Big development! Qantas seat selection!

[Ewing]

Certainly is back.

Noticed the following:

- QF011 SYD-LAX Premium Economy in August. Assigned 35J/K. E/F shows 39DEF available, but all other seats blocked or taken. Cannot select any other seat in "Select Seats". Seems like this is going to be a full flight in Y+ although E/F still says W9 T9 (overselling?)

- QF016 LAX-BNE J in August. Assigned 2J/K. I can choose from anything except for 4A/4K, row 1 or seats shown as occupied in E/F. Some "blocked" seats are unavailable in "Select Seats", but I can select most of them.

Domestic flights are all showing "Your flight is not eligible for seat selection however you can nominate aisle or window seat preference".

 

[simongr]

It is working for int'l flights though

 

[simongr]

- QF016 LAX-BNE J in August. Assigned 2J/K. I can choose from anything except for 4A/4K, row 1 or seats shown as occupied in E/F. Some "blocked" seats are unavailable in "Select Seats", but I can select most of them.

I guess the bassinets are blocked out

 

[Commuter]

Any idea what was fixed while it was down?

 

[simongr]

The distinction appears at this point to be between DOM and INT flights only.

 

[serfty]

Any idea what was fixed while it was down?

One thing that seems to have been changed is the ability to select specific seating on domestic flights.

On an AKL-MEL-AKL booking I can select specific seats for both segments.

On a AKL-xSYD-MEL-xSYD-AKL I can select a specific seat on AKL-SYD but not SYD-MEL.

I have gone no further as I was able to select seating on these domestic segments back when this was initially available for a day and these are still showing.

 

[serfty]

Interesting, comparing E/F with the seat maps being offered there are quite a few unallocated seats blocked.

These include those seat designated as handicapped accessible (showing as

). So there are almost no D seats available for on-line selection on 388's or 744's in WHY, even though most are currently unallocated.

 

[aus_flyer]

It won't even let me select seats for international

 

[MarcB]

I can access seat selection for all my international sectors, but DOM only gives me the standard Window/Aisle option. Concur with Serfty that there are differences between what is marked as available in E/F and what QF site shows. Interestingly, my travel agent could offer me better (i.e. closer to front) seats via their GDS that I could not select via the QF site on some international sectors. I also managed to get access to seats that were showing as 'blocked' in E/F by ringing Qantas and requesting them. So that is worth a try if you can't get what you want on line.

 

[MarcB]

I also thought I should add some comments about the the other discussion in this thread regarding status and seating. I fly fairly regularly for work and leisure and my seating is fairly consistent. I have a FWD WINDOW preference and I am rarely seated past the 6th row in economy - usually it is within the first 4 rows. I am QF SG and that does seem to help because when I slipped down the ranks to Silver, my seating suffered. A little trick I employ on every flight is to revisit the QuickCheck booth in the Qantas Club when the plane is called to board. At this stage, many of the blocked seats are released since check-in is closed, and I can often move further forward. Works well. As a point of interest, on the 4 international sectors I have this July and November, my seat allocation wasin the second row of economy - and this was what QF allocated. All seats in front of me are showing on E/F as blocked or allocated - these are "O" class so fare basis seems irrelevant. I note that on LAX/JFK and return, they started selling PE as economy and I managed to get an allocation in that cabin. I just hope it sticks!

 

[JohnK]

Domestic flights are all showing "Your flight is not eligible for seat selection however you can nominate aisle or window seat preference".

Thank God for some sanity. At least for the time being anyway....

 

[banger2]

HI All,
A little off track, but because of this thread I tried my next Mel-Hkg booking and indeed I can select seats. However, I am booked in Premium Economy, and the seat selection available says rows 23-26(with row 23 all blocked). Does anyone know if this means I have been upgraded to Business, as that is the Business Class section on a 747? My flight is a few months away in October. I was able to select a seat on the seat map, but I didnt complete the selection...
Thanks
Ashley

 

[serfty]

If the seating has a formation of 2x3x2 then they are Skybeds ...

 

[Ewing]

So, seems like it's being called "International Advance Seat Selection":
http://www.qantas.com.au/agents/dyn/qf/policies/MediaRelease180609.pdf
http://www.qantas.com.au/agents/dyn/qf/policies/FAQsIntlAdvanceSeatSelectn180609.pdf

No mention of domestic (although no complaints from me here; I always seem to get assigned good seats anyway and have never changed what I've been assigned even when using quick check).

 

[oz_mark]

Interesting that it also announces International Online check-in in the same release.

Edit to add:
Online Checkin page now says

Online Check-in is available for all Qantas and QantasLink domestic and international flights:*

• Domestic - between 24 hours and 1 hour before your flight departure.
• International - between 24 hours and 2 hours before your flight departure.

 

[futaris]

3. Who is eligible for International Advance Seat Selection?
Frequent Flyer’s who are eligible to use International Advance Seat Selection include
Frequent Flyers with Platinum, Gold or Silver status. Bronze, non Frequent Flyers or
oneworld equivalent Frequent Flyers travelling in the same booking as an eligible
Frequent Flyer will also be able to request their seat with the eligible Frequent Flyer.

A little ambiguous... What is a oneworld equivalent Frequent Flyer?

8. Is International Advance Seat Selection available to oneworld customers?
No. International Advance Seat Selection via qantas.com is only available to Eligible
Frequent Flyers; however equivalent oneworld tiers are able to request a seat via existing
channels

At least Oneworld tiers can still request a seat through the phone (I guess).

 

[chrisb]

Haven't we always been able to select seats via the phone or a TA? Is that going to go away for NB people?

 

[serfty]

A little ambiguous... What is a oneworld equivalent Frequent Flyer? ...

Emerald, Sapphire & Ruby ...

 

[parsonstrish]

The seat select came up this afternoon for each of my domestic flts. When I tried to select a seat, mess. came up with 'Your flight is not eligible for seat selection however you can nominate aisle or window seat preference'. This was for each domestic flt., business and economy alike and showed my preference of aisle.

My int'l flt. in Oct. allowed me to select seats, but I stayed with the ones I've already been allocated. The first two rows continue to be blocked.

As paying for all my flts, and already paying for qf, I'm wondering what the benefits of gold are. But with the world economy and other sad things happening in the world, I'm alive and well, so what does it really matter. Not much in the bigger scheme of things.
cheers

 

[oz_mark]

A little ambiguous... What is a oneworld equivalent Frequent Flyer?

At least Oneworld tiers can still request a seat through the phone (I guess).

I think they're trying to say that you have to be a QFF silver/gold/platinum member. Nothing else counts, not even the the top tiers in other oneWorld programs