OLCI and PYOBP at time of booking on domestic
#1
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Join Date: Nov 2003
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OLCI and PYOBP at time of booking on domestic
Not sure what the logic of allowing on line check in (OLCI) and print your own boarding pass (PYOBP) at time of booking (or any time subsequently) for domestic flights was last year, but from my perspective as an elite pax it is NOT working.
I used to always get aisle or window seats and nearly always middle seat blocked if travelling by myself. On all a/c type except ATR I'd get a forward seat, and a nice rear seat on the ATR (boarding is at the rear).
Since then my seating on NZ domestic has been much more erratic. I almost never get a blocked middle seat, and today even got allocated a middle seat Of course despite checking in at airport early I was unable to improve my position because so many passengers had OLCI'ed. (Note I was unable to OLCI myself because it is part of an international itinerary.)
Further, I've noticed more often than not there is a slight delay in departing while waiting on passengers who OLCI'ed but didn't turn up to the gate on time
I hope NZ reviews and gets rid of this feature.
I used to always get aisle or window seats and nearly always middle seat blocked if travelling by myself. On all a/c type except ATR I'd get a forward seat, and a nice rear seat on the ATR (boarding is at the rear).
Since then my seating on NZ domestic has been much more erratic. I almost never get a blocked middle seat, and today even got allocated a middle seat Of course despite checking in at airport early I was unable to improve my position because so many passengers had OLCI'ed. (Note I was unable to OLCI myself because it is part of an international itinerary.)
Further, I've noticed more often than not there is a slight delay in departing while waiting on passengers who OLCI'ed but didn't turn up to the gate on time
I hope NZ reviews and gets rid of this feature.
#2
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Wellington
Programs: QFWP (LTSG), NZ (Jade), TG ROP (Forgotten), OZ (Silver), AA (Cardboard), EK (Lowest of the Low)
Posts: 4,669
Not sure what the logic of allowing on line check in (OLCI) and print your own boarding pass (PYOBP) at time of booking (or any time subsequently) for domestic flights was last year, but from my perspective as an elite pax it is NOT working.
I used to always get aisle or window seats and nearly always middle seat blocked if travelling by myself. On all a/c type except ATR I'd get a forward seat, and a nice rear seat on the ATR (boarding is at the rear).
Since then my seating on NZ domestic has been much more erratic. I almost never get a blocked middle seat, and today even got allocated a middle seat Of course despite checking in at airport early I was unable to improve my position because so many passengers had OLCI'ed. (Note I was unable to OLCI myself because it is part of an international itinerary.)
Further, I've noticed more often than not there is a slight delay in departing while waiting on passengers who OLCI'ed but didn't turn up to the gate on time
I hope NZ reviews and gets rid of this feature.
I used to always get aisle or window seats and nearly always middle seat blocked if travelling by myself. On all a/c type except ATR I'd get a forward seat, and a nice rear seat on the ATR (boarding is at the rear).
Since then my seating on NZ domestic has been much more erratic. I almost never get a blocked middle seat, and today even got allocated a middle seat Of course despite checking in at airport early I was unable to improve my position because so many passengers had OLCI'ed. (Note I was unable to OLCI myself because it is part of an international itinerary.)
Further, I've noticed more often than not there is a slight delay in departing while waiting on passengers who OLCI'ed but didn't turn up to the gate on time
I hope NZ reviews and gets rid of this feature.
I prefer the QF method of seat allocation the day before then opening up OCLI allowing elites access to the better seats.
#5
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Join Date: Nov 2003
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Limit OLCI to day of departure is fairly standard (some airlines use 24/48 hours instead) and there is less risk for NZ of pax failing to show up. That also means only those booking or changing flights last minute might get disadvantaged in seat selection.
It will be interesting to see what I get for an upcoming full Y domestic sector (again part of international itinerary so unable to OLCI). I really hope that does not get a bad seat too.
It will be interesting to see what I get for an upcoming full Y domestic sector (again part of international itinerary so unable to OLCI). I really hope that does not get a bad seat too.
#7
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 111
Hmm. QF is 24 hours. But day of departure for some early flights mightn't be that easy, some people might be so obsessed with their seating they stay up until 12:01 before dashing off to the airport for an early morning flight - hopefully you get a good seat on your next domestic flight!
