atcanobbio

this happened to my friend yesterday! he booked syd-dfw using avios about 6-8 weeks ago. So last night we canceled it with hopes of it going back to inventory but it has not. i wonder if it will ever go back to inventory.

I also booked a QF F award (using avios) for the same date as my friends but i booked SYD-LAX. When I canceled the BA award, the seat immediately went back to inventory (EF showed and and AA showed it online). I immediately snatched it

Just by reading people's experience, it seems SYD-LAX awards do go back to inventory while the DFW awards don't? again, just my observation. Anyway, I'm still bummed for my friend though. we're scrambling for alternate routings now using Delta or UA miles.

atcanobbio

exec_plat, i would also like to know your outcome.

serfty

This would not be route dependent, it would be sales dependent and can vary for any route for any day.

If sales have been high then the "seat" is less likely to re-appear, conversely if sales have been low then it is more likely to reappear.

Of course, some routes may have greater a tendency for this to happen, such as DFW with generally the one daily flight when compared to LAX with 3 to 5 daily.

An idea might be garnered from fare bucket availability, high "I" would indicate a greater chance for a business award, low "D" would indicate somewhat less of a chance.

No matter what, doing this cannot be relied upon and without having a plan B already set in place, I would not attempt it.

og

I thought I was pretty good at guessing how award seats would be managed. BUT I have since realised that depending on release of seats or the discussed "trick" is about as reliable as predicting FX rates or the results from a horse race.

I used to think that if D9 and I9 was shown on EF then award seats (obtained by various means) would be a certainty. Sadly not so in my recent experience - even if no seats are shown as allocated.

atcanobbio

I agree that the release of award space is sales dependent. I didn't say it was otherwise, it was a random observation I noticed.

I just find it interesting that with no seats sold on the flight (based on F9 and no seats assigned per EF) and 10-months out, the award did not go back to inventory when canceled. Anyway, I'll keep monitoring to see if space every shows up again, I'm guessing it will not.

serfty

What was A showing?

atcanobbio

A9...what does the A fare code mean? Discounted F?

og

Yes

cova

I don't think it is sales dependent as these tickets are being booked 11+ months out. At that time QF likely hasn't sold any F or J seats for the flight.

It is not clear what determines if a seat goes back into inventory. Maybe it is a setting when the seats are released at the beginning. But I have seen seats go back into inventory if cancelled.

My experience (having redeemed over 40 QF rewards in the last 25 years) is that QF never, ever releases new reward inventory after initial release. I have been on flights with 4 people in F and J half (or more) empty.

I have seen seats released but they have been cancelled flights and I have seen that 6 months out.

If you don't get your premium rewards when first released, you likely will not get more seats. I know too many friends who book one seat in F/J and one in coach - but never does another seat open.

serfty

Believe it or not, by booking that coach rewards seat, one can reduce the chance of an F reward seat appearing.

YM seems to have a part determinant relating to the redeeming of a specific number of award seats on a flight, irrespective of class.

Of course, two birds in the hand is better than one in the hand and one in the bush, irrespective of such.

This is a specific example, but I remember it clearly from the time (and the bucket numbers) - I saw P1 ... U2 ... X7 ... go to P0 ... U1 ... X6 immediately on booking a single X seat.

Again, I would never rely solely on a cancelled reward seat going directly back into reward inventory.

MarkP24

I hope this is the right thread for this.

I redeemed AA miles for 2 QF F seats from LAX to SYD (no J was available)- one for me, and one for my wife. Same date, but I'm going LAX-MEL-SYD and she's going LAX- SYD nonstop. There is Y class available for me on her flight, but I'd rather go in F.

As it seems Qantas won't release any additional F space even if there are F seats available, how do I get on my wife's nonstop LAX-SYD flight?

I have AA (I am EXP) and they said they couldn't help, and I called Qantas (LOOONG hold....) and they said they can't touch it as it's an AA ticket. I've been checking religiously for award availability with no luck (even though there are many seats for sale left in F).

Any advice? Is there a OneWorld desk that can help me coordinate between the 2 airlines? I sent an email to Qantas and haven't heard back.

I assume I can ask at the QF desk in LAX on the date of the flight if there is an available seat, as my departure and destination is the same (I'm just routing through MEL).

og

QF are unlikely to help because, as you were told, the ticket is AA's. If you were using QF points and had top QF status, you might be in a better position to make your requests.

I'm not aware of a One World help desk for ticketing issues.

If you really want to be on her flight, take the available seat in Y or pay for a seat. But really, in QF F, the seats are private enough so you can't see other F passengers - let alone talk to them. That is good - or bad (depends on your POV ).

F seats will (obviously) be sold right up to the flight time - so QF have little to gain (and much revenue to forego) if they give them away as award seats well in advance of the flight.

cova

Unfortunately, QF won't release more space. With intro of A380,the flights which QF releases premium seats are generally P1 U2.

You really did not get " 2 QF F seats from LAX to SYD (no J was available)". What you got was one F seat on LAX to SYD and one F seat on LAX to MEL.

The 2U seats will usually go first (over the 1P seat) since most people are traveling as a pair and want to be on the same flight.

There is no chance that QF will open another F seat on either of those flights even if they fly with 4 out of 14 occupied. And if the 2U seats are gone, don't expect more.

Sorry to be negative, but since A380 - it is very hard to get 2P seats on the same flight. I have seen two P seats a few times, but they usually go before AA loads their system. So prepare to fly separately.

MarkP24

OK. Thanks! And you don't think in LAX they would put me on my wife's flight assuming there's an empty seat in P?

MarkP24

Thanks!