SQ Blocks J Bulkhead?
 

Hi Everyone,

Anyone (non elites/*G) has encountered difficulty reserving row 11 recently?
Have managed to block 11 for all my J long hauls previously. Was told by an agent yesterday that 11 is blocked for my flights HKG, CHC, SFO :rolleyes:

I was able to redeem a standard J and book a row 11 seat from HKG to SFO for traveling in Jan 2018 two weeks ago.

If I am not mistaken, those bulkhead seats, like others, are often blocked for those with priority, whether it be parent needing a bassinet row, *G or PPS or PPS Solitaire and Lifetime members.

I was able to reserve 11A on my outbound FRA-SIN and inbound SIN-MUC, both on the 77W. Booked 4 weeks ago, flights are in October. No issues at all even without status with SQ.

This is wrong. Bassinet rows may be blocked but you can call and have them assigned with the caveat that you may be reassigned if the bassinet is required. There are no blocks on this row to accommodate elite members.

Yes i have always done this despite no status with SQ.
However, i tried to do it yesterday morning on A359 but agent said row 11 was blocked - although is currently unoccupied.

I'll try again in few days.

Thanks all!

It does appear that there is some sort of blocking on these seats for PPS. I turned PPS about 2 weeks ago; I had a booking in the system made when I was still KF Gold, and I had initially been unable to allocate row 11 on a 359; as soon as I turned PPS I could do so (Expertflyer showed these seats as "blocked").

Interestingly, I found that something similar also applied on the 77W: I was suddenly able to allocate a row 11 seat which showed as "occupied" on EF!

I was able to reserve row 11 on 77W (SQ217 - before it turned to A350 and SQ227) having M&M award ticket and no status with KF.

Hmm this could explain why the entire row 11 on last week's flight from DPS to SIN on the A330 was empty except for me in 11K. The rest of the cabin was about 70% filled. Was wondering why these coveted bulkhead seats went untaken.

96 hours out the bulkhead rows, in Y at least, become available for online seat selection for KF*G. Bassinets generally remain blocked.

I just booked a revenue ticket between SIN-LAX-SIN in C on the 359ULR for later this year.

I am Star Gold through United. ALL the bulkhead seats in C are blocked. Every other seat in the cabin is available.

I'm pretty sure now that before checkin opens, only PPS or Solitaire PPS members of Krisflyer can reserve bulkhead seats in the business class cabin.

Bulkheads were unavailable when I booked direct with SQ for SFO-HKG & NRT-LAX.

~72 hours prior to departure, I was able to secure the bulkhead in the smaller J cabin upfront for SQ1. ...this wasn't the case for SQ 12 though...

I just called to try to request rows 11 or 19 for a flight (several months away) on the ULR. I was told that they were blocked, but that a "request" could be sent and that I would hear in a few days. I got the feeling it wouldn't do anything. So far, nothing. I'll update if anything happens.

I've always been able to get 11 A/K bulkhead on the A330 KIX-SIN-KIX by calling months in advance, with the caveat that these are basinet seats and we might have to give them up with a couple with a baby needed them. Received email confirmation of the seats within a few minutes of the call, and we have never lost the seats.

For our next trip KIX-SIN in on an old-style A380 and the 11 D/F pair are blocked as basinet seats, but I was able to reserve the second bulkhead 18 D/F pair online as they are not basinet sets, so I have not bothered calling to ask for 11 D/F. SIN-KIX is on the new 787-10 and I had no trouble reserving the 11 D/F bulkhead pair online, since they are not basinet seats.

So although limited to this one route, in my experience the only times the J bulkhead seats are blocked is if they are bassinet seats. And I'm not even a member of KrisFlyer; all our flights on SQ have been *A awards booked with UA miles.

Just booked LAX-SIN and both bulkhead rows in J were blocked out. I checked 3 other random dates to see if the bulkhead rows were also blocked and sure enough, they were.

I'll be traveling with my wife and infant, so in our case, we actually need the bassinet. I called SQ and the friendly agent was able to assign us the bulkhead row with the bassinet.

So it seems that by default, it's blocked out, but you can call to specifically request it.

I believe it does depend on the agent who handled the request. Had been told that it was blocked and then granted by different agents but for the same segment. So I guess some would go ahead to reserve the bulkhead seats but would inform you that they would release it if somebody needed the bassinet. Whereas some would just tell you it's blocked.

The bassinet seats on A330 are 11C/D/H. 11A/F/K are blocked for PPS and should normally accessible only to them. I know that that some agents would release the bassinets on request on the phone, but I'm surprised to hear that some agents obviously are flexing the rules a bit (too far).

Not all bulkhead seats are assigned for the bassinet (the seat maps on SQ website will indicate the bassinets for different aircraft type). The bassinets can anyway only be requested via phone. The other bulkhead seats in C will be accessible online to PPS and when OLCI opens to everyone.

