Globaliser

Add me as another person who is perfectly content to trust the QF system. I don't do many QF domestics, but it always seems to go right, first time, no trouble. So there's no need to tinker.

Don't forget that US airlines spend a lot of time and money reallocating seating on domestic flights - as well as causing a lot of aggravation - every time there's a scheduled equipment change on a flight. It's not necessarily more efficient. Plus the passenger either takes risks about losing their allocated seats when there's an equipment change and/or spends an awful lot of time checking and re-checking their seat allocations periodically. (I see posts here and elsewhere from people who do that - but personally I haven't got the time or energy for it.)

I do agree, though, that pre-allocating seats on every flight will tend to satisfy even the most anally-retentive type who absolutely, absolutely must know where they're sitting.

Kiwi Flyer

If you're on a peak business flight and preference is forward aisle - yes you can be seated a long way back as there are a heck of a lot of plats with the same preference on the same flights. I dont know what order QF assigns seating within each membership tier (length of membership, time of booking, current # of SCs, alphabetic by surname, date of birth, using random number generator, etc).

Back in the day when I had a weekly commute for work, on the early Monday flight (and also the Friday afternoon flight) probably 80% of pax were the same every week. No doubt most had high status.

AAaLot

Impressions...

Qantas [and AA] usually does things based on what is best for their bottom line.

The only reason Qantas would not want to assign seats is there are frequent aircraft chagnes [it gives them a lot of flexibility to use a large or small plane on a whim]. On international routes apparently aircraft changes are non-existent [or not prudent?].

Having seen both it is MY preference to know what seat I have in advance [as it seems it is others preference not to know their seat number in advance?]. It is just very very strange to NOT have a seat number on XXX-YYY, but do have a seat number YYY-ZZZ.

I guess everyone else has gotten used to it and think it is good for them, but if that is the case why not remove seat numbers for YYY-ZZZ also?

Should we campaign to have Qantas not give seat numbers for AKL-LAX, for example?

serfty

I have been a SG for 49 of the last 50 months and have had 100's of flights into and out of Sydney during that time. What Kiwi Flyer posted is correct, peak flights will not get you an aisle seat very far up the front as a SG, especially on a 737.

Just a hint; try to go for a 330 or 763 if you can; there's twice as many aisle seats on those as there are window seats.

Canberra is worse than Sydney; last month on a 734, I was preallocated row 23 (out of 24).

Then again, this SG was preallocated 1D AKL-WLG last year; nice seat but whY "service".

One more thing, in all that time, only once can I remember not being preallocated an aisle seat.

whughes3

..better still, specify your preference as "forward window" (which apparently almost nobody does) and you have an excellent chance of being in the first few rows! For most domestic flights the benefits of aisle seats are pretty marginal anyway.

serfty

I guess for that international flight, you have already been able to pre-allocate the five seats together.

If you have the same situation on a QF Oz/NZ domestic flight, simply call QF no later than 24 hrs before the flight and request a Total and Complete Party (TCP) to ensure the record locators get cross linked with each other.

With such multiple PNR's I would ensure that I arrived at the airport and check in as early as possible to make sure of the seats. This goes for both International and Domestic flights.

Kiwi Flyer

No.

Groundfeeder

Leave it alone!

In QLD flights on QF I rarely sit >row 7, even on late arvo 737 flights.

This changed markedly when I flew BNE-SYD return recently on early/late flights full of suits/hardshell rollons and was plonked in 16 both ways! QuickCheck offered no solace as only centre seats were available further aft.

JerseySlime

Unless upgraded through status or some of my AA upgrade credits, I can't remember the last time I lost my pre-allocated seat on a domestic flight here in the states. That includes CO, AA, UA, and DL. I know when I do EWR-DFW, its an AA MD-80 and almost always am in 21D (I call ahead and request 21D), an exit row aisle on the DEF side. Now rows 20-21 will not show as available on the seat chart on the AA website to Mr. and Mrs. FlyOnceAYear. They will show available only to AA Elites (and I'm guessing OW Elites; some of you could answer that). Flying EWR-MCO on CO is almost always a 752 or 738 flight and I've never seen the equipment change, and I do both the DFW and MCO trips about 12 times a year.

Are equipment changes for QF flights, especially OZ domestics, frequent enough where QF has determined that they are better off waiting to assign seats? And what is the QF formula? Maybe it's similar to the Coca-Cola formula; if they told you, they'd have to kill you.

Also, I'm OW Ruby (lowly AA Gold). I'm flying in Z trans-Pacific (3A both ways) and domestic OZ and trans-Tasman in U on a CO award. Can I call QF and provide them with my OW Ruby number to increase my chances for aisles on the MEL-PER, PER-MEL, MEL-SYD legs? Granted, I am in U, but I do prefer an aisle to a window. On my SYD-AKL (QF119), CHC-SYD (QF46) legs, I'm also in 3A. Let's hope those 763's are int. config. aircraft. Do those flights change from int to domestic configs very often, as well?

Bottom line is what you're used to. Being Elite here means having the ability to get premium seats preassigned. Being Elite on QF means status and ticketing timeframe (?) determines your seat just before flight time. I like calling ahead of time. I don't think I'm THAT anal retentive. QF Elites trust the QF algorithms. Hey, whatever works. ^

Kiwi Flyer

As others have posted - QF changes a/c for their domestic flights all the time.

Dave Noble

Whether they are frequent, it does mean that they can , for example, select any 763 that day and not worry about seat assigments if it switches to a 767-336 for example. It also saves dealing with people phoning for seats and then tying to contact to check that theirs seats havent changed etc

You would be very unlucky if they ended up using a domestic configured aircraft. With a U booking it will probably not allow you to add the number

Personally I think that the system works and I dont have obsessive compulsive disorder and I can trust the system to give me my preference. Even so, at check in the 1st thing I do on domestic Why is to change to an exit seat


Dave

JerseySlime

I think both systems, run properly, have their advantages. It really amounts to whatever you're used to. And Dave, you're right. Nothing better than the added pitch of an exit row.

deeruck

An Op-up at the gate?

serfty

I have six sectors booked on AA in June as part of a DONE4 and have preassigned my seats based on FEBO. Originally, one was a 757 and I requested 1F. I checked this a month or so later and the aircraft had morphed into a MD80, on wich 1F did not exist. However I was still being shown 1F and due to the way the AA web site's software worked I was unable to fix this invalid seat online. After several goes I gave up and called AA Australia. No problem, a very helpful lass sorted it out and now I am in 3F.

However, I have made sure that my oneWORLD status is registered against every segment should some agent in, say DFW, think that I may be unworthy of the front row.

RichardMEL

ah-hah! so that's why I usually get rows 6-10 on a 734/73h as a nobody PS. Excellent

When I first came over to QF seriously (after AN went to that great airline graveyard in the sky) I was pretty anti the no allocation policy (while AN also didn't assign seats domestically, I flew >90% internationally on UA and partners and could usually get a seat assigned and I preferred that) but I have come to actually like QF's domestic system.

Remember, a seat allocation isn't that much of a big deal on a domestic flight where the longest sectors are going to max out at about 5 hours (what's BNE-PER?). A large number of flights are in the 1-2 hour range. I can handle sitting wherever for those flights - if it's 14 hours to LAX, yes I'd like at least some option for an assignment up front as it matters more. Domestics? it's no biggie plus, I can use QuickCheck to change if I don't like what I've got (usually though it gives me the best option, though sometimes I manage to snag say 4A or 4F on a 73H which is nice.

In general I think it works pretty well. I can see both sides though and I'm glad you can assign seats internationally (but I don't usually fly QF out of the country so can't really comment further).