No more soft block for OWE AND soft block for cash coming very soon? (perhaps?)
Apr 27, 2017, 1:54 am
#31
Moderator, Finnair
Join Date: May 2011
Location: MMX (CPH)
Programs: Eurobonus Diamond, QR Gold, AY+ Platinum, A3*G, Nordic Choice Lifetime Platinum, SJ Prio Black
Posts: 14,182
Well...
Doesn't the term "seat block" actually imply that the seat is blocked and not selectable by another passenger? Give me all your future flight details and I will make sure your stats plummets...
After implementing the Altéa theoretical seating (which was done a year ago or so?) there is no seat block. There are settings and algorithms that controls which seats are selectable for any given other passenger. There are many parameters, including but not limited to, FF status. Sure, sometimes most or all pax are unable to select the seat next to you, and you may call it blocked.
As time passes, loads change and people/agents selects or changes seats making the cabin distribution look very different from what it did initially, the rules for what seats are "blocked" also changes. Suddenly, based on all these complex rules, the system decides it needs the seat next to you to fulfil all the rules given and your "blocked" seat is now open to anyone, even if the cabin might only be 50% full. At the same time, my "blocked" seat is perhaps released to the seatmap shown to other status pax but still unselectable for non-status pax.
As this is controlled by a complex rule set, your "luck" to experience a empty seat next to you is not at all luck. It is just that your way of buying tickets and selecting seats may fit better into the rule set than others. You are perhaps usually buying tickets at a point in time when changes in loads and seats are at a minimum and your "blocked" seat remains unselectable until departure control kicks in. You are maybe pre-selecting a seat where the middle seat is rather impopular by others or where the algorithm to balance the load decides it is bad place to seat more people.
You may be on routes where almost all pax are flying solo and the loads are such that every B seat can be empty. You may be on routes where very few people use and pay for ASR, and since departure control actually have seat block your buddy seat is always empty.
Doesn't the term "seat block" actually imply that the seat is blocked and not selectable by another passenger? Give me all your future flight details and I will make sure your stats plummets...
After implementing the Altéa theoretical seating (which was done a year ago or so?) there is no seat block. There are settings and algorithms that controls which seats are selectable for any given other passenger. There are many parameters, including but not limited to, FF status. Sure, sometimes most or all pax are unable to select the seat next to you, and you may call it blocked.
As time passes, loads change and people/agents selects or changes seats making the cabin distribution look very different from what it did initially, the rules for what seats are "blocked" also changes. Suddenly, based on all these complex rules, the system decides it needs the seat next to you to fulfil all the rules given and your "blocked" seat is now open to anyone, even if the cabin might only be 50% full. At the same time, my "blocked" seat is perhaps released to the seatmap shown to other status pax but still unselectable for non-status pax.
As this is controlled by a complex rule set, your "luck" to experience a empty seat next to you is not at all luck. It is just that your way of buying tickets and selecting seats may fit better into the rule set than others. You are perhaps usually buying tickets at a point in time when changes in loads and seats are at a minimum and your "blocked" seat remains unselectable until departure control kicks in. You are maybe pre-selecting a seat where the middle seat is rather impopular by others or where the algorithm to balance the load decides it is bad place to seat more people.
You may be on routes where almost all pax are flying solo and the loads are such that every B seat can be empty. You may be on routes where very few people use and pay for ASR, and since departure control actually have seat block your buddy seat is always empty.
Last edited by intuition; Apr 27, 2017 at 1:59 am
Apr 27, 2017, 2:58 am
#32
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Going around Russian airspace
Posts: 621
Well...
Doesn't the term "seat block" actually imply that the seat is blocked and not selectable by another passenger? Give me all your future flight details and I will make sure your stats plummets...
After implementing the Altéa theoretical seating (which was done a year ago or so?) there is no seat block. There are settings and algorithms that controls which seats are selectable for any given other passenger. There are many parameters, including but not limited to, FF status. Sure, sometimes most or all pax are unable to select the seat next to you, and you may call it blocked.
As time passes, loads change and people/agents selects or changes seats making the cabin distribution look very different from what it did initially, the rules for what seats are "blocked" also changes. Suddenly, based on all these complex rules, the system decides it needs the seat next to you to fulfil all the rules given and your "blocked" seat is now open to anyone, even if the cabin might only be 50% full. At the same time, my "blocked" seat is perhaps released to the seatmap shown to other status pax but still unselectable for non-status pax.