Sorry, that A/K was not correct (don't know how I did that, senility I guess). It should have been 11 H/K on the A330. We've requested and received these seats both ways on the KIX-SIN route twice, once in Jan 2017 and then in Feb this year. In 2017 they did not even mention the bassinet, but this year they added the caveat that we might have to move, but as I said, in the end we did not. As I said, I'm not even a KrisFlyer member, all flights were awards using UA miles.

We originate from KIX and the requests were made by phone to Tokyo, in Japanese and talking to a Japanese agent, well in advance of the flights.

I was able to reserve bulkhead online on the A380 and 787-10 for our next KIX-SIN trip in Feb 2019 (again an award on UA miles), so I won't be calling this year.

After booking the *A award through UA, I got the SQ confirmation No. from UA and used that on the SQ site to book bulkhead seats 18 D/F on the A380 for SQ619 KIX-Sin and bulkhead seats 11 D/F on the 787-10 for SQ622 SIN-KIX. Of course these are not bassinet seats, but they were readily available to anyone online. Maybe the blocking varies significantly by route?

I was able to book 19A for my wife and infant (bassinet seat) over the phone, however the agent could not unlock 19D for me. I tried again with a different agent and got the same result.

I even tried switching to row 11 (which doesn't have a bassinet option) and the agent could not unlock those seats either. This was on the new LAX-SIN route.

Anyone know any workarounds?

Sure do: qualify for PPS!

I think it's one of those seats that if one books early enough, someone without status can take it. But once a PPS member is assigned, especially Solitaire, as long as it's not also a designated bassinet seat, it's not getting reallocated. And not everyone likes row 11. I once sat next to someone who complained about being given such a terrible seat despite having booked very early. They had to placate him by scrambling to move him elsewhere. And while they were looking for a seat he just kept complaining and complaining to the purser, trying to understand why he would've been assigned this row, doesn't his status make a difference, etc.

I don't think so: they are reserved for PPS+ right from the start as far as I can see.

I still can't get them on a lot of my flights (I tend to book late though, sometimes just a few days before).

Most of the flights I can get the seat I want. Definitely I would say since they started to block the seats the availability of bulkheads has significantly improved. Iam booking late as well.

Iam also quite selective. A330 bulkhead is a must. 77W 11A/K are preferred, the rest is so/so (I take a standard window seat rather than D/F bulkhead). Row 11 on A380 for me a no-go.

I just booked SFO-SIN. For the outbound (SQ1), row 11 is blocked, row 15 is not. For the return (SQ32), row 11 is blocked, row 19 is not. I booked 12K on the 77W, and 19K on the 350. Perhaps I should move to row 15 on the 77W?

Re outbound, I'd pick the minicabin with the foot cubby in row 12 over the larger cabin with the larger foot rest in row 15...much more noise and traffic in row 15 due to galley and restrooms.

I'm travelling from SIN - ZRH next year on the new A380 and returning from MUC - SIN on the A350 with my missus. it's an award booking and i don't have any status with SQ. Called the CS and managed to get 19D/F for MUC - SIN sector, she did not mention anything about the seat being bassinet nor inform that we may loose the seat. What are the chances of passengers requiring the use of bassinet on the flight?

For SIN - ZRH, i tried to request 96 D/F but she told me the seat is not open for selection yet..... seat only opens up for selection 48 hrs before flight. Ended up with a temporary 92 D/F.. should i request for 91 D/F using the rationale of the A350 flight? Any issues with 91 D/F?

Thanks! I'm not tall, but am sensitive to noise and traffic, so this sounds like solid advice.

^ at most, you'll have the two ppl in 11 and your aisle mate in 12 plus occasional cabin crew walking by you.

Reviving this older thread. My wife and I are booked in J on the 350ULR LAX-SIN in August, and have called SQ over 10x now to get moved into row 11 or 19. No phone agent will move us, telling me 19 is strictly reserved for those with infants, and that my only chance at rows 11 or 19 is 48-72 hours out or maybe even at the gate. For those that got moved into 11 or 19 on the phone, did you do anything other than call general reservation line? I'll call as many times as I need, though every agent reminds me they see in my reservation notes that we have requested row 11 or 19.

This restriction is a relatively recent introduction; it is possible that it took a while for all agents to become aware of it. By now though, it appears that they most definitely are!

Kacee how did it go for you? I am facing the same dilemma now - mini cabin row 11-14, and larger cabin 15 and up. Row 11 blocked. Both 12A/K and 15A/K are available. Trying to decide between 12 or 15.

Just did two flights which were fairly full in J. Row 11 was blocked up until just under 96 hours before departure, then, in both instances, 11K came available and I was able to select it online with no status.