Choosing A Qantas Seat

[bertair]

I normally do not care where I sit when flying, but travelling on a holiday with my wife, she wishes to choose our seats.
Recently we booked a flight on line and she could not choose our seats until we had given our credit card details and locked in the flights, only to find we had to sit in the center and and were not happy as the flight was fairly full. If we had know, we would have chosen another flight as we were flexible. If we rejected the seats, we would have had cancellation fees to pay.
On a recent Qantas Link flight we could not choose our seats at all and didn't have seats allocated until check in. Our return seating was the same situation.
I tried to do an on line check in 24 hours before, but could not get seating that way either. Making an enquiry to Qantas Customer Relations, we were informed that most forward seats in the Dash 8 aircraft cabins are held for Business Class Pax ( there is no Business Class in these aircraft !!) or Gold Status & + members.
We are FF, but not Gold.I have travelled Qantas Business before, but didn't worry about seat allocation.
But now travelling with my wife I want to keep her happy in the seat as it wont be much fun with her grizzling for many hours about being unhappy with our seats.

Can a ECY or Business Class ticket be booked and seating chosen on line, whether Domestic or International some way or other prior to handing over the CC details and locking yourself into that flight ?
We are planning an International Business Class Trip and while we have many K100's of FF Points with Qantas, we are reluctant to use them unless we can choose our seats at the time booking.
I have travelled with Virgin a few times and unless I want exit row, I can choose my seats without cost at the time of booking.
Qantas could help if they wanted to I think, by making seat allocation less of a lottery when booking on line.

 

[Hvr]

Hi, yes business class seats can be chosen at time of booking. However, there are usually a few seat reserved for high status pax, for example on the A380 rows 11-13 (aka Emerald city) are reserved for WP and above.

But at T-80 it becomes a free for all with these seats being opened up for others to choose.

To see what seats are vacant prior to booking you'll probably need to use Expert Flyer or a similar program which others here will comment on as to their efficacy.

 

[TonyHancock]

Hi, yes business class seats can be chosen at time of booking. However, there are usually a few seat reserved for high status pax, for example on the A380 rows 11-13 (aka Emerald city) are reserved for WP and above.

Row 13 is available for selection by SG and above.....hence Emerald City is a bit of a misnomer - I prefer to refer to it as The Sapphire Shed.

 

[amaroo]

Row 13 is available for selection by SG and above.....hence Emerald City is a bit of a misnomer - I prefer to refer to it as The Sapphire Shed.

Doesn't depend solely on individual status either. We were auto allotted 4 seats in row 11 for our upcoming trip to LOTFAP.....1 x WP, 3 x SG If I had another 2 kids we could have taken out the whole row.

Pretty pleased with the auto allocation of all 4 sectors we're doing - didn't change any of them

 

[CaviAck]

As with QFLink, I think what they meant was forward seats are reserved for SG+ and pax booked in J on their itineraries and connecting to/from a flight that does have J. As for not being able to select seats with QFLink apparently it's so they can maintain weight distribution across the cabin. Although I don't see how that can be possible when you can just ask the desk at check in to see if you can move...

 

[JohnK]

If we had know, we would have chosen another flight as we were flexible. If we rejected the seats, we would have had cancellation fees to pay.

I am not going to weigh in to the seating question or the silly acronyms used.

One thing to note of very high importance.

If you book a flight and for some reason you are not happy with that flight then you have until midnight of the day you booked the flight to cancel it, change it etc.

 

[harvyk]

As with QFLink, I think what they meant was forward seats are reserved for SG+ and pax booked in J on their itineraries and connecting to/from a flight that does have J. As for not being able to select seats with QFLink apparently it's so they can maintain weight distribution across the cabin. Although I don't see how that can be possible when you can just ask the desk at check in to see if you can move...

This kinda makes sense (I'd always wondered why QFLink wouldn't allocate seats.
At checkin they have a pretty good idea how many people will be on the flight and where they will be seated. So moving a person around is unlikely to cause issues. Of course if it is they can always say "I'm sorry I can't move you" and that is that.