As this is controlled by a complex rule set, your "luck" to experience a empty seat next to you is not at all luck. It is just that your way of buying tickets and selecting seats may fit better into the rule set than others. You are perhaps usually buying tickets at a point in time when changes in loads and seats are at a minimum and your "blocked" seat remains unselectable until departure control kicks in. You are maybe pre-selecting a seat where the middle seat is rather impopular by others or where the algorithm to balance the load decides it is bad place to seat more people.
You may be on routes where almost all pax are flying solo and the loads are such that every B seat can be empty. You may be on routes where very few people use and pay for ASR, and since departure control actually have seat block your buddy seat is always empty.
Doesn't the term "seat block" actually imply that the seat is blocked and not selectable by another passenger? Give me all your future flight details and I will make sure your stats plummets...
After implementing the Altéa theoretical seating (which was done a year ago or so?) there is no seat block. There are settings and algorithms that controls which seats are selectable for any given other passenger. There are many parameters, including but not limited to, FF status. Sure, sometimes most or all pax are unable to select the seat next to you, and you may call it blocked.
As time passes, loads change and people/agents selects or changes seats making the cabin distribution look very different from what it did initially, the rules for what seats are "blocked" also changes. Suddenly, based on all these complex rules, the system decides it needs the seat next to you to fulfil all the rules given and your "blocked" seat is now open to anyone, even if the cabin might only be 50% full. At the same time, my "blocked" seat is perhaps released to the seatmap shown to other status pax but still unselectable for non-status pax.
As this is controlled by a complex rule set, your "luck" to experience a empty seat next to you is not at all luck. It is just that your way of buying tickets and selecting seats may fit better into the rule set than others. You are perhaps usually buying tickets at a point in time when changes in loads and seats are at a minimum and your "blocked" seat remains unselectable until departure control kicks in. You are maybe pre-selecting a seat where the middle seat is rather impopular by others or where the algorithm to balance the load decides it is bad place to seat more people.
You may be on routes where almost all pax are flying solo and the loads are such that every B seat can be empty. You may be on routes where very few people use and pay for ASR, and since departure control actually have seat block your buddy seat is always empty.
TBH I don't care much how it works, or is supposed to work. I just know that it seems to work quite well, at least for me.
Apr 27, 2017, 4:07 am
#33
Join Date: Jan 2017
Programs: AY,CA,CZ
Posts: 38
Well...
Doesn't the term "seat block" actually imply that the seat is blocked and not selectable by another passenger? Give me all your future flight details and I will make sure your stats plummets...
After implementing the Altéa theoretical seating (which was done a year ago or so?) there is no seat block. There are settings and algorithms that controls which seats are selectable for any given other passenger. There are many parameters, including but not limited to, FF status. Sure, sometimes most or all pax are unable to select the seat next to you, and you may call it blocked.
As time passes, loads change and people/agents selects or changes seats making the cabin distribution look very different from what it did initially, the rules for what seats are "blocked" also changes. Suddenly, based on all these complex rules, the system decides it needs the seat next to you to fulfil all the rules given and your "blocked" seat is now open to anyone, even if the cabin might only be 50% full. At the same time, my "blocked" seat is perhaps released to the seatmap shown to other status pax but still unselectable for non-status pax.
As this is controlled by a complex rule set, your "luck" to experience a empty seat next to you is not at all luck. It is just that your way of buying tickets and selecting seats may fit better into the rule set than others. You are perhaps usually buying tickets at a point in time when changes in loads and seats are at a minimum and your "blocked" seat remains unselectable until departure control kicks in. You are maybe pre-selecting a seat where the middle seat is rather impopular by others or where the algorithm to balance the load decides it is bad place to seat more people.
You may be on routes where almost all pax are flying solo and the loads are such that every B seat can be empty. You may be on routes where very few people use and pay for ASR, and since departure control actually have seat block your buddy seat is always empty.
Doesn't the term "seat block" actually imply that the seat is blocked and not selectable by another passenger? Give me all your future flight details and I will make sure your stats plummets...
After implementing the Altéa theoretical seating (which was done a year ago or so?) there is no seat block. There are settings and algorithms that controls which seats are selectable for any given other passenger. There are many parameters, including but not limited to, FF status. Sure, sometimes most or all pax are unable to select the seat next to you, and you may call it blocked.
As time passes, loads change and people/agents selects or changes seats making the cabin distribution look very different from what it did initially, the rules for what seats are "blocked" also changes. Suddenly, based on all these complex rules, the system decides it needs the seat next to you to fulfil all the rules given and your "blocked" seat is now open to anyone, even if the cabin might only be 50% full. At the same time, my "blocked" seat is perhaps released to the seatmap shown to other status pax but still unselectable for non-status pax.