#8
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 1,617
It makes using Air NZ more attractive to me. It has the potential to save Air NZ money via cost savings. It even has the potential to generate additional revenues for Air NZ in interesting ways.
It's very forward thinking. I.e. I don't have to wait till the very day of travel to print out my tickets with seat assignments for a train in Europe, WhyTF should I have to wait to print out my domestic airline boarding pass?
If there are bugs or other issues in the system, then those should be addressed, but that doesn't require tossing the feature.
I used to always get aisle or window seats and nearly always middle seat blocked if travelling by myself. On all a/c type except ATR I'd get a forward seat, and a nice rear seat on the ATR (boarding is at the rear).
Since then my seating on NZ domestic has been much more erratic. I almost never get a blocked middle seat, and today even got allocated a middle seat .
Since then my seating on NZ domestic has been much more erratic. I almost never get a blocked middle seat, and today even got allocated a middle seat .
If you're losing an open middle seat next to you because the flights are very full, well good for Air NZ. If you're losing an open seat next to you because of the way the Air NZ seat selection UI works, then that's either a bug or feature depending on your viewpoint. To me, I see a bug. From what I've seen, the seat selection UI seems to force pax flying together on the same PNR to sit next to each other. That can force people into middle seats even if the flight isn't full. I'd like to see this fixed, if it hasn't been already.
Still the solution here isn't to kill OLCI/early PYOBP, or to install scanners, etc. The solution here is simply fly the flights on schedule. [When was the last time you had a concert or movie or European train departure held up because you were late or decided not to go?] If pax book a ticket, OLCI and PYOBP and don't bother showing up to the airport, well Air NZ has their money and can and should keep it. If they show up later and want to fly [ride the train/ see a movie or concert] they can buy another ticket.
Also the delays I've seen have indeed been slight, however the flights still more often than not seem to still make their arrivals time. Personally I don't care about a delay in departing if I still get to my destination more or less on time.
I hope NZ reviews the lessons learned and improves this feature, not get rid of it.
#9
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Join Date: Nov 2003
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"Erratic" is not a precise enough description of an issue to really enable someone to address it ...
If you're losing an open middle seat next to you because the flights are very full, well good for Air NZ. If you're losing an open seat next to you because of the way the Air NZ seat selection UI works, then that's either a bug or feature depending on your viewpoint. To me, I see a bug. From what I've seen, the seat selection UI seems to force pax flying together on the same PNR to sit next to each other. That can force people into middle seats even if the flight isn't full. I'd like to see this fixed, if it hasn't been already.
If you're losing an open middle seat next to you because the flights are very full, well good for Air NZ. If you're losing an open seat next to you because of the way the Air NZ seat selection UI works, then that's either a bug or feature depending on your viewpoint. To me, I see a bug. From what I've seen, the seat selection UI seems to force pax flying together on the same PNR to sit next to each other. That can force people into middle seats even if the flight isn't full. I'd like to see this fixed, if it hasn't been already.
Compare that with QF domestic (in NZ). I nearly always get the same bulkhead seat. On very rare times when I don't I'm in the aisle next row back (or the other bulkhead aisle seat). Even when I've had a late change of flights I normally get a great seat.
That thinking just further encourages NZ to keep padding their schedules. Amazing how WLG-CHC in a 737 takes longer (according to the schedule) than in an ATR or than it took 20 years ago.
#10
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Delayed departures putting extra pressure on the rest of the system to make up the lost time. 10 minutes may not sound like much but out of a 40 minute block time it is material and has snowball effects. And when they don't recover the time (and it grows over the day) increases the number of potential misconnects (because many scheduled regional connections are only 20 minutes) further compounding the issue.
#11
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 544
Is OLCI/PYOBP available on Link flights and/or domestic multistop itineraries and/or domestic itineraries purchased from the US?
I didn't have the option to do OLCI or seat request when I booked my internal NZ flights last month through the US website, and the Manage Booking tools available now suggest I'll have to check in at a kiosk or counter.
Given no Air Points or *A status this year, should my spouse and I resign ourselves to separate middle seats in the last row, or is there another way to put in a useful seat request before day of flight?
