I also have forward aisle seat in profile, also QF Platinum and always finding myself behind people with no status.

When a plane if full of Status passengers when you have a surname of S it is also negative for keeping at the front of the plane.

I've also noticed seating assignments getting poorer, and I think it coincided with the increased use of Quickcheck. I've definitely had silvers in front of me on the last few flights.

Steve

Same here (taking 2 domestic rts a week at the moment) - Seems to depend on which port, funnily enough. Out of Sydney on a 767 its almost always 23 or 24 (have "forward" profile - not aisle or window as dont care about that on 1.5hr flight, just "forward"). Out of Melbourne its sometimes row 30 odd. I asked about this and got quite a lot of info. There were 2 reasons given: one was that they are increasingly using different 767 variants (ex international 767-338 rather than the -336 BA leasers typically used on DOMs, I guess that 767 is now used less international post A333s) and the editing (seating) system is not set up for these types which dont have full rows until 25 or 26, but the system still allocates the seats that aren't there in the front rows in order of status, and then those guys have to be manually placed later as exceptions - when fewer seats are left, so you will be behind somebody with less status. Also they said that "editing" the flight is done by the actual port of departure the day prior. Some ports (looks like SYD, but not MEL) seem to be better at recognising status than others.

Quick Check also matters (especially on 737) as the seats left vacant by editing (apparently the editing process tries to leave spare middle seats empty up front) still become "white" and available on quickcheck so some once a year flyer might grab them...

And alphabetical order of surname still rules within status of course, so WP ms Aardvark with forward aisle pref will be in front of WP mr Zebra with forward aisle pref.

At least they are mostly short flights so no real worries however you end up seated.....

For J 744 I am listed as Upper Deck, Aisle. Next week's booking has automatic allocation of 12J. (My preferred seat is actually 16K but what the hell). The printout from BA ticket desk lists "preferences not matched". So, the system allocates me a seat which is my preferred option, and then tells me that it has not done it.

Straaange

Good to have this one confirmed. Always suspected to the case.

Is Ms Aardvank's first name Ethyl by some chance? And is she a Quantity Surveyor? (Somewhat obscure for those who don't appreciate Mr M Python's humour).

I'm not sure that this works any more. On my last SYD-PER flight Mr C (me) was behind both Mr R and Mr W, all SG. Other Gold and Silver members at work have also noticed the seating assignments getting worse in recent months.

Steve

Hi everyone,

Well it seems to work for me although I'm a WP (and surname starts with B). The only problem, if one at all, is when going to Syd from Mel I always seem to get about 5-6 seats behinds J class when in Y but I had put this down to CL and other WPs getting perference first.

Interestingly I'm going on a OW Award ticket next week and got my perference (front window) on every flight (QF, CX, BA, no allocation yet on AY). Seems to still work okay for myself. Also noted that on some flights they have blocked a seat next to me (lets hope no more seats are sold !)

I have had no problem in getting my preferred AY seat by ringing their local office (in SYD). Might be worth a call.

Usually end up with something very much aligned to my preference, despite being almost mid-way through the alphabet when it comes to surnames.

The NTL crew know me well enough now to always spit out a Bravo seat on a CRASH-8 (makes it a lot easier for right-handers to use a laptop or pen & paper).

I wonder if this is because of shift of bodies from flight to flight opening up the seats for QuickCheck.

Whatever the seating profile thingie does, it's b**ody annoying when travelling on BA intra-European routes. By default I always seem to get allocated seats on the RH (x 3) side. BA have always claimed it's down to what QF is expressing as my preference.

Note that on well serviced routes like SYD-MEL, Often High Status Frequent Flyers on flexible fares happily jump to an earlier flight when available, thereby making their prized front row seats available.

These become visible and available for selection by the unwashed masses who are now being encouraged to use quick check. Previously, most would have simply been given their seat that was preallocated; they can now 'see' more options and are making choices.

Jeremy,

I too used to have this problem until I changed my preference to forward window.

The reason being that I will definately get off the plane a lot quicker in 4A (on a 738 for example) than in 20C and usually beat most of the WP's off too because they tend to be seated in C and D in rows 4 through to 10.

Lots of pax have benefited in this way from me.