do I even have it), so maybe I should stick to the Dutch one
I'm not really complaining here, after so many years in NL I'm used to this kind of customer service, but I can imagine customers from other countries might not be so happy about it.

flydrive

I'm glad you've received great service, but why should you have to call and resolve this problem every time? Why can't FB or KLM remember your seat preference and put you there, rather than always a middle seat? I've had this happen numerous times as gold, and sometimes there is no option to change the middle seat even on the gold line. It is very frustrating to elite members and should not be beyond IT capabilities.

Hawkerhunt

My own opinion is this is IT created and deliberate. It started happening earlier this year, and I've actually discussed it with FB, who say others have also mentioned it to them. It was someone at FB that offered me their theory on it.

As a Platinum, we can buy an economy ticket, and get free access to preferred seating. On KLM, I buy economy, and then select a free economy comfort window seat. I then play a game where the system moves me to a middle seat, then I move myself back again etc.

It has been suggested to me this is revenue related. It is very hard for a paid for upsell from, say a window seat in economy to a middle seat in economy comfort. They get no revenue from me for upgrading. So they move me from widow to middle, as it's more likely they can upsell window and isle seats.
And I can see that logic.

What is even more annoying is that having moved to economy comfort, I can no longer see the normal economy seats. On one occasion, I got caught by the seat switch to middle seat, and there were no other economy comfort seats left. In that situation, I'd prefer to just move down the cabin and get a window or isle seat and forgo my few inches of extra legroom. (Platinum line fixed it , once again :-) )

I'd be interested to know if others are noticing this new "feature" in the seat assignment IT, as the theory mentioned to me does seem to have some merit. And if it is the case, then it's a bit of a kick in the teeth to elite's.

Ditto

While it is a very interesting theory, I personally never had such issues, I also checked some upcoming flights and my windows EC seats are still there.

I can always see the rest of the cabin even after selecting an EC seat, what you describe is consistent with non-plat PAX where as after you've paid for the seat, you cannot 'downgrade' yourself back to economy without calling.

KL usually moves the curtain at T-72, so even if you are stuck in a middle seat, most chances you can get a window or aisle seat between T-72 and T-48 or even during OLCI, in fact I almost always move myself forward during those windows, I prefer row 3 over row 6

pjhartog

I agree with the previous poster - never issues and always good access. And I often move after T-72 further up front. There are mess-ups sometimes if in the same booking there are non-elites but one phone call usually corrects that.

And in line with the OP - the Dutch Plat line works wonders - they have rebooked and checked me in while I was standing at an Alitalia counter to hear that this would not be possible. They even emailed us the boarding passes for the occasion at their own initiative.

Today they processed a refund for me without any issues.

Great to finally see this level of service for a select group !

Hawkerhunt

For me, this has been happening regularly since about March, and it's a total pain. Every time for the last 6 flights. And it happens whether I'm alone or not. I wasn't aware of the T-72 curtain change. I'll need to watch out for that next time. I usually don't check in until OLCI opens, and I tend not to be fussed what row I'm in.

I think you are right about the cabin, I do see it, but the seats are all locked out.