OT: AA "preferred seat" selection now available online for Qantas Elites
Not sure wether to post here or in the AA forum - I think it may be of more interest here.
I was doing a booking today for an AA segment in coach. While booking I entered my Qantas (WP) FF number.
After placing it on hold I noticed I had been allocated 10A (MD80); this is different from prior experience where a 'random' "nonpreferred" seat has normally been allocated.
Going into the seat selection function I noted that Exit Row seats and other defined "preferred" seats were available for selection.
This has changed from previous experience where selection was only available from standard seating.
It seems AA.com is now recognising the status of other oneworld partner members (or at least QF's).
To test this I did a dummy booking, putting my non elite AAdvantage number in - sure enough, I had no access to those seats.
When I booked an AA flight just over a month ago this wasn't only not available online, but also not available at all!
After booking the tickets I called their US call center and requested they allocate me a preferred seat, only to be told that they did not allow pre-booking of preferred seats for non-AA elites.
Thankfully the lounge staff at SFO were far more accommodating, and they were able to give me good seats for all legs (exit rows for 6 legs, good non-exit for the other 2).
Just tried on a QF redemption flight in a month after getting the AA number from checkmytrip. My QF FF number is recorded in the booking.
(T class ticket)
but no exit rows and only six seats in the front half of the plane
Given that exit rows are still unavailable without AA status, it doesn't come across as that much of an improvement to me tbh.
Dave
Dave, this appear to have changed; this is what this thread is about.
Today I booked a SFO-LAX flight on an MD80 and was able to select 20B after inputting my QFF WP # during the booking process.
Booking the same flight using my non elite AA number gave me a far more limited selection to choose from; nothing in the first 4 rows, nor any exit row seating.
FWIW, I could choose from any row 20 Seat, and 21D/E/F. 21A/B Appear to be taken; E/F confirms this.
Programs: QF Plat, LH, Icarus Silver (yup - that's Olympic - only until 30 Sept 09 then OA in liquidation!!)
Posts: 1,837
wa-hey! this is good news. thanks serfty
edited - 5 mins later - joy has turned to sorrow - unless there's some trick, I can't get access to preferred seats for international flights (or even domestic now) - they are all greyed out - even after adding WP. Am I doin' something wrong?
Last edited by LHR/MEL/Europe FF; Jan 2, 09 at 4:44 am.
... I can't get access to preferred seats for international flights (or even domestic now) - they are all greyed out - even after adding WP. Am I doin' something wrong?
There is some inconsistancy here.
I did enter my QFF WP number at the time of booking; maybe changing it later does not have the effect of making these seats available.
Earlier moa999 reported being able to select the forward 'preferred' seats, but not exits.
Programs: QF Plat, LH, Icarus Silver (yup - that's Olympic - only until 30 Sept 09 then OA in liquidation!!)
Posts: 1,837
Quote:
Originally Posted by serfty
I did enter my QFF WP number at the time of booking; maybe changing it later does not have the effect of making these seats available.
Sorry - my bad - I had actually entered the QF number at the time of the booking, what I meant was that I couldn't access the preferred seats even after having added the number [at time of booking].
I too was able to access preferred seats by calling AA reservations, provided, of course, they actually knew how to propertly enter the QFFF so that it came up as a OWE.
For the first time I managed to enter my QF number on a booking the other day into the AA.com website when booking and it seemed on the booking receipt to actually acknowledge me as a EMD (it has never been able to do that before). I was then able to select preferred seats although I have to admit that I was travelling with an EXP so they may have skewed the seat selection results.
For domestic flights, no pre-allocated seating is offered
More importantly, even QF elites can't pre-allocate on domestic. QF and OW status however greatly improves your chances of getting a good seat in the QF domestic seat lottery.
More importantly, even QF elites can't pre-allocate on domestic. QF and OW status however greatly improves your chances of getting a good seat in the QF domestic seat lottery.
Is DFW-YYZ classed as DOM or INT for this? On a recent booking, I had access to the 'preferred seats' when booking via aa.com, but with the whacky way customs works between Canadia and LOTFAP, I'm not sure what it's classed as.
Either way, was a pleasant surprise to see when my QFF number was in the booking (as opposed to my AA number which gave me squat).
Is DFW-YYZ classed as DOM or INT for this? On a recent booking, I had access to the 'preferred seats' when booking via aa.com, but with the whacky way customs works between Canadia and LOTFAP, I'm not sure what it's classed as.
Either way, was a pleasant surprise to see when my QFF number was in the booking (as opposed to my AA number which gave me squat).
I think that when I last checked Canada and USA are different countries
Any Qantas flight in the flight number range 1-399 are counted as international and anything 400 and above domestic
Any flight in 1-399 is available for seat assignment
OT: AA "preferred seat" selection now available online for Qantas Elites
