AAaLot

It seems Qantas does not assign seats for domestic segments, but does for International.

Why do they do this?

It seems like at the end of the day 1) they have the system to assign seats, 2) most of the time people DO fly on the flight they were supposed to be in, 3) It causes more work and grief for all involved.

deeruck

Seats are assigned the night before a flight, according to frequent flyer status and preferences. ie. Platinum flyers are allocated per their preferences first, then Gold etc, down to no-status flyers. (Not sure what happens to OneWorld status levels).

What grief and work does this system cause?

whughes3

..also not forgetting that there is a lot of changing of aircraft types on domestic routes, which would make a mess of any long-term seat pre-assignments.

AAaLot

I have a seat assigned for AKL-SYD. Chances of a conflict at check-in = 0%. I know what I am getting, they know what they are giving.

The same day I have a CHC-AKL ticket. Chances of conflict <> 0%. I don't know what I am getting.

My point is that they have the technolgy and the rest of the world operates this way...why can't Qantas?

bravoecho

The reason they do this is to reward their loyal frequent flyers.

It stops Mr and Mrs Flyonceinayear from booking premium seats (eg. forward aisle, window etc) a year out and allowing their frequent flyers to be able to book a ticket a day in advance and still get a decent seat allocated.

I like it

AAaLot

As an example and following the logic above: AA allows you to book premium seats if you are their loyal freqent flyer. Since the process is out in the open, no one has to wonder if they system worked the night before. Everyone nows what they are getting and giving and why.

There seems to be no logic to not assigining seats when you can. Seems like there must have been something in the past that got Qantas stuck into this mode?

cornellalum

So another AA-er here ... I'm traveling for the first time on Quantas domestic, with my family (4 people total). We are on the same booking. Will they assign us seats together?

Yeah, I really dislike that we can't choose seats. But at least we got to pick seats for the international legs of our trip!

Dave Noble

There is a logic , though you seem unprepared to accept it.

As a Platinum member, my seating preferences are recorded

The night before the flight, the system goes through and automatically assigns seats in priority order of status based on stated preferences

This has the benefit that

(a) as a platinum member I am v v likely to get my preference of seat ( e.g. forward aisle ) and not find that they are already taken by lower status members booking much further in advance

(b) it ensures that all passengers get to be assigned seats together and so there is no faffing around with people trying to change seats to get together

(c) equipment changes can occur at the last minute. There are several 767-300 configurations for example and this way is better than having to reassign seats and having people whinge that they have been moved from 10B to 11B. On international flights, there tend to be little chance of an equipment change which could affect seating; e.g. all 3 class 744s have the same layout, all 743s have the same layout, all 333s have the same layout and it is unlikely for a 744 service to be replaced by, say, a 333


The system works very well and needs no tinkering

Dave

Dave Noble

If you are on the same record locator, then you will be assigned seats together.

Dave

everywhere

I think it's wonderful that QF don't assign seats for domestic services (I wish NZ would) for the reasons Dave Noble identified, keeping in mind that higher tier member's booking closer to departure will be on higher fares, than a lower tier member booking a cheapie along way in advance.

I would also dispute AAaLot that most of the time people fly on the flight's they are booked on.

Of course it would be nice if you could specify a cut-off (that you would rather have a middle then seat 28C) for those congested flights.

serfty

cornellalum, you are showing as an AA PLAT; this is oneWORLD Sapphire. AAaLot, Do you have any oneWORLD status? I would be suprised if you did not.

Anyway, I suggest you both each ensure your bookings have your status recorded against each of the segments in question. This will give you a better chance of getting your prefered seating.

You will also need to ensure that your seating preferences are recorded agaist the booking.

willyroo

Agreed.

AAaLot

Very good point.

In our AKL-LAX segment my family of 5 is in 3 separate record locators. I don't trust the system to put us together. More of a chance of stuff going wrong than right unless human intervention is involved [which is a waste of time for Qantas].

Furthermore, so far none of my Qantas flights have posted to my AA mileage meaning that they repeatidly do not know we are ALL platinums even after repeated tries to tell them we are all platinum.

I guess I don't trust the system. I would rather know ahead of time, as I can with most major airlines on earth, what seat number I am entitled to.

Why should I have to wait to see I will have 12B for six months when I can know tonight?

Dave Noble

I wouldn't necessarily say that most airlines provide pre-allocation but for AKL-LAX QF does offer pre-allocation; just phone and ask for seats

I would suggest verifying that the AA number is in your booking correctly. If it is, the points will normally post with no issue

get the QF locator and go to www.checkmytrip.net and look up the flight info.

If under your name it says

Qantas Airways - AAxxxxxx then it should be posting happily within a few days; if it is missing or has another format , then it will not post automagically

Again, you might like to have 12B , 6 months in advance, however QF allocates according to status the day before meaning that high status last minute ticket buyers are not disadvantaged

You may not like it, but I would suggest that you'd find that the frequent QF travellers do and if you were QF which would you be more interested in keeping sweet?

Dave

AAaLot

I could 'maybe' understand this if it was consistent, but then why offer pre-assigned seats for AKL-LAX? Why not keep their best travellers happy for those segments also?

Do the best travellers was pre-assigned seats or not? Then do appropriately with the CHC-AKL / AKL-LAX flights.