Courmisch

Is it really an unofficial perk of tier members? For all we know, anybody with vouchers can do that.

Admittedly, I don't know any other way to obtain vouchers, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were, such as lottery draws or private deals...

intuition

While not a perk per se, I think it fits in this thread as something elite members can ask for and have done, that is not documented or advertised. Unless you read FT, you could go all your flying life without knowing about it. I'm on my 9th year as plat and first now used it.

Hartsa

I got my first vouchers when I got the AY+ Diners Club card. They had a campaign where new card holders were given some (2 or 4, can't remember) SH upgrade vouchers.

No surprise I had to call to use them because the vouchers were not shown on my AY+ account because I had no status back then.

intuition

I'm reporting back that I was allowed to cancel upgrade on parts of a journey and that vouchers was returned. Agent had to ask for assistance first, but then had no problems changing the ticket.

On a side note, I've really been bashing this ticket. Upon first upgrade, there was availability shown but still some of the segments got waitlisted. Also, I had no vouchers, so 50k was charged for the semi-successful upgrade. To get full value for my 50k I pushed for seats to be released, and all segments cleared. Then as mentioned in OP, I got new vouchers and swapped 2LH+2SH for my points back. And now finally I got 2 SH vouchers back and will instead endure 55 minutes in Y.

--
Have added the part about voucher cancellation to the master upgrade wiki

Aviating

Seat block seems to be there, at least right now.

I have had for two weeks seat 7A on a 333 (OH-LTU). Seat 7C has been empty so far.

Now at T-42, on EF there seems to be open for sale J6 C6 D6 I4 and in the seat map 7 seats are available in C.

I noted that on AY page the 7C was taken. So, as 1L was available, I did move to 1L.

Then I did note that both 7A and 7C became available.

I did move back to 7A and on MMB 7C became taken. On EF 7A shown as occupied (by me) and 7C is shown as blocked.

So 7C was taken/blocked depending on if I have my seat assigned to 7A or not.

Let's see how this will turn out...

aapee

I've had experflyer a couple of weeks now, according to it the Y seat next to mine becomes blocked when OLCI opens. Last Sunday AY918 Y was full, and the block disappeared on Sunday afternoon. In the end got an upgrade at the gate.

intuition

Interesting!
If you indeed have seat block, then this is an individual perk. I as a lowly platinum regrettably does not enjoy it!

Below is 2 of my upcoming flights, where I am in 3C and 10A respectively. The lovely young (but statusless) miss Rnu Svensson is offered to sit next to me on both flights, as long as she coughs up the dough. And it is just 200 SEK to travel in these nice middle seats next to me!

Aviating

Update:
Situation T-20 remains the same.

EF Shows 7C next to me blocked.

In MMB it is taken. In OLCI it is shown to me as open.

It looks like it is truly blocked as Mr. John Doe is not able to select 7C when trying to buy a 5k EUR one-way ticket.

I will post how this soft block works in reality.

intuition

Looking forward to more reports!

Do you mean what is shown to you or what is shown to another person trying to make a seat reservation?

Aviating

In MMB 7C shows up as taken.
When Mr. John Doe tries to buy an 5k EUR oneway ticket 7C is shows up as taken.
In EF 7C shows up as blocked.
In OLCI 7C is shown as available to me while I have already checked in with 7A.

My conclusion -> There is a soft block - at least for now T-19

intuition

Indeed!
At it was there already at T-42, i.e. before OLCI started, if I understand your earlier post correctly. So it seems to be kicking in at some point, because at T-35 days there is no block on my reservation. I will try to monitor my next flight to see if I can pinpoint when it is "turned on".

Aviating

Departure time.

Door is closed and 7C next to me is one of the two empty seats in C.

EF still shows it as blocked.

on22cz

Interesting observation on seat block system while OLCI is open:
Seated on 6C - 6A and 6B show as unavailable. 6D and 6E are available. After moving myself to 6D, 6E becomes unavailable, whereas the whole row of 6A, 6B and 6C shows as available. Switching back to 6C disables selection of 6A and 6B, while 6D and 6E shows up as available again.
It seems it might be rather low load-factor (50-70%) on the flight, but it's still a positive surprise the system tries to keep the whole row for me. This is also thumbs up for AY!

intuition

I am now at T-70 (almost 3 days) and there is no seat block present. Any no name can purchase a ticket and buy the B seat next to me. And so it has been for the 2 month period since I bought the ticket. Y cabin, shorthaul.

If I don't forget about I will check again closer to T-36, but I am convinced that if there is a seat block system, it does not apply to me as a lowly platinum or the routes I fly. (I am talking about Pre-OLCI.)
I once more challenge anyone saying that they have seat block to PM me their details and I will try to buy the seat next to you...


As for people trying to check loadfactor from seatmap, I'd just like to say that there are 18 seats (of 45) available in the seatmap for a longhaul I'm taking in a few days despite the flight being fully booked - Finnair has removed it from the site and are not selling J on it at all.

aapee

For me at least, the seat block seems to appear when the check in for the flight opens (according to expertflyer at least). These seat maps are from my previous flight to MUC. I'm at 8C, my friend at 8A.

I checked in T-37, I was able to check in before my friend as I had a connecting flight from TMP, he was flying from HEL. At T-36 the seat block appeared between us and he was able to check in as well.

Blocks also appeared for a couple of other middle seats, I was the only one getting the newspaper, so probably the only plat on the flight.