Seat Selection is grayed out on BA Avios booking MEL-BNE in Y
Sep 26, 2018, 10:36 pm
#1
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Seat Selection is grayed out on BA Avios booking MEL-BNE in Y
Hi,
I redeemed a BA Avios award for MEL-BNE on QF 630 flying on Nov 8th. Just noticed BA system has not automatically assigned seats like it would do so with AA flights.
When I went to QF site, I notice the seat selection function is disabled. Is it due to coach would not get to select seat (not even the pay type) in advance?
We are AA Golds, therefore OneWorld Ruby - does this equal to QF Silver, therefore if I change the FF numbers from BA to AA, it would allow us to select seats?
Another thing that I just found out, that QF 630 is not a regular flight - it was a seasonal flight that was only operated between Oct and March, normally on Sundays. I should have booked the QF 628 instead, i.e. those shuttle flights that depart at the 10min of every hour. The QF 630 departs on 15:40 looks odd to me but I do not think too much about it. Should have. Upon further digging I found out not only this was seasonal once a week flight (among the shuttle flights every 60 min), QF 630 also had 3 consecutive cancellations on Oct 29, Nov 5 and 12, 2017, again on Dec 17 and Jan 7, 2018. (No Landed / Arrival info according to this site, https://www.airportia.com/flights/qf...urne/brisbane/ the only site I could find info on QF 630 history.)
Mar 29 2018 was its last flight and the first one on Thursday. QF resumes this flight starting Nov 1, on Thursday, and looks like it will be a Thursday flight for the next several weeks. We are booked on Nov 8th, the 2nd flight after QF resumes the schedule.
Once I change the FF numbers from BA to AA, the trip will fall off from BA site. I am afraid if there are any flight schedule changed / cancellation, the rebooking information may not be communicated to me by BA, as it will no longer show in my BA account, though I believe rebooking "should" automatically happen.
For a 2 hours flight MEL-BNE I honestly do not care where we sit, but I am afraid without seat assignment it would not let me do online check in. We are flying in on CX HKG-MEL on CX 105 arriving 12:15pm, then on separate ticket MEL-BNE QF 630 departing 15:40pm. I figure with almost 3.5 hours it has enough time to clear immigration (CX is the first international arrival it seems and being in business class I believe we can use Express Path), then go from T2 to T1 to re-clear security, with BP in hand. If we cannot do online check in it would mean we have to stop by QF counter first.
With 3hr 25min between CX 105 arrival and QF 630 departure, do we have enough time if we need to stop by QF counter to get our BPs?
I redeemed a BA Avios award for MEL-BNE on QF 630 flying on Nov 8th. Just noticed BA system has not automatically assigned seats like it would do so with AA flights.
When I went to QF site, I notice the seat selection function is disabled. Is it due to coach would not get to select seat (not even the pay type) in advance?
We are AA Golds, therefore OneWorld Ruby - does this equal to QF Silver, therefore if I change the FF numbers from BA to AA, it would allow us to select seats?
Another thing that I just found out, that QF 630 is not a regular flight - it was a seasonal flight that was only operated between Oct and March, normally on Sundays. I should have booked the QF 628 instead, i.e. those shuttle flights that depart at the 10min of every hour. The QF 630 departs on 15:40 looks odd to me but I do not think too much about it. Should have. Upon further digging I found out not only this was seasonal once a week flight (among the shuttle flights every 60 min), QF 630 also had 3 consecutive cancellations on Oct 29, Nov 5 and 12, 2017, again on Dec 17 and Jan 7, 2018. (No Landed / Arrival info according to this site, https://www.airportia.com/flights/qf...urne/brisbane/ the only site I could find info on QF 630 history.)
Mar 29 2018 was its last flight and the first one on Thursday. QF resumes this flight starting Nov 1, on Thursday, and looks like it will be a Thursday flight for the next several weeks. We are booked on Nov 8th, the 2nd flight after QF resumes the schedule.
Once I change the FF numbers from BA to AA, the trip will fall off from BA site. I am afraid if there are any flight schedule changed / cancellation, the rebooking information may not be communicated to me by BA, as it will no longer show in my BA account, though I believe rebooking "should" automatically happen.
