APUBleed

Hi all,

I'm flying QF1 soon and hoping for a J upgrade. On ExertFlyer there are no 'unoccupied' seats. However, I know the cabin is not fully booked because you can purchase at least 9 J tickets from the QF website for the flight (though interestingly you can't actually assign a seat just select a preference - probably because of the issue of no 'unoccupied' seats). ExpertFlyer are showing approx. 20 'blocked' seats. Does anyone know what these blocked seats likely are?

og

Just because you can purchase 9 J seats doesn’t mean anything. For example QF were still selling J seats on their HNL-SYD flight for at least a week after they had stated that the flight would not operate and the AS codeshare on QF metal stated on EF “flight cancelled”.

BD1959

"Blocked Seats" are usually those which are reserved for high-value FFs (CL and WP1 usually) and which generally become available at T+80hrs, if there are 20 of these available that would explain the J9 on EF.

Upgrade approvals - especially on International Flights - is a black art!! I would never expect to be able to "lock-in" an upgrade. If you truly want to fly J I'd be looking to use my points to book J (even if it meant spending more and flying on a partner) - or consider cheaper $$$ J options elsewhere.

Regards,

BD

pythonisman

As above, they're likely reserved for QF Platinum/CL flyers and if unoccupied will be open to reserve from T-80. A couple of the seats are also reserved for baby/bassinets.

You might get lucky with a J upgrade but remember QF's algorithm for who to give the upgrade to is unknown. I've gotten lucky in the past on occasion, but you should always be prepared to fly in the cabin you've booked and not get disappointed if you don't get upgraded.

Make sure you've also enabled the option to still request an upgrade at the airport (I forget the terminology as it's been a while since I did it) - I think this can potentially mean up to boarding / flight being closed that you're in the running still.

Otherwise get yourself mentally prepared to travel in W/Premium Economy just in case it doesn't pay off (but keep fingers crossed!)

juddles

Has anyone got any knowledge of load factors on these QF1 flights at the moment? Essentially, are they full? Or almost empty? Am considering doing a booking in the next couple of weeks in flex Y, with an attempt to upgrade with points. I can book a very cheap Y fare but that then involves a huge increase in QF points to upgrade. If I knew there was no chance, would book the cheapest Y fare... But if I thought there was a decent chance of award points upgrade, would initially book the fully flex Y fare.

Comments?

pythonisman

A friend recently flew QF2 and booked a fairly last minute fare in Y (I'm not sure of the fare class but she said it cost her £600 more than the refund she got from Cathay for her cancelled flight.

I don't have any inside access to QF systems but looking at tomorrow's QF1, there is still plenty on sale in Y and W, and with it being ~16hrs until it flies, I'd say your chances are decent from Y->W? Not sure what the fare difference is but would certainly not assume "no chance", particularly if you've got QF status

Princess fiona

I flew SYD-LHR in Dec / January
I deliberately switched to QF9 for the outbound as it was looking better for an upgrade 4 days out.
I think there is a decent chance of an upgrade from higher Y fares.
We were all upgraded on the outbound 4 pax and my upgrade (only one submitted) was successful on the return on QF2 at 7 days out.
Loads are very high in Y still a lot of “returning Aussies”
Business travel still not back to normal

juddles

After a two year Covid pause, have just signed up again to expert-flyer. Today I was studying said QF1 and what was a novel discovery for me is that it appears that about 4 or so days out, QF do a fancy Covid-induced blocking of seats. Essentially what I see is that if any seats are selected by pax, the adjacent seat gets blocked. Makes sense with Covid. I suspect what that means in a useful way is that if I book Y, and select a seat, I am essentially guaranteed an empty seat next to me unless the plane is full in Y. The same thing is being done in PE and J.

I hope that upgrade chances are better on QF1 as opposed to QF2 - I get what you say about people anxious to return to Aus. But in the day I am interested in (14th Feb) there is only a single seat left in PE. But still showing J9. Hence I am feeling that I would have to compete with PE persons seeking an upgrade. Again, what I understand is that the points required for an upgrade to J are the same for a flex Y fare and a discount PE fare. I am still WP, so maybe that will help? (I sorely miss P1 status)

At the end of the day, maybe I am destined to do such a long trip in Y It would be painful, but maybe make me appreciate other flights so much more But it is still a chilling challenge for me - Darwin to London in Y.

APUBleed

Just to have a bit of a positive ending to the story, ended up being upgraded from an economy flex fare to J on QF1 with about J7 available and I’m only silver! I’m sceptical it would have happened in non-COVID times but nice to have some QF international upgrade success on this route.