I didn't have the option to do OLCI or seat request when I booked my internal NZ flights last month through the US website, and the Manage Booking tools available now suggest I'll have to check in at a kiosk or counter.
Given no Air Points or *A status this year, should my spouse and I resign ourselves to separate middle seats in the last row, or is there another way to put in a useful seat request before day of flight?
#12
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Wellington
Programs: QFWP (LTSG), NZ (Jade), TG ROP (Forgotten), OZ (Silver), AA (Cardboard), EK (Lowest of the Low)
Posts: 4,669
Is OLCI/PYOBP available on Link flights and/or domestic multistop itineraries and/or domestic itineraries purchased from the US?
I didn't have the option to do OLCI or seat request when I booked my internal NZ flights last month through the US website, and the Manage Booking tools available now suggest I'll have to check in at a kiosk or counter.
Given no Air Points or *A status this year, should my spouse and I resign ourselves to separate middle seats in the last row, or is there another way to put in a useful seat request before day of flight?
I didn't have the option to do OLCI or seat request when I booked my internal NZ flights last month through the US website, and the Manage Booking tools available now suggest I'll have to check in at a kiosk or counter.
Given no Air Points or *A status this year, should my spouse and I resign ourselves to separate middle seats in the last row, or is there another way to put in a useful seat request before day of flight?
When I travel for work I cannot OLCI due to the ticket not being released until the day before by the travel agent (also I think you can only OLCI if booked via the website anyway).
As for late departures NZ gets fined by the airports increasing the costs. I agree with Quokka on some points, eg. regarding missing the flight, but I do not think specific seat allocation or checking in more than 48 hours is a good idea IMO for the reasons stated by myself and Kiwi Flyer.
#13
Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 1,617
Delayed departures putting extra pressure on the rest of the system to make up the lost time. 10 minutes may not sound like much but out of a 40 minute block time it is material and has snowball effects. And when they don't recover the time (and it grows over the day) increases the number of potential misconnects (because many scheduled regional connections are only 20 minutes) further compounding the issue.
#14
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 5,984
Well I think there are two separate issues here
1) People having OLCI'd not showing up - yes that is a problem
2) More people pre-selecting seats because the website allows you to do it, rather than needing a travel agent or telephone. It is important to note that the good seats [eg 733 1-7 and the exit] are marked NV so you need to be *S or higher to select them anyway. This is just more people making use of a service that was always there - and has nothing to do with OLCI & PYOBP at the time of booking.
1) People having OLCI'd not showing up - yes that is a problem
2) More people pre-selecting seats because the website allows you to do it, rather than needing a travel agent or telephone. It is important to note that the good seats [eg 733 1-7 and the exit] are marked NV so you need to be *S or higher to select them anyway. This is just more people making use of a service that was always there - and has nothing to do with OLCI & PYOBP at the time of booking.
#15
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Programs: NZ Elite; QF Platinum; CZ Gold; MU Platinum; Marriott Titanium; Accor Platinum
Posts: 1,467
Interesting thread
As ntddevsys said isn't it just a case of Air NZ blocking/ reserving enough good seats for elite/ full fare pax? It seems to me that the online boarding passes is not so much the issue -- I mean other airlines (not sure about domestic in NZ) allow you to reserve seats at time of booking which as the same effect I guess -- but rather its how Air NZ do (or don't) hold the good seats for the best PAX. This would seem to me to be the best line of complaint to them: why are they not holding enough seats back to satisfy their premium flyers?
Maybe if there is so much demand they need to restrict front rows to Gold/ Elite only, or even Elite only on the busiest routes?
As ntddevsys said isn't it just a case of Air NZ blocking/ reserving enough good seats for elite/ full fare pax? It seems to me that the online boarding passes is not so much the issue -- I mean other airlines (not sure about domestic in NZ) allow you to reserve seats at time of booking which as the same effect I guess -- but rather its how Air NZ do (or don't) hold the good seats for the best PAX. This would seem to me to be the best line of complaint to them: why are they not holding enough seats back to satisfy their premium flyers?
Maybe if there is so much demand they need to restrict front rows to Gold/ Elite only, or even Elite only on the busiest routes?