For a 2 hours flight MEL-BNE I honestly do not care where we sit, but I am afraid without seat assignment it would not let me do online check in. We are flying in on CX HKG-MEL on CX 105 arriving 12:15pm, then on separate ticket MEL-BNE QF 630 departing 15:40pm. I figure with almost 3.5 hours it has enough time to clear immigration (CX is the first international arrival it seems and being in business class I believe we can use Express Path), then go from T2 to T1 to re-clear security, with BP in hand. If we cannot do online check in it would mean we have to stop by QF counter first.
With 3hr 25min between CX 105 arrival and QF 630 departure, do we have enough time if we need to stop by QF counter to get our BPs?
Sep 27, 2018, 12:00 am
#2
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Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: MEL CHC
Posts: 21,018
..We are flying in on CX HKG-MEL on CX 105 arriving 12:15pm, then on separate ticket MEL-BNE QF 630 departing 15:40pm. I figure with almost 3.5 hours it has enough time to clear immigration (CX is the first international arrival it seems and being in business class I believe we can use Express Path), then go from T2 to T1 to re-clear security, with BP in hand. If we cannot do online check in it would mean we have to stop by QF counter first.
With 3hr 25min between CX 105 arrival and QF 630 departure, do we have enough time if we need to stop by QF counter to get our BPs?
With 3hr 25min between CX 105 arrival and QF 630 departure, do we have enough time if we need to stop by QF counter to get our BPs?
I normally get out of MEL international arrivals in 15-20 minutes, including with checked bags.
As MEL is your entry to Australia you have clear immigration, customs & quarantine with all your checked and carry on baggage and then to QF check-in & bag drop.
If you are eligible you can use smartgate for immigration:--> Smartgate at Australia & NZ immigration
QF domestic check-in is primary self service kiosks. There are generally QF staff in the area to assist if needed.
Is your email details, etc in QF MMB?
https://www.qantas.com/au/en.html?tabId=manage-booking
Would not be too concerned about the flight now. Check in a few weeks.
Last edited by Mwenenzi; Sep 27, 2018 at 12:08 am
Sep 27, 2018, 1:21 am
#3
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: NT Australia
Programs: QF WP
Posts: 4,160
1) I wouldn’t sweat the risk of cancellation. The Melbourne- Sydney route is one of the highest trafficked in the world so if you miss one (or even arrive early) they quite merrily move you onto an earlier or later flight as squires (this has been my experience even when I had no status with QFF)
2) re seat selection, even without status you should be able to select seats (just none of the good ones!). That part sounds more like a website gremlin or possibly some kind of issue relating to award booking rather than anything else
2) re seat selection, even without status you should be able to select seats (just none of the good ones!). That part sounds more like a website gremlin or possibly some kind of issue relating to award booking rather than anything else
Sep 27, 2018, 2:07 am
#4
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Singapore
Programs: QF LTG, SQ EGTP, Bonvoy LTG
Posts: 4,847
1) I wouldn’t sweat the risk of cancellation. The Melbourne- Sydney route is one of the highest trafficked in the world so if you miss one (or even arrive early) they quite merrily move you onto an earlier or later flight as squires (this has been my experience even when I had no status with QFF)
Sep 27, 2018, 4:05 am
#5
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Brisbane QLD AU
Programs: QF
Posts: 235
Hi,
I redeemed a BA Avios award for MEL-BNE on QF 630 flying on Nov 8th. Just noticed BA system has not automatically assigned seats like it would do so with AA flights.
When I went to QF site, I notice the seat selection function is disabled. Is it due to coach would not get to select seat (not even the pay type) in advance?
We are AA Golds, therefore OneWorld Ruby - does this equal to QF Silver, therefore if I change the FF numbers from BA to AA, it would allow us to select seats?
