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Old Aug 29, 2003, 3:29 pm
  #1  
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OLCI - general guide

I just checked in online for my flights to Berlin tomorrow, well at about 6.30pm.

Somehow I managed to get 1A outbound, I thought this was the most coveted seat on the aircraft held back for Gold / Prems etc.

As I have never used OLCI I'd appreciate a heads up.

-Whats the point in pre-assigment if the seats become a free for all 23hrs 59mins before departure? Or are they?

-Once I have checked in, for example 1A for tomorrows flight, can a Gold / Prem get me sent elsewhere.

-Have I missed something and is 1A actually rubbish on A319?

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Old Aug 29, 2003, 3:58 pm
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Hi fgbdavidson,

I was able to get 1A on the A319 LHR-ARN last weekend.( Blue member)

The seat is good , a reasonable amount of room ( although naturally there is no seat in front of you to put stuff under). The small locker immediately above row 1 had assome cabin crew stuff but the locker behind it took my rucksack no problem ( may be slighlty more of a problem if you board last on a full CE)

Being on the A-C side there will only be two of you at maximum ( no B seat) as the A-C seats occupy the B space. I had no one in C so it was even better.

I sssume I was able to get Row 1 as there were no Golds/Premiers on the flight.

Enjoy CE to TXL and Berlin ( I enjoyed CE to ARN).

This weekend : EDI-AMS-LAX ( KL WBC award ticket) for two weeks with my parents followed by HP LAX-PHX ( Y)

Regards

TBS


[This message has been edited by The _Banking_Scot (edited 08-29-2003).]
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Old Aug 29, 2003, 5:38 pm
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Its not really hard to get 1A on an intra-europe flight. I always got it with 24h OLCI - as Blue and now as Silver. Looks like there are not exactly MASSES of Gold/Premiers hunting for that seat...

Its the best seat IMHO on the shorthaul A319/320. You are always served first.

Have a nice trip, but CE is not even half as interesting as CW...

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Old Aug 29, 2003, 6:11 pm
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My guess is not too many high level elites are flying on a Saturday. The only short-haul weekend flights I see where the seats are coveted are Sunday late afternoon/evenings ones. If you're a high level elite, I'd imagine the last thing you want to do with all thta flying is fly on a Saturday!
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Old Aug 30, 2003, 3:04 am
  #5  
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"-Whats the point in pre-assigment if the seats become a free for all 23hrs 59mins before departure? Or are they?"

Pre-assignment allows you to select a seat from the pool of seats made available for pre-selection when you make a booking rather than having to wait until check in to get a seat.

Dave
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Old Aug 30, 2003, 3:08 am
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When I book a shorthaul like this I'm always pre-assigned a good seat (1A/3A), obviously they do some manual sweeps of the flghts. If I don't get 1A/3A I'll just move the poor sod into 8E
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Old Aug 30, 2003, 4:17 pm
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I did keep 1A for the outbound, 1C was taken too but since 1D/E/F were free the guy moved over.

TXL lounge was pretty nice, as good as empty.

With all the renovations going on T1 lounge was a bit ordinary

[This message has been edited by fbgdavidson (edited 08-30-2003).]
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Old Aug 30, 2003, 4:20 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Hammer:
Have a nice trip, but CE is not even half as interesting as CW...</font>
I knew that anyway but both legs were pretty solid.

Lots of Japanese businessmen both to and from Berlin, probably the same batch of guys


[This message has been edited by fbgdavidson (edited 08-30-2003).]
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Old Aug 30, 2003, 6:03 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by fbgdavidson:
I knew that anyway but both legs were pretty solid.

Lots of Japanese businessmen both to and from Berlin, probably the same batch of guys
</font>
Its IFA (International Electronics/Consumer Fair) at Berlin, thats why there are many businessmen around at the weekend...

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Old Aug 31, 2003, 1:55 am
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Hammer:


Its the best seat IMHO on the shorthaul A319/320. You are always served first.

</font>
Quite often I get served LAST in row 1 as they sometimes serve from the back first.
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Old Aug 31, 2003, 7:04 am
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by CT-UK:
Quite often I get served LAST in row 1 as they sometimes serve from the back first.</font>
on the way out it was a A319, I was in 1A got served last as they served back to front

On the way back 757, was in row 8, served last as they served front to back
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Old Aug 31, 2003, 7:07 am
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by fbgdavidson:
on the way out it was a A319, I was in 1A got served last as they served back to front

On the way back 757, was in row 8, served last as they served front to back
</font>
Bad luck

On all my CE flights I always was served first when I sat in Row 1.

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Old Aug 31, 2003, 1:40 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Hammer:
Bad luck

On all my CE flights I always was served first when I sat in Row 1.
</font>
I wasn't that bothered, there were 19 of us on the way back so the service wasn't slow and the CSD and 2 FAs were great.

It was my first time in CE for a couple of years and I had forgotten about it really
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Old Aug 31, 2003, 2:05 pm
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by fbgdavidson:
I wasn't that bothered, there were 19 of us on the way back so the service wasn't slow and the CSD and 2 FAs were great.</font>
19 in CE or the whole plane? 19 in CE is a lot...


<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">It was my first time in CE for a couple of years and I had forgotten about it really</font>
Like I wrote before, its nothing to drool about (IMHO). I mostly use it as part of a transatlantic longhaul trip or if I need the tierpoints really bad...

Most of the flights CE was almost empty... 3-6 pax in CE (including me). With this load you always get quick service.

How was Berlin?

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Old Aug 31, 2003, 2:20 pm
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19 in CE TXL-LHR but service was on the rapid side. I don't fly CE that often as you can tell but with 19 it didnt feel that busy. I don't know about CE loads LHR-TXL because I was at the front and we were bussed in and loaded from the back, and being in 1A I was one of the first couple of people onboard.

Berlin was fine thanks, took the bus that went to Alexanderplatz but got off just by the Reichstag and walked through to the Brandenburg Gate. Got a a few photos and went on a bus tour round to Charlottenburg Schloss, then down and up the Kerfustendamm, past KaDaWe (large department store) and Potsdamer Plaza and past the old stretch of Berlin Wall and down to the Jewish Museum. Got off at Checkpoint Charlie and looked round the museum. Caught the bus past the artsy buildings (opposite the Hilton) and round up to the TV tower. Got off and walked from the TV tower (can't remember the name) down to Berliner Dom and down Unter der Linden and down to Brandenburg Gate, again. Then caught the bus from the Unter der Linden stop and back to TXL to give our feet a break in the lounge.

A good day out

I think next time those I fares come back I'll do VIE and/or GVA.
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