DrivingRain

My 1st QF flight is coming up this week.

1.) I booked through AA.com on QF coded-flights, not AA-coded in Y (in the lowest fare class; O) on the 380 LAX to SYD this coming Sunday.
2.) Y is completely sold out. It's booked to or above authorization (i.e. severly overbooked)
3.) I have my AA Plat (aka 1W Sapphire) number in the res
4.) I dont have a seat assignment

What are my chances of an op-up?

Am I better off not trying to get a seat assignment as it would make me more prominent on the list of possible op-ups?

millionmiler

There is no chance that QF will give you an OP UP. None. Zero.

seanp7

Extremely slim.

Go get your seat, or be faced with a middle!

DrivingRain

ok, will do! Thanks to you both.

Just curious...
What is their priority for op-ups?
Is it?...
1 Fare class
2 QF FF's
3 OW FF's

serfty

The priority can vary depending on who's actioning it and whether they follow 'the book'.

I have come posts with across several variances to 'the book'. One is:I don't believe Qantas have historically employed Fare Class, this may be changing - I don't know. As a QF WP I have been upgraded on O class flights a few times.

RupertC

I would be a little more generous and give a 1% chance. There are always exceptions, and happily I was the recent beneficiary of an OpUp from Y+ to J on a rammed QF flight.

Even allowing for an oversold Y/Y+, my situation was borne out of exceptional circumstances given the large quantity of re-printed J and F boarding cards waiting at the gate for the lucky ones. My point is that even an oversold cabin on QF may not be enough to get you moved up with your OW status.

QF are very tight on giving out opups, so best prepare to travel in the cabin for which you are ticketed.

denCSA

Actually, while in the past the order may have looked something like this, it is no longer the case. QF have employed an entirely new reservation and check-in system as of last year and without going into too much detail your priority is based on your pre-determined 'value' to QF. Your status is only ONE factor, some others being what kind of pax you are (solo, group, couple), and the fare class you are booked into. There's a better explanation in the QF forum that I posted a while ago if you want to know more details.

serfty

I have seen that post and cited it several times.

I was not aware that post which indicated the new philosophy in seat allocation also related to operational upgrade priority.

millionmiler

On the LAX-SYD route the chance is zero. QF routinely goes out with empty seats in J rather than open up award or op ups in J. The fact that they have a premium economy mean that an op up to J would be a double upgrade. Its not 1%. Its 0%.

jordyn

I don't understand. We're talking about an oversold situation in Y here. So you're saying that instead of moving people up to J they'll IDB folks in coach? I suppose that's possible, but I've never heard of an airline doing it before.

denCSA

Well to put it simplistically, the value that is given to a customer (called a PCV) for ranking can apply to any way in which QF wants to use it. In the system, there's a feature called 'Proactive Onload' that calculates the pax booked vs estimated to check in and board. From that screen, the system makes recommendations of which pax are to be oped-up. Now, keyword is RECOMMENDATIONS, the staff and supervisor make the ultimate decision but in essence the system is designed to choose who gets Oped-Up and who stays put.

serfty

Thanks for that ... seems quite feasible. I like the term "Proactive Onload".

(There wouldn't happen to be "Proactive Offload" feature would there? )

Well, in that case, I guess the OP will have some level of PCV above the norm being a AA Plat, so the chances may increase to ~Ľ% ...

missdona

I got a comp upgrade out of J to F on Qantas on my last trip (LAX-MEL). My company's Qantas rep requested it because of a major disruption I had last summer. It was a "space-available" upgrade that didn't clear until the boarding call, even though there was lots of space and several empty seats in F.

So it is possible, but I'm guessing highly improbable.

farrbar

In December of 2008 I had a discussion about this topic with a desk agent in the SYD F Lounge (check it out if you get a chance, great lounge). This agent indicated that having purchased via AA actually was a significant disadvantage, as they generally reserve OP Ups for QF ticketed customers.

In our situation, Y was oversold, I was booked in J (to the tune of $12K) and my wife was in Y. I am EXP and my wife is GLD. The flight was also delayed by 8 hours, which was probably going to cause us to mis our connection in the US. I asked in the lounge if they could give my wife the open seat next to me in J. This guy called his boss and worked hard to try to make it happen, but was unable to.

I'm with those that suggest >1% chance.

RupertC

I agree its 0% for a double upgrade. Statistically there's going to be a few people on the planet who have had that pleasure but QF have probably had them assassinated by now to stop the story

Its well known that QF don't pack their premium cabins with upgraders, but they may decide that an opup is the lesser of two evils if dealing with an oversold Y and/or irrops. If the OP's 0-1% comes in, travel will be Y+, which is a damn fine product IMO.