As this is controlled by a complex rule set, your "luck" to experience a empty seat next to you is not at all luck. It is just that your way of buying tickets and selecting seats may fit better into the rule set than others. You are perhaps usually buying tickets at a point in time when changes in loads and seats are at a minimum and your "blocked" seat remains unselectable until departure control kicks in. You are maybe pre-selecting a seat where the middle seat is rather impopular by others or where the algorithm to balance the load decides it is bad place to seat more people.
You may be on routes where almost all pax are flying solo and the loads are such that every B seat can be empty. You may be on routes where very few people use and pay for ASR, and since departure control actually have seat block your buddy seat is always empty.
Apr 27, 2017, 5:49 am
#34
Moderator, Finnair
Join Date: May 2011
Location: MMX (CPH)
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Posts: 14,182
I have absolutely no insight - and I would be surprised if even people inside Finnair could tell you. You would need to know exact what settings Finnair made and exactly how the algorithms in the seating system workd.
May 19, 2017, 7:08 am
#35
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: HEL
Programs: AY+ Plat and several other cards
Posts: 645
Changed it in MMB to the other end of the bus, just to save the FA some walking while delivering the newspapers for us 
May 20, 2017, 2:34 am
#36
Join Date: Dec 2013
Programs: AY+ Plat, A3*G
Posts: 672
Would be interesting to know how they define this "high valued customers" and what the criterias really are. I just booked a flight without selecting seats on booking phase and was quite surprised to find the pre-assigned seats to be way back of the bus: row 30 and something on A321. We are two Plats, and hardly any other seats reserved on that flight. Without the black cards I'm afraid we really would have got 58Ö and thus ended up outsourced off the flight Changed it in MMB to the other end of the bus, just to save the FA some walking while delivering the newspapers for us
Changed it in MMB to the other end of the bus, just to save the FA some walking while delivering the newspapers for us
May 20, 2017, 3:22 am
#37
Moderator, Finnair
Join Date: May 2011
Location: MMX (CPH)
Programs: Eurobonus Diamond, QR Gold, AY+ Platinum, A3*G, Nordic Choice Lifetime Platinum, SJ Prio Black
Posts: 14,182
IME they do follow the Window/Aisle preference given in AY+ profile, but apart from that it looks like there is not much of a HVC strategy?
However, the few times when I've been in Y and not been able to select seat, I have been assigned exit row. (Now this was an award ticket issued by CC so perhaps that was not an autoassign but an agent applying his/her personal HVC strategy!)
However, the few times when I've been in Y and not been able to select seat, I have been assigned exit row. (Now this was an award ticket issued by CC so perhaps that was not an autoassign but an agent applying his/her personal HVC strategy!)
May 21, 2017, 3:08 pm
#38
Moderator, Finnair
Join Date: May 2011
Location: MMX (CPH)
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Just got seated in 31F too, so clearly row 31 is the HVC section!
May 22, 2017, 1:18 am
#40
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: HEL
Programs: AY+ Plat and several other cards
Posts: 645
For us it was 31 as well, B and C, very clearly 31 is the way to go from now on! I have aisle as prefence and the other Plat I'm travelling with has Window. Obviously Aisle-Plat is stonger than Window-Plat
May 22, 2017, 1:24 am
#41
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Programs: Finnair (AY) Platinum, Air France Silver, Tallink Club One Silver :)
Posts: 1,655
Hahaha... With my new CX booking for HEL-KUL, on the AY operated segments, I got very good seats assigned to me, too 
31C for the HEL-AMS segment (A32B) and 33C for the LHR-HEL leg (A359).
31C for the HEL-AMS segment (A32B) and 33C for the LHR-HEL leg (A359).
May 22, 2017, 2:50 am
#42
Ambassador: Finnair Plus
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: HEL
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Posts: 5,297
May 22, 2017, 3:25 am
#43
Moderator, Finnair
Join Date: May 2011
Location: MMX (CPH)
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Posts: 14,182
May 23, 2017, 12:05 pm
#45
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: HEL
Programs: AY Platinum, TK Elite, BT VIP, AA, BA, SK, DL, NT, WB + hotels
Posts: 8,757
There's some magic in 31C. Just booked HEL-ARN-HEL and for some reason, I wasn't able to pick a seat on the return while doing the booking. On the outbound everything worked just fine but on the inbound it showed me a basically empty seat map, but nothing happened when I clicked on the seats. And guess which seat I got assigned to automatically when the confirmation email came? Right, 31C it is!