Another thing that I just found out, that QF 630 is not a regular flight - it was a seasonal flight that was only operated between Oct and March, normally on Sundays. I should have booked the QF 628 instead, i.e. those shuttle flights that depart at the 10min of every hour. The QF 630 departs on 15:40 looks odd to me but I do not think too much about it. Should have. Upon further digging I found out not only this was seasonal once a week flight (among the shuttle flights every 60 min), QF 630 also had 3 consecutive cancellations on Oct 29, Nov 5 and 12, 2017, again on Dec 17 and Jan 7, 2018. (No Landed / Arrival info according to this site, https://www.airportia.com/flights/qf...urne/brisbane/ the only site I could find info on QF 630 history.)
Mar 29 2018 was its last flight and the first one on Thursday. QF resumes this flight starting Nov 1, on Thursday, and looks like it will be a Thursday flight for the next several weeks. We are booked on Nov 8th, the 2nd flight after QF resumes the schedule.
Once I change the FF numbers from BA to AA, the trip will fall off from BA site. I am afraid if there are any flight schedule changed / cancellation, the rebooking information may not be communicated to me by BA, as it will no longer show in my BA account, though I believe rebooking "should" automatically happen.
For a 2 hours flight MEL-BNE I honestly do not care where we sit, but I am afraid without seat assignment it would not let me do online check in. We are flying in on CX HKG-MEL on CX 105 arriving 12:15pm, then on separate ticket MEL-BNE QF 630 departing 15:40pm. I figure with almost 3.5 hours it has enough time to clear immigration (CX is the first international arrival it seems and being in business class I believe we can use Express Path), then go from T2 to T1 to re-clear security, with BP in hand. If we cannot do online check in it would mean we have to stop by QF counter first.
With 3hr 25min between CX 105 arrival and QF 630 departure, do we have enough time if we need to stop by QF counter to get our BPs?
I redeemed a BA Avios award for MEL-BNE on QF 630 flying on Nov 8th. Just noticed BA system has not automatically assigned seats like it would do so with AA flights.
When I went to QF site, I notice the seat selection function is disabled. Is it due to coach would not get to select seat (not even the pay type) in advance?
We are AA Golds, therefore OneWorld Ruby - does this equal to QF Silver, therefore if I change the FF numbers from BA to AA, it would allow us to select seats?
Another thing that I just found out, that QF 630 is not a regular flight - it was a seasonal flight that was only operated between Oct and March, normally on Sundays. I should have booked the QF 628 instead, i.e. those shuttle flights that depart at the 10min of every hour. The QF 630 departs on 15:40 looks odd to me but I do not think too much about it. Should have. Upon further digging I found out not only this was seasonal once a week flight (among the shuttle flights every 60 min), QF 630 also had 3 consecutive cancellations on Oct 29, Nov 5 and 12, 2017, again on Dec 17 and Jan 7, 2018. (No Landed / Arrival info according to this site, https://www.airportia.com/flights/qf...urne/brisbane/ the only site I could find info on QF 630 history.)
Mar 29 2018 was its last flight and the first one on Thursday. QF resumes this flight starting Nov 1, on Thursday, and looks like it will be a Thursday flight for the next several weeks. We are booked on Nov 8th, the 2nd flight after QF resumes the schedule.
Once I change the FF numbers from BA to AA, the trip will fall off from BA site. I am afraid if there are any flight schedule changed / cancellation, the rebooking information may not be communicated to me by BA, as it will no longer show in my BA account, though I believe rebooking "should" automatically happen.
For a 2 hours flight MEL-BNE I honestly do not care where we sit, but I am afraid without seat assignment it would not let me do online check in. We are flying in on CX HKG-MEL on CX 105 arriving 12:15pm, then on separate ticket MEL-BNE QF 630 departing 15:40pm. I figure with almost 3.5 hours it has enough time to clear immigration (CX is the first international arrival it seems and being in business class I believe we can use Express Path), then go from T2 to T1 to re-clear security, with BP in hand. If we cannot do online check in it would mean we have to stop by QF counter first.
With 3hr 25min between CX 105 arrival and QF 630 departure, do we have enough time if we need to stop by QF counter to get our BPs?
Sep 27, 2018, 1:11 pm
#7
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Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,760
Thanks guys for the reassurance and the helpful information!
