nacho

Of course not, on the contrary, why should airlines give you free seats while others are willing to pay for it?

Maybe you are lucky with QR, I tried that with OWS status and the perk was that we were able to pick seats during reservation, no empty seat next to us - However CX did treat us well (but that was 2013) they gave us 7 seats for 4 people in Y.

That's definitely a weakness of *G - even the extra bag perk is taken away when a *G book basic economy (obviously 0 bag +1 bag= 0 bag).

GUWonder

It's not about the airline giving a free seat to the customers; it's about customers of sorts getting a more comfortable seating arrangement from the airline and being among the most likely to receive the most comfortable seating arrangement in the cabin that the airline can provide.

But airlines in the aggregate have an increasingly "you are your fare/business this time" approach, so what SAS is doing to make the flying experience worse for customers in the main -- including *Gs in economy class -- isn't surprising. Rather it's expected.

ermis177

QR gives you an empty seat almost always because their load factor is around 40%. Most of their flights are empty.

GUWonder

That can't explain it, as my experiences this year with having empty seats/seat block next to me on QR flights includes QR flights this year when the cabin was full for all but 1-2 seats (or even 100% full ) and yet the seat next to me was empty or blocked (sometime even to the complete shock of the flight attendants and even ground-handling agents for QR at ARN and CPH).

CPH-Flyer

QR has no such thing as seat block in Y. Nor do they keep the exit and bulkhead rows back for OWE or OWS, the exit and bulkhead rows are kept for airport control, whoever ask for them at the airport desk will get them.

I have seen a seat block of sorts in QR J on the an empty A320. My travel partner without oneworld status and on a separate booking could pick the seat next to me, but within 24 hours he was always moved to another seat.

GUWonder

Call what I’m getting a seat block or not, QR has been giving me way better seat arrangements in my cabins on their flights than SK has; and QR has been keeping me with a string of empty seats next to me even on my extremely full flights with them this year while SK doesn’t come close to it for me. And I’m only using partner airline programs when flying SK, and I am only using partner airline programs when flying QR.

If I’m merely getting lucky with QR even on very full QR flights, I must be the luckiest person on the planet and you should give me all your savings to play high-stakes poker for your retirement plan. — says the very unlucky IFE blackjack player

I dislike bulkhead seats in economy, and I am more than happy to never get them on some planes. And as I don’t like emergency exit row seats when the arm-rests are of the immovable sort, I am not the biggest fan of emergency row seat assignments unless I’m certain not to get those hip-huggers.

CPH-Flyer

I think it is luck of the draw. Even on pretty empty flights i can end up with someone next to me as OWE. Which usually leads to the head of the cabin making sure I get moved somewhere else. It is not the emergency exit rows, as I tend to forget to ask for those at check in. So it is not a case of me being in a very attractive row that people would always seek out.

Emergency exit rows on a 10 across 777 or 9 across 787 does get quite narrow, so they are indeed not as attractive as all that. Which might be why I tend to forget to ask on QR.

Maybe all your luck is deployed for the seating, and IFE blackjack has none left

highupinthesky

Let's not get the changes blown out of proportions. To my knowledge, the only change is that *G members will no longer be able to pick a seat at booking time. This is no different from what all other *G member has implemented over the last couple of years.

Regarding seat assignment. As I wrote before. The automatic seat assignment on *G flights always assign me a window seat close to the front, but I prefer a seat in the back, both for the view and as my experience is that *G seat blocking in Y doesn't exist and I have a higher chance of empty seat next to me if I pick a seat at the back. The time difference out of the airport or through passport check is often less than 5 min. This is all regarding short haul. Long haul can be a different story, but the real difference in getting through immigration or transfer is whether you land as the first or last of 5 long haul birds.

SK2751

They most certainly check your post count at FT

GUWonder

They most certainly can’t accurately link that to a real individual on their passenger manifests.

And I suspect that a high post count doesn’t do me any favors anywhere.

nacho

Another FTer told me that as OWE he always get upgraded from Y into PE on AY.

CPH-Flyer

Considering that AY does not have premium economy, that's a bit of an overstatement. AY does have comfort seats, which is just standard Y with more leg room. Similar to United Economy Plus, or AA Main Cabin Extra. OWE can indeed pick them for free, but it is not an upgrade as such.

GUWonder

There used to be a time when AY would rather frequently “upgrade” OWEs into long-haul business class seats that had economy class service on some routes. But nowadays it’s more about getting into Economy Comfort on AY, extra legroom seats in economy which AY does seem to be somewhat better about when it comes to seat assignments for alliance partner elites than SAS.

warakorn

Air New Zealand!

At NZ you must pay to select a certain seat at online checkin. If you do not pay, a random seat will be allocated for you.

CPH-Flyer

I guess only on certain fares?

United basic economy you'd have to pay if you don't want to get a randomly assigned (middle) seat at online check in.