mpkz

Question for you guys:

I recently flew from OSL-HEL. I picked a seat using my (non-ay) OWE status, and then reverted to (basic) AY+ because W earns nothing/next to nothing there. At OSL, they weren't able to print my BP (and I couldn't get mobile BP) without charging me for seat selection, even if they used my non-AY FF# instead of AY+. So I had to pay the 15 euros or whatever it was.

I've done this before without any problems, so I don't think it's "illegal" (at least I've never seen any warnings about it). But what do you think my chances of getting a refund from AY for the seat selection are? Is it even recommended to mention it to them? In the end, I flew the flight as a AY+, which in retrospect might make getting a refund more difficult.

Courmisch

W earns next to nothing on AY+ as well (25%).

lento

Last month I was able to put both FF numbers ( non AY number for status benefits and AY number for point accural ) to my booking through online chat. BP showed the status (non-AY) and points went without any problem to AY account. You should have been able to select seat without paying.

Justinus

Since a couple of years on ALL AB flights I have been obliged to pay for seat selection as OWE.

on22cz

Interesting! Asked for this many times and they have never been able to make it this way. Same issue with check-in staff. Most of them has no idea what does this request mean. And if they know, they are still unable to process it. I wish I met a savvy agent!

To the OP's question - IMO, you should have not been charged and they should have been able to get over the payment request in the system. You apparently paid for the lack of agent's skills. This happened to me once when switching in between OWE and no-free-seat-selection-status - after the agent asked for the payment, I politely reminded the OWE card and the whole thing was solved by few clicks.

lento

I had same problem with check-in staffs. "Only one number is possible" , or "I do not see where I can put another number" was their answer. However, this chat agent said "I know what you mean" and put both numbers there. I should have noted his name for future chats, as it seems very few people know how to do it.

on22cz

If you were at least sure it was a male agent, it could actually be very helpful as female agents dominate among the chat support staff and sadly they have no clue what to do with the numbers.

lento

I am sure it was a male agent.

lkrt

I don't think it's a question of their sex, rather the training they've been given.

I wonder if it'd help explaining them that you want a different number in FQTS and FQTV.

lento

I have tried that with check-in agents, some of them did not know what I was talking about, one said " I can only see FQTV". I agree that they lack proper training.

on22cz

I didn't mean it would be a question of their sex in general. Just pointing out that if you get to chat with a male agent, based on lento's positive experience, you are probably more likely to catch the right one (the one who lento talked to), because there is apparently very little share of male agents. Whereas, considering how many female agents I have asked so far, the other option gives you very little chances to encounter a savvy one (in my experience, none has had an idea what I am talking about so far). But I absolutely agree it is about how well trained they are (not).

FQTV/FQTS doesn't help - for most of them it is the same, i.e. "Just one number, sir". And explaining it on the basis of miles vs. status benefits doesn't help either.

lkrt

Is there anyone on the board who's good with Amadeus? Is there a cryptic command in place for adding the frequent flyer numbers to the reservation?

lento

I do not know if the following would work:
SR FQTV AY-AY123456789
SR FQTS AY-AY123456789

AY - airline code

I will ask next time to the check in agent to put those codes manually

mpkz

Yeah the guy was pretty clueless, it wasn't AY staff but instead the people they used at OSL. I'll ask for a refund for the seat selection.

Thanks for the help everybody.

finhub

Here's some examples I found from Amadeus manual:


Create a manual SSR to accrue mileage for a frequent flyer

Command:
SR FQTV AY-AY FREEFLOW TEXT/P1

******************************************

Create an SSR to be recognized as a frequent traveler on one airline, while accruing miles on another

Command:
SR FQTS BA-BA FREEFLOW TEXT/P3