We travel on HKSAR passports with Australia ETAs. Not sure if we could use SmartGate. I will check the information though.
Arriving in CX business class so hopefully will get the Express Path cards so be able to use that for immigration.
I used to use either Finnair or Qatar to change BA FFs to AA FFs, but now it seems only QR works - but you cannot change back. Tried this on previous trips flying KA (Cathay Dragon) for the purpose of selecting seats - not only KA did not allow OW Ruby to preselect seats, I could not change it back to BA numbers after that... So I am hesitant to change it, given this QF 630 flight seems to just start its seasonal service on Nov 1st. Should have booked the 16:10 departure instead, as all the shuttle flights depart at hour pass 10 min, every hour from morning till night.
We dont have checked bags - only rollers so they can get on CX cabin when travel in business. But the weight would be over QF's cabin bag restriction of 7kg. I think no matter how hard we try, ours would not go under 11kg. So I realize we need to use bag drop at the departure level anyway.
I am not sure CX would issue the BP on the BA tickets though. CX's segment is on an AS ticket while the QF segment is on a BA ticket. CX can through check the bags if needed but we would try to do the cabin carry on instead, and only do the drop bag with QF at MEL.
My original idea was to redeem business class so to get QF lounge access but then I found out QF has closed its lounge at MEL domestic terminal for renovation and wont open until end of the year or early next year! Otherwise I would book the BA Avios ticket in business class which was available. Since no lounge anyway, might as well save the Avios and redeem for coach instead. Priority Pass lounge is at the International terminal T2. No lounge at T1. No lounge also made me to book the 15:40pm flight than the 1610pm flight. The next available flight for Avios redemption is 19:10 - that is too long a wait. So I take the chance on the 15:40pm departure.
We travel on HKSAR passports with Australia ETAs. Not sure if we could use SmartGate. I will check the information though.
Arriving in CX business class so hopefully will get the Express Path cards so be able to use that for immigration.
You could always put your AA ff numbers in the pnr to select seats then change it back to the BA ffn right afterwards. CX will through check to other OW airlines on separate pnrs so CX should be able to tag the bags HKG CX MEL QF BNE and issue both boarding passes. Even though your bags are tagged to BNE you will need to claim them in MEL being your first point of arrival in Australia after which you just drop them off before proceeding to the QF Lounge (assuming your BA status gives you lounge access) or the departure gate in the MEL Domestic terminal after security.
We dont have checked bags - only rollers so they can get on CX cabin when travel in business. But the weight would be over QF's cabin bag restriction of 7kg. I think no matter how hard we try, ours would not go under 11kg. So I realize we need to use bag drop at the departure level anyway.
I am not sure CX would issue the BP on the BA tickets though. CX's segment is on an AS ticket while the QF segment is on a BA ticket. CX can through check the bags if needed but we would try to do the cabin carry on instead, and only do the drop bag with QF at MEL.
My original idea was to redeem business class so to get QF lounge access but then I found out QF has closed its lounge at MEL domestic terminal for renovation and wont open until end of the year or early next year! Otherwise I would book the BA Avios ticket in business class which was available. Since no lounge anyway, might as well save the Avios and redeem for coach instead. Priority Pass lounge is at the International terminal T2. No lounge at T1. No lounge also made me to book the 15:40pm flight than the 1610pm flight. The next available flight for Avios redemption is 19:10 - that is too long a wait. So I take the chance on the 15:40pm departure.
Sep 27, 2018, 2:28 pm
#9
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My original idea was to redeem business class so to get QF lounge access but then I found out QF has closed its lounge at MEL domestic terminal for renovation and wont open until end of the year or early next year! Otherwise I would book the BA Avios ticket in business class which was available. Since no lounge anyway, might as well save the Avios and redeem for coach instead. .
Sep 27, 2018, 9:03 pm
#11
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Oh well, too late now. Would forfeit USD27 (cancellation cost) to rebook. Not really worth to do it.
@nancypants
Thanks for the picture. I see the HKSAR has this symbol as well, that is the indication for inbedded chip IIRC.
