Problems with Trans-Tasman J seat????
 

Anyone else have trouble confirming Business Class seats on JetConnect for QF? I have been checking for 2 months on flights in May, 2005 from WLG-BNE. 738 aircraft, but no seats in J. Anyone with experience? Is it possible more will be released closer to departure?

Thanks.

There are very few award seats in business on trans-tasman routes.

I am not sure what class you are checking, whether it be reward (U), D or full J seats.

According to the QF timetable QF58 from WLG to BNE only operates on Thursday, Saturday and Tuesday. It may be possible that this service is only sold as a single class, or that J is sold out for each day that you have tried.

The other options would be via SYD or MEL from WLG or via AKL. Each offer a daily connecting service. Personally I would take WLG-AKL-BNE as AKL-BNE is operated by a 744 with full international (but not skybed) config. This would require an overnight in AKL and a Y ticket from WLG to AKL (50 min flight) as J is not offered domestically in NZ.

Personally I would not pay for J on a Jetconnect operated service. It is not worth either the FF points or $$$ as it is similiar to F on an AA 757 or BA Club Europe.

Yes, I've got a AONE5 coming up, and the SYD-WLG leg is the only sector I haven't even been able to get business class on. I was amazed that the Trans-Tasman flights should be so full in J so far out.

As others have mentioned, Jetconnect J (or J into WLG) isn't worth the money or the points. It's hard to say why it's so full so far out, maybe there's something on during that time.

Note that with those 737s, there're only 8 J seats per flight, perhaps that explains it a bit. The timetable also fits well withe the corporate type, early departure from WLG means an early arrival in Aus, allowing a full day of work. Then, they can catch the return flight in early evening so a midnight arrival - works well for the business type.

If you can route through Auckland I think that AKL-SYD would have a better chance of award seat availability due to far more flights (particularly middle of day flights, Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning flights).

There isnt a huge amount of business seats (let alone award) and the early and late flights can be booked well ahead - some business folk do the trip every week.

QF may well be rationing the discounted J (D) seats. I've noticed on the SYD-HKG run that D is not available (but J is) on QF29 (the LHR flight) whereas D is available on the others. Seems QF knows where the cash comes from and works accordingly. How much longer will D earn the same benefits as J (as AC AP members have discovered)?

On my recent OneWorld J-class award RTW I couldn't get any trans-Tasman award seat availability in any class for my dates of travel. I finally gave up and booked SYD-CHC on Pacific Blue and AKL-SYD on EK (discounted J-class; only GBP35 more than Y).

The seats on JetConnect J are not the best, and it is correct that there is only 8 J seats on any flight. The service is impeccable, and the catering is of a very high standard. You also receive personal DVD players in J with a selection of about 20 movies. Sure, it's not as good as QF's other business seats, but then does it really matter for 3 hours ?

You can generally get U seats if you are prepared to go via AKL-SYD/MEL and can book 3 months or more in advance. I just made some MEL-AKL-MEL bookings for may and was able to upgrade from N to J both ways. Saturdays seems to be best and the maximum this far out for any flight seems to be U2.

The best way I have found is to use the CX ITN and look for U seats.

eg: Here is a sample URL that shows some U availability in May (at least today (25th jan) it does ;) )