☹️ seat changed at checkin

[Myrna]

So what is her seat on the 12 that she assigned so we can see how it looks?

I am confident all will be OK for her.

Thanks, RichardMEL. All good. She selected 57K and the lady at checkin counter said middle and aisle seats were empty. So she said she prayed that they would remain empty

 

[Myrna]

Oh dear @Myrna, how stressful again for her. I hope it is no drama.

Thanks, Seat0B. Niece checked in at counter and said the experience at LAX was so much better than at SYD. No drama - except for the very long lines for security (but I know that's very normal for LAX, even for us travelling in J and F with dedicated lines.)

 

[Myrna]

As indicated there can be many reasons.

In any case, they'll find out when they check in. The counters should be open by now (I believe early check in for QF opens at LAX around 3pm).

The lady at the counter could not say when niece could not check in online. But niece said the checkin experience at LAX was very smooth and pleasant compared to SYD.

 

[Myrna]

Thanks everyone. Niece is about to board the long 15h flight home. She had a good time with her father. Hubby will pick her up from the airport tomorrow morning.

 

[muppet]

Thanks, Seat0B. Niece checked in at counter and said the experience at LAX was so much better than at SYD. No drama - except for the very long lines for security (but I know that's very normal for LAX, even for us travelling in J and F with dedicated lines.)

Travelling QF F the LAX host will escort you to the very front of the queue (embarrassingly often just in front of some old lady or person in wheelchair).

 

[muppet]

Thanks, RichardMEL. All good. She selected 57K and the lady at checkin counter said middle and aisle seats were empty. So she said she prayed that they would remain empty

They are currently empty… along with the rest of the flight:

 

[Myrna]

They are currently empty… along with the rest of the flight:
View attachment 380914

Thanks, muppet. Excellent, niece should have a good flight with a lot of empty seats / rows!

 

[RichardMEL]

Really pleased for her abd she has a great flight back.

 

[Myrna]

Pleased to report that one very happy niece is now home. Indeed the flight was not full and she had the whole 3 seats to herself, as well as quite a few other pax. The toilet was clean. A very pleasant flight
Thanks everyone for your comments and help with seat maps etc. - much appreciated.

 

[tomlee1986]

Pleased to report that one very happy niece is now home. Indeed the flight was not full and she had the whole 3 seats to herself, as well as quite a few other pax. The toilet was clean. A very pleasant flight
Thanks everyone for your comments and help with seat maps etc. - much appreciated.

Nice to have her home and hope she did have a nice trip to USA

 

[Flyinfish]

I recently had a similar experience with Singapore Airlines. Paid to select my seat 10 months before flight. Print my boarding pass and discover I've been moved to adjacent to toilets . 'Operational reasons' but plane was same and some 20 something in my seat. Now having to jump through hoops just to get the refund. I was looking forward to flying SA, hoping for a more premium experience. Instead one of the worst flights ever. They really don't seem to care about customer experience. So I won't be flying SA again in a hurry.

 

[Flyinfish]

They really don't seem to care about customer experience

Turns out they have booted me out of my reserved seat for my return flight as well
Operational reasons AGAIN! They have found a seat that is not next to the toilets this time but not as good as my original. Their thinking seems to be that if I accept this new seat they shouldn't have to refund the fee. I disagree. I haven't received what I paid for. I think Singapore Airlines customer service is terrible! You'd think they'd try to make up for the original bad experience but instead just more of the same...

 

[RooFlyer]

I haven't received what I paid for.

If you paid to select a seat, and just got a random one, then yes, you should be entitled to a refund. SIA call centre is awful, as I think you know, so suggest you go through e-mail, and push the reasoning.

 

[MrJetset]

Some front line staff really have no idea how their product works. Makes no difference if the seat was 'paid' for. Simply they shouldn't have been moved, or at the bare minimum should've been asked.
Hopefully this will get through to someone at Qantas and they may need to remind staff to leave seating alone.

Maybe she needs to speak to the CSM on board and make it knows she is not happy.

Yes, my understanding on QF Intl is they are supposed to ask pax.

Was on QF23 in J, my partner and in 1E/F. Woke up and found my seat selection was gone. Rang and was told seat was unserviceable.

Got to the airport and asked if we could have 1A/E so we could be next to each other and the check in agent said "Let me quickly call the pax in 1A as we have to ask." Pax agreed to take another window seat.

Seat was broken and covered in tape. Ground crew couldn't fix it, but then a man came and sat in it. I presume staff. Happened several times to me in F as well which are notorious from broken seats IME.

 

[Myrna]

Seat was broken and covered in tape. Ground crew couldn't fix it, but then a man came and sat in it. I presume staff. Happened several times to me in F as well which are notorious from broken seats IME.

Happened to us on 2 BA long haul flights. One flight in F, they moved one of us (window), on board we saw seat was taped up, then a crew member came later during flight to remove tape and someone sat in it. Another flight in J, they changed our seats (to the middle and back of J section) without any reason. But, when we got on flight (it was a brand new B787) and our selected seats (window) with pax in them had water leaking from the overhead luggage storage So we were grateful we did not sit there.

 

[RichardMEL]

Yes but if swaped out due to a US seat, that at least makes sense. Had that happen to me on a DFW trip. I woukd rather a seat that reclines than not tbh.

Very different to being seapped out of selected seats that are fine for no obvious or reasonable reason.

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

Maybe not "broken", but reserved, but for which no one wants to admit its not broken, but someone has/had been assigned the seat.

 

[RichardMEL]

Maybe not "broken", but reserved, but for which no one wants to admit its not broken, but someone has/had been assigned the seat.

Goid conspiracy theory. Proof?

It is known staff on standby travel can take an inop seatdepending on the issue) if they choose. Seeing someone in a seat marked inop doesn't mean they always had it "reserved" somehow.

Anyway the time it happebed to me, I was right behind the inop seat and it stayed unused because zero recline on a 16 hour flight.

 

[Flyinfish]

suggest you go through e-mail, and push the reasoning

I have been going through email. They are proving very intransigent and unhelpful. What are the odds that they would not honour either reserved seat on 2 separate flights? No change of plane. Different seat numbers. Reserved seat on first flight occupied by someone else. 'Operational reasons' then 'technical reasons'. Maybe the original seat bookings didn't register for some reason? Still no excuse for trying to weasel out of refunding SGD55.

 

[MrJetset]

Maybe not "broken", but reserved, but for which no one wants to admit its not broken, but someone has/had been assigned the seat.

I saw that the seat was tapes and the ground crew couldn't fix it.

I've also had 1A on the QF A388s become inoperable and had the crew move staff out of 1K or other seats for me. So I have witnessed all of these incidents myself.