Calling all QF gurus - will I get an upgrade??????

[love_the_life]

Isn't there a saying somewhere about booking the category you would be happy to occupy? Think it referred to cruises but is probably equally relevant to flying as well.

Probably should run now.

 

[mviy]

You will likely get the upgrade but probably no more than a day or two out from the flight.

QF has less than one flight a day on this route so last minute demand may be stronger than for some other routes. QF doesn't want to upgrade even a P1 at the expense of selling the seat.

 

[juddles]

love the life, I completely agree - book what you are happy with. Nothing else is guaranteed.
But, in this case, I am doing a one-off test to see if status actually means anything in the real world.

 

[juddles]

You will likely get the upgrade but probably no more than a day or two out from the flight.

QF has less than one flight a day on this route so last minute demand may be stronger than for some other routes. QF doesn't want to upgrade even a P1 at the expense of selling the seat.

Am not disagreeing with that, but it is, as you say, a fairly minor route. I doubt that they ever get 8 seats in J suddenly purchased in the last few days....

 

[Pushka]

You will likely get the upgrade but probably no more than a day or two out from the flight.

QF has less than one flight a day on this route so last minute demand may be stronger than for some other routes. QF doesn't want to upgrade even a P1 at the expense of selling the seat.

And it may be that no one is upgraded until the chances of purchase are pretty much ended.

Agree juddles it is frustrating.

love the life, I completely agree - book what you are happy with. Nothing else is guaranteed.
But, in this case, I am doing a one-off test to see if status actually means anything in the real world.

Guess you got the answer On the other hand non status passengers won’t likely be upgraded at all. It’s just the timing issue really.

 

[mviy]

Not only does QF not fly this route every day but there's not the competition that there is for some other routes. With some routes there's so much competition that pointy end last minute bookings would get spread amongst a number of airlines.

I'm sure the bean counters at QF have got a good handle on what level of last minute bookings there is a realistic chance of achieving every once in a while.

 

[juddles]

Not only does QF not fly this route every day but there's not the competition that there is for some other routes. With some routes there's so much competition that pointy end last minute bookings would get spread amongst a number of airlines.

I'm sure the bean counters at QF have got a good handle on what level of last minute bookings there is a realistic chance of achieving every once in a while.

Usually I defend the ability of the professionals. But in this scenario, I look to my own experience.
I have done SCL to SYD (or sometimes via AKL) over 50 times. There may have been one or maximum two of those flights where I did not see vacant seats in J. But on the rest, there were empty seats.

 

[Boca68]

Boca68 while I agree with you intent I would suggest you edit your post to remove the identification. PM's are probably best for that type of advice.

Well, he/she has already indentified themselves as a QF employee in other posts. I did a 2 second search of their posts. And the reason I say this is a friend of mine was fired for a similiar thing, I didn't know until afterwards what had transpired. Not related to QF in any way. If you search my posts you will find I have (sort of) indentified who I work for. (have to go wayyyy back!)

Anyway, no more hijacking the thread.

I'd say that juddles is almost certain to get his upgrade. They say up to 7 days, but T-72 (or less) is the usual, I feel.

 

[serfty]

 

[juddles]

serfty, this is what I do not understand with expertflyer - the above seatmaps show 22 empty seats in business - are these 22 seats available, or have some been bought but not "selected' or "assigned" yet??

 

[serfty]

Looking at the PE & Y loadings earlier posted they are planning to sell most seats.

Mainly Y ... And will upgrade as needed.

Please read the 'understanding' links I posted upthread.

 

[redwoodw]

serfty, this is what I do not understand with expertflyer - the above seatmaps show 22 empty seats in business - are these 22 seats available, or have some been bought but not "selected' or "assigned" yet??

It simply indicates that the seats are available for selection and not assigned rather than an indication of how many more tickets are available. Some people do not select their seats in advance hence this is not exactly a clear indication of loadings as such.

Look for the flight availability section in expertflyer to know the exact loading if you do have the paid version which is what serfty has posted above.

 

[juddles]

Looking at the PE & Y loadings earlier posted they are planning to sell most seats.

Mainly Y ... And will upgrade as needed.

Please read the 'understanding' links I posted upthread.

I read that - thank you! I think my confusion is more from the fact that these flights always have the split seatmaps. On EF I see that QF are offering J8C8D0I0 and LAN J2C2D2I0 - my interpretation of this would be that QF still have 8 seats available to sell in business in "their" allocation, and LAN have another 2 available in "their" allocation - so 10 actual business seats still up for grabs.

Anyway, thanks for the help and education!

 

[eric2011]

On EF I see that QF are offering J8C8D0I0 and LAN J2C2D2I0 - my interpretation of this would be that QF still have 8 seats available to sell in business in "their" allocation, and LAN have another 2 available in "their" allocation - so 10 actual business seats still up for grabs.

!

That is also how I understand how it works

 

[RooFlyer]

But, in this case, I am doing a one-off test to see if status actually means anything in the real world.

Given your height, this is a very bold and possibly uncomfortable experiment.

It would take more than one run to get a reasonably confident answer answer though wouldn't it?

Unless you do crack it consistently, I could never see P1 as worth it. When I was flying to Canada 4-6 times a year I went to Air Canada's P1 equivalent (I rested at QFF plat). Air Canadas FF scheme was terrible, but they treated their P1s like Gods.

 

[serfty]

To be clear, many if those seats arelikely going to PE or Y PAX.

 

[serfty]

To be clear, many if those seats arelikely going to PE or Y PAX.

How does this work?

An airline may find 30 seats on a flight still "unsold" a few days before a flight; 22 may be in J and W, with 8 in economy.

The airline will try to sell those 20 seats for whatever they can get. If in the above scenario they sell 19 of those at high economy prices they will initially be looking at having to upgrade at least 11 PAX as there were only 8 economy seats "left".

With Qantas, first they'll upgrade those who have points upgrades requested, W->J then Y -> W and then Y -> J to free up seats. If there are still too many PAX in economy they would normally look at each customer's value/status with Qantas and upgrade those at the top of the list, W -> J then Y -> W.

This situation can often be seen when there is a low fare bucket availability in Business/PE (J8 / W2) with seat maps showing a dis-proportionally low number of seat allocated in the actual premium cabins. e.g. J8 with only 22 of the 58 seats allocated.

I believe that in a day or so, the entire seat maps will open up for each airline - maybe that what holding Qantas back from the points upgrades.

 

[Must...Fly!]

ISTR codeshare inventory being released 72 hours or three days from departure, but I have no idea where I remember that from or if it's true.

 

[juddles]

....

I believe that in a day or so, the entire seat maps will open up for each airline - maybe that what holding Qantas back from the points upgrades....

Serfty, how will I know when this happens?

I am sure you are correct on this - after years of problems with seating requests etc only being resolved in the last day or so, I am sure that there are huge restrictions on both parties in these codeshares....

 

[Anna]

I once had an upgrade request on this route as a WP from Y+ to J. It was denied. I then had to sit at the front of Y+ looking at all the empty seats in J (J was at least half empty from what I could see). Apparently QF are not allowed to use any of the seats that are allocated to LAN, even when LAN has not sold them and is not using them and even when QF wants to use the seats to upgrade their higher status pax. That's what I was told anyway.