ozstamps

We have no status with EY but high status with Virgin - not that EY agents can see any Virgin status on our booking!

Bought us Aust-Dublin flight today in Business Class, and had trouble getting middle seats on the long 14 hours 777 2 class MEL-AUH.

We would LIKE 5EF or 7EF which apparently are blocked for some reason, and agent gave me the "we allocate those on day of flight only" tapdance, however I am sure someone there moderately senior can allocate them for full revenue biz pax. I do not want to sit 14 hours across the aisle from my partner.

We did that last week on Air Canada 777 on the 14½ hour YVR-SYD and it is not recommended.

If anyone can quietly share an email address, via this board email, of someone empowered that I can approach discreetly and politely, I'd appreciate it!

Even higher level EY Elite desk agents should be able to swing this is they are minded to I imagine? So if someone has that generic email, I'll try that too.

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irishguy28

Which Virgin is your status with?

dlinsider

Seats may be blocked for many reasons and the specific seats you want seem to be bassinet seats.They can only be assigned if you are travelling with an infant in arms.

dogsrock

Must be Virgin Australia, neither Virgin Atlantic nor Virgin America have a designated Platinum level of FF.

Enzokk

I think seats 5EF are bassinet seats and they cannot be booked, AFAIK. The seats 7EF can be booked, but if they have been booked already then I hope that you cannot just have the people in them moved. They might be Etihad status guests, or also paid ticket holders so it is just bad luck. Is there not any other centre seats available? Is the plane not one of those with 40J seats? As reference on my AUH-DUB flight recently we upgraded at the lounge and even though the business cabin was only 60% full there were no two centre seats available or any A or K seats. They seem to be very popular.

ozstamps

Thanks for replies.

7 E and 7F are of course not bassinet rows, and they are not booked by anyone now, simply "blocked" allegedly until day of flight.

I am sure someone there with some empowerment can override that if I start on it early enough.

Anyway if anyone has a contact email to share appreciate getting it and I can ask.

irishguy28

Bassinet seats will not be released to passengers - even status holders of a partner airline - as they may be needed, at short notice, and will likely therefore only become available on the day of travel.

Even for non-bassinet seats, email is not a recognised way of obtaining seating assignments on Etihad - or any airline - so emailing this request will get you nowhere.

ozstamps

I repeat row 5 is the bassinet row, and row 7E/7F is not. All are vacant now. There is no logical reason to block those when a couple travelling together, on paid Business tickets seek them for a 14 hour flight.

I email Thai Airways all the time for seat allocations in long haul First and Business, and they are delighted to assist. And email me menus to select from in advance, with non standard choice like Lobster, Ostrich etc. It is the mark of a savvy airline.

For KLM/Air France as a Platinum I'd email my contact in AMS, and all long haul seating would be arranged smoothly saving a 30 minute wait on phone lines etc.

In 2 million miles on United I'd email the 1K line all the time re seat changes - empowered agents have no issue with doing it if seats are there. Apart from Sky Marshalls, United never routinely 'blocked' seats in F or Biz .. first to ask for them were assigned them. Which given the multi $1000s cost of the tickets long haul, is rather wise policy. @:-)

So I am sure if I get a contact email, the Etihad seating can be cheerfully re-assigned.
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Havoc10G

But you have no status with EY so why would they bend policy for you? If they release them on the day so be it. If they release for pax with status you don't qualify there either. So I suppose you will have to hope for the best on the day of travel or have I missed something?

janbrubel

Where did you book and how did you try to secure the seats? As far as I know, when you book J online, even with no status, you can secure all non taken seats at the point of booking or through 'manage my booking'. I did few dummy bookings last week, finding a suitable CDG MNL flight, didn't log in as Etihad Guest and alway had full J cabin to select my seats. How do you know the seats are blocked and not occupied?

The 'allocate on day of flight' is bs, so far i have always selected my seats in advance, ever since the days I had no status, reserved seat was always the one I ended up in.

irishguy28

On every date I have checked, right up to June 2015, EY461 (MEL-AUH) is scheduled as a 3-class 77W. As such, rows 5 and 7 are the "front" rows in each "part" of the business cabin, and are marked as blocked for each date I have checked (on Expert Flyer).


The seatmap suggests that you may be wrong on this point. As the "front" seats/bulkhead seats, rows 5 and 7 are most likely bassinet seats.


KLM/Air France is the airline I am most familiar with. Just as with all other airlines mentioned, you can select seats yourself - you do not need to email/call/ask anyone else to do this. As a platinum, you will have access to the greatest number of seats, and will even be able to pick "extra payment" seats for free if you ever travel in Economy.

However - you will NOT be able to have seats assigned to you that your status does not entitle you to select, regardless of who you request. If this were the case, then other non-status pax would already have claimed these "prize" seats.

irishguy28

Indeed, you can secure all non-taken seats - but when you look at the seatmap on Etihad.com during purchase, they don't tell you whether the "taken" seats are actually reserved, or blocked - so you won't be able to select any seat that someone has already chosen, or which the airline has blocked.

Now, make a dummy booking on EY461, MEL to AUH, in business. Pick any date. Go well into the future - I chose June 1 2015, but choose another. You will find that all of rows 5 and 7 are "taken" - and no other seats are taken - this is because they are blocked by the airline. Try as many dates as you like - these two rows are always "taken" (not pre-selected - they are blocked on all dates). I am pretty sure that you will not be able to select row 5 or 7 on any future date you check.

irishguy28

I just logged in with my Etihad Guest details - I am a Gold card holder.

Having made a trial booking, on a one-way "Business Freedom" (i.e. Most expensive fare) ticket from MEL to AUH on 1 Jun next, when no seats have yet been assigned at all in the business cabin, all of rows 5 & 7 are blocked off and unavailable to me.

OP - you will have to try securing these seats on the day of travel.

janbrubel

Yes, you are right. Both rows 5 and 7 are bulkhead and bassinet rows. No pre booking available even with status. Guess they do allocate these on the day of travel, my bad ...

I fear early online check-in might be only chance to get those seats.

Enzokk

OP, if you need the centre seats just try to secure any of the other EF seats in the cabin. You can then try and change the seats when you check in. Again I would hope that you would not be able to have seats that are either blocked or already pre-selected given to you as a non EY status holder. This would defeat the purpose of loyalty to an airline (you have lots of status with other programs, how would you feel if I asked for your contacts to try and get some of your rewards? How would other status holders react?). I tried getting seats 51-55 AC or HK recently (as a status member with EY Guest) and they were all already chosen and could not be allocated to me. It is just bad luck if you booked your tickets too late or if you are looking for blocked seats that cannot be allocated.