Sep 28, 2018, 4:15 am
#12
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Brisbane QLD AU
Programs: QF
Posts: 235
I used to use either Finnair or Qatar to change BA FFs to AA FFs, but now it seems only QR works - but you cannot change back. Tried this on previous trips flying KA (Cathay Dragon) for the purpose of selecting seats - not only KA did not allow OW Ruby to preselect seats, I could not change it back to BA numbers after that... So I am hesitant to change it, given this QF 630 flight seems to just start its seasonal service on Nov 1st. Should have booked the 16:10 departure instead, as all the shuttle flights depart at hour pass 10 min, every hour from morning till night.
I am not sure CX would issue the BP on the BA tickets though. CX's segment is on an AS ticket while the QF segment is on a BA ticket. CX can through check the bags if needed but we would try to do the cabin carry on instead, and only do the drop bag with QF at MEL.
I am not sure CX would issue the BP on the BA tickets though. CX's segment is on an AS ticket while the QF segment is on a BA ticket. CX can through check the bags if needed but we would try to do the cabin carry on instead, and only do the drop bag with QF at MEL.
Sep 28, 2018, 9:44 am
#13
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Maybe just leave the freq flyer numbers in the booking as is. I don't believe the ticket stock is a factor when it comes to through checking as it should just be down to whether there's an IATCI agreement or not (for boarding passes) so I don't envisage any issues with CX (on a BA ticket) being able to through check to QF (on an AS ticket). As CX would be checking you in for the MEL/BNE flight the day prior to travel it would be extremely unlikely if you weren't seated together as a lot of pax still leave seating until they checkin at the airport on the day.
QF said domestic flights are open for online check in 24 hours before departure when certain conditions being met (forgot but we met all the conditions listed).
In US majority of passengers would do online check in for various reasons, especially on full flights. In fact the US airlines would send you an email right at the 24 hours before departure time to remind you to do online check in. Hence in theory we could do online check in.
Sounds the Australian folks would still wait till they arrive airport to check in?
Because CX has nothing to do with the MEL-BNE ticket, I am a bit skeptical they would issue BP the QF flight, especially we dont check bags on the HKG-MEL leg. Will give it a shot though as we have plenty of time to do online check in after we settle in CX lounge as it would be at least 11 to 12 hours before we arrive MEL
The 00:05 CX105 HKG-MEL flight only has 60% on time record. Mostly delay 10 to 15 min but the flight last night had a 1hr25min delay! it arrived almost a hour late at 12pm versus scheduled 11.10am. Yikes! No idea what happened. The flight on Sept 19th had similar 1hr5min delay! On Sept 5th it had 47min delay. 2 serious delays happened on Wed midnight and last night's worst delay happened on Fri midnight. Ours is on a Thursday... I feel I am grasping straw here. LOL.
Should have checked the details for the worst delay cases instead of relying on Google flights average delay figure... Kicking myself. May have to rebook later flight MEL-BNE to be safe.
https://www.airportia.com/flights/cx...ong/melbourne/
Last edited by Happy; Sep 28, 2018 at 9:58 am
Sep 28, 2018, 10:01 am
#14
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Another thing that I just found out, that QF 630 is not a regular flight - it was a seasonal flight that was only operated between Oct and March, normally on Sundays. I should have booked the QF 628 instead, i.e. those shuttle flights that depart at the 10min of every hour. The QF 630 departs on 15:40 looks odd to me but I do not think too much about it. Should have. Upon further digging I found out not only this was seasonal once a week flight (among the shuttle flights every 60 min), QF 630 also had 3 consecutive cancellations on Oct 29, Nov 5 and 12, 2017, again on Dec 17 and Jan 7, 2018. (No Landed / Arrival info according to this site, https://www.airportia.com/flights/qf...urne/brisbane/ the only site I could find info on QF 630 history.)
29.10.2017 - VH-VYI
05.11.2017 - VH-XZI
12.11.2017 - VH-VYI
17.12.2017 - VH-VXN
07.01.2018 - VH-XZC
Source: QANTAS Flight Tracker
Sep 28, 2018, 3:14 pm
#15
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