Anecdotal seat allocation

[thegurio]

Many of you would know of my quest for silver this year. Because of this and circumstance I have changed from getting blue saver fares to flexible ones lately. I am currently 4 months into my membership year and I'm almost halfway there instead of being about 20% there so you could say I've been moving up the rankings so to speak...

One thing I have noticed since my new year membership wise, is that I have been seated further up the front than normal... I have never been behind row 11 and normally I have been getting 3 or 4. Before this year i was always 18, 22 etc and never in front of the exit rows. Am I reading too much into this or does this happen to other people? Is seat allocation loosely based on cost of seat etc?

The reason why I ask this is because I am going to BNE Friday with a bunch of people for an actual holiday and there is 12 of us. 3 if which haven't ever been on a plane before (I didn't think these people existed! ) I was wondering if, now that I have put all of our bookings together, whether they will drag me back or I will drag them forward up the b*s?

 

[comint]

Am I reading too much into this or does this happen to other people? Is seat allocation loosely based on cost of seat etc?

Based on my experience, Virgin Blue assigns "choice" seat allocation based on Fare paid. (Although I have never failed to get a "window/aisle" allocation, as per my profile, I've got poorer results in terms of "forward" seats.) At this time (I note they are introducing new systems soon) I do not believe status impacts allocation (like it does at Qantas). The only way I have experienced status impacting allocation at Virgin Blue, in terms of seat assignment, is to human check-in at the Priority Line.

I too am interested to hear others experiences.

 

[Davos]

Hi All,

DJ Seating allocation is based on fare paid not status. I am velicity Gold and still get default seating row 22 and beyond. I normally fly on "Blue saver" airfares. I questioned this with DJ and that was their reply.As already mentioned there is a new system in the wings that will give priority to frequent flyers, and you can ask at bag drop, Lounge etc for a forward seat. I generally find i cant get any further forward than row 11 when checking in online.

 

[jakeseven7]

Hi All,

DJ Seating allocation is based on fare paid not status. I am velicity Gold and still get default seating row 22 and beyond. I normally fly on "Blue saver" airfares. I questioned this with DJ and that was their reply.As already mentioned there is a new system in the wings that will give priority to frequent flyers, and you can ask at bag drop, Lounge etc for a forward seat. I generally find i cant get any further forward than row 11 when checking in online.

im a gold too - and its like a lottery for me

but good news that a new system is on the way to give us some recognition! thanks for letting us know.

 

[JohnK]

As already mentioned there is a new system in the wings that will give priority to frequent flyers, and you can ask at bag drop, Lounge etc for a forward seat.

One would hope that it is not the same as the check-in system Qantas implemented in July last year. I am getting worse seat allocations now than what I was getting 12 months ago. Same status, same red e-deal airfares, new check-in system....

 

[oz_mark]

im a gold too - and its like a lottery for me

but good news that a new system is on the way to give us some recognition! thanks for letting us know.

I imagine if there is such a thing, it will be an enhancement to the existing system. Can't see them replacing the current system.

 

[jakeseven7]

I imagine if there is such a thing, it will be an enhancement to the existing system. Can't see them replacing the current system.

uh... ok pity because it feels like there isn't a system at all IMHO

 

[oz_mark]

uh... ok pity because it feels like there isn't a system at all IMHO

Checked this out a bit - there may actually be a new system coming. I had thought that it was done, but seems it is still in the wings.

 

[Davos]

Hi All,

Below is a portion of the reply i received from Virgin regarding my questioning of why as a Gold member i always get assigned at the back of the bus.

"I can assure you we are looking at ways to better recognise our Gold Velocity members who should be given priority. When we introduced the online check in system, we didn’t have any Silver and Gold Velocity Members so we are yet to implement a new system to cater for our loyal guests. This is something that is going to be addressed internally. I thank you for providing this feedback as it is the only way we can ensure changes are made.

We do endeavour to seat gold member guests in their preferred seats, however when a guest checks in online or at a kiosk only a selected portion of seats is made available depending on the fare you wish to purchase."

 

[docjames]

Well, I guess it implies you can ask for a better seat at the counters at the airport, but you're stuck if you checkin online.

I'd say: Pick the best seat you can online, then try and get it changed at the airport is your only option currently.

They sure need to move to a system to recognise their premium fliers.

 

[Davos]

Always check in online,i look for an aisle seat where the window seat is already asigned in the hope that the middle seat will remain empty for the flight - depends on the flight but i have a 40-50% strike rate. Trying to get a seat futher forward at the airport would wipe that chance out in most cases. Im not going to ask the lounge staff to find me an aisle seat with an empty middle seat, think its a bit much... I used to always ask for exit rows and generally always get them, but found that there were always two other big guys sitting beside me so although there is good leg room (at 6'3 this suits me) the elbow room was tight to say the least, i dont bother with exit rows anymore....

 

[thegurio]

Well that answers that question... Just checked in and they dragged me down the back other b*s. Not happy but still, I found out that the new system is all but implemted now and they'll recognize silver and golds and upgrade them to pe.

 

[crazydave98]

hold your horses - the new reservations system will not be implemented until the end of this year - we only just made the decision on which new system/vendor. Also there is no guarantee yet that we will automatically upgrade Velocity Gold and Silver to PE seats although it is certainly something we are evaluating.
cheers
CrazyDave98

 

[thegurio]

hold your horses - the new reservations system will not be implemented until the end of this year - we only just made the decision on which new system/vendor. Also there is no guarantee yet that we will automatically upgrade Velocity Gold and Silver to PE seats although it is certainly something we are evaluating.
cheers
CrazyDave98

Sorry CrazyDave98, I was writing that whilst hurrying trying to line up for the flihgt etc. I should have said that on an oversold flight they were looking at upgrading Silvers and Golds to get a few spare seats down the back. But what the nice FA told me was that it was already up and running. But mind you its not like all of my guys know whats going on up the top so that is to be expected i guess.

Still its good to see that some sort of recognition is in the wings. I know for myself that priority boarding is enough for me to try and get there but to have upgrades and the like is always good.

 

[oz_mark]

Sorry CrazyDave98, I was writing that whilst hurrying trying to line up for the flihgt etc. I should have said that on an oversold flight they were looking at upgrading Silvers and Golds to get a few spare seats down the back. But what the nice FA told me was that it was already up and running. But mind you its not like all of my guys know whats going on up the top so that is to be expected i guess.

I wouldn't worry - I thought it already was up - but then when I looked into it, discovered it was still a coming attraction

 

[Flashback]

hold your horses - the new reservations system will not be implemented until the end of this year - we only just made the decision on which new system/vendor. Also there is no guarantee yet that we will automatically upgrade Velocity Gold and Silver to PE seats although it is certainly something we are evaluating.
cheers
CrazyDave98

True that, I know someone working on the project

 

[jakeseven7]

Also there is no guarantee yet that we will automatically upgrade Velocity Gold and Silver to PE seats although it is certainly something we are evaluating.
cheers
CrazyDave98

please dave! surely its better than them gathering dust