 

[SeatBackForward]

I normally do not care where I sit when flying, but travelling on a holiday with my wife, she wishes to choose our seats.
Recently we booked a flight on line and she could not choose our seats until we had given our credit card details and locked in the flights, only to find we had to sit in the center and and were not happy as the flight was fairly full. If we had know, we would have chosen another flight as we were flexible. If we rejected the seats, we would have had cancellation fees to pay.
On a recent Qantas Link flight we could not choose our seats at all and didn't have seats allocated until check in. Our return seating was the same situation.
I tried to do an on line check in 24 hours before, but could not get seating that way either. Making an enquiry to Qantas Customer Relations, we were informed that most forward seats in the Dash 8 aircraft cabins are held for Business Class Pax ( there is no Business Class in these aircraft !!) or Gold Status & + members.
We are FF, but not Gold.I have travelled Qantas Business before, but didn't worry about seat allocation.
But now travelling with my wife I want to keep her happy in the seat as it wont be much fun with her grizzling for many hours about being unhappy with our seats.

Can a ECY or Business Class ticket be booked and seating chosen on line, whether Domestic or International some way or other prior to handing over the CC details and locking yourself into that flight ?
We are planning an International Business Class Trip and while we have many K100's of FF Points with Qantas, we are reluctant to use them unless we can choose our seats at the time booking.
I have travelled with Virgin a few times and unless I want exit row, I can choose my seats without cost at the time of booking.
Qantas could help if they wanted to I think, by making seat allocation less of a lottery when booking on line.

The QF Website is pretty clear about seat selection:

Select Your Seat in Advance | Qantas

Available directly after booking at qantas.com, Advance Seat Selection is complimentary if:

• You are travelling on any Qantas operated domestic service.
• You are travelling internationally in First, Business or Premium Economy cabins.
• You are a Platinum, Gold or Silver Frequent Flyer or equivalent oneworld Frequent Flyer.
• You are on the same booking and travelling with any of the above mentioned travellers.

For all other customers on international flights, Advance Seat Selection is available online for $25 per flight sector. Bronze Frequent Flyers also have the option of redeeming Qantas Points to request a seat.*

 

[CaviAck]

This kinda makes sense (I'd always wondered why QFLink wouldn't allocate seats.
At checkin they have a pretty good idea how many people will be on the flight and where they will be seated. So moving a person around is unlikely to cause issues. Of course if it is they can always say "I'm sorry I can't move you" and that is that.

But what if every pax requests a seat further up front? (Maybe they allow status pax to move and only status pax?) And with the 717s is weight distribution that big an issue on a plane that big(/small)?

 

[harvyk]

But what if every pax requests a seat further up front? (Maybe they allow status pax to move and only status pax?) And with the 717s is weight distribution that big an issue on a plane that big(/small)?

Then I would expect they would handle those requests until weight distribution would become a problem.
Whilst I can't say for sure, I would expect the number of people who really care about where they sit (beyond aisle or window) is pretty limited.

 

[bertair]

The QF Website is pretty clear about seat selection:

"Available directly after booking with Qantas.com"
That is the problem as I see it. Surely seat selection should be available PRIOR to finalising Payment.?
Choosing the seat and paying a premium for the choice is not the problem.
What I wish to see is when go to the Qantas web site or any other airline's, I look for the aircraft type, and times, then if I can see what is on offer, then I can make my choice as to which day, flights, times etc I choose.
I have done this with Virgin for example without any hassle. If I don't like what I find, I look at other flights.
I think it reasonable that a customer, regardless of class, should see what they are buying, don't you ?

 

[blackcat20]

"Available directly after booking with Qantas.com"
That is the problem as I see it. Surely seat selection should be available PRIOR to finalising Payment.?
Choosing the seat and paying a premium for the choice is not the problem.
What I wish to see is when go to the Qantas web site or any other airline's, I look for the aircraft type, and times, then if I can see what is on offer, then I can make my choice as to which day, flights, times etc I choose.
I have done this with Virgin for example without any hassle. If I don't like what I find, I look at other flights.
I think it reasonable that a customer, regardless of class, should see what they are buying, don't you ?

A good point; I've noticed a lot of US airlines let you view seating availability before you book. Particularly useful if you are after a certain seat, whether its 80A/K on the A380 or even just an exit row.