Could I possibly ask a little advice?

[MatF]

Hi guys,

First post ... phew, here we go!

I'm hoping somone may be gracious enough to give me some feedback on a trip I'm planning - any tips, tricks, pitfalls, etc. I'm a bit new to all this Any help would be hugely appreciated!

Mrs MatF and I are planning an international holiday at the end of the year. My first time overseas (well, except NZ ...). We're off to Italy for a few weeks.

I'm a Platinum FF, I fly a fair bit domestically for work, but only small hops (the typical 1,000pt minimum type flights). I average around two per week.

Our plan is to fly from Melbourne to London and spend a few days there, then jump on the Eurostar to Paris and have a few days there, then work our way down into Italy for a few weeks. We then plan to fly home from Rome, with a couple of nights stopover in Hong Kong on the way back.

Anyway, a little impulsively, we jumped in and booked some flights the other night. I had a touch over 320,000 points built up, so we booked the following flights on points:

Melbourne to London, departing 7th Dec
QF0009, 7/12/10 (747-400) Melbourne to Singapore, Premium Economy (Z), seats 35A and 35B
QF0031, 7/12/10 (A380-800) Singapore to London, Premium Economy (Z), seats 34A and 34B

then

Rome to Hong Kong,
BA0559, 11/1/11 (A319) Rome to London, Economy (X), no seat allocation
CX0254, 11/1/11 (747-400) London - Hong Kong, Economy (X), seats 66A and 66C (these are apparently next to each other)
(couldn't seem to book a Rome - Hong Kong flight direct on points when we wanted it)

We've then purchased flights from Hong Kong home a couple of days later:

QF0128, 14/1/11 (747-400) Hong Kong to Sydney, Economy (L), seats 70K and 70J

I consulted seatguru.com, and have already completed the seat selections as shown. In economy on the 747-400's I've gone for seats down near the back, where the triple seats turn to double seats. Bit hard to tell which variant of the Qantas 747-400's we'll be on, but I think they look right.

My thinking is to possibly upgrade the final Hong Kong to Sydney leg to Premium Economy or even Business with points - I should have enough points by late in the year. One question though - I'm a Platinum FF, but Mrs MatF is a Bronze FF. Is it possible that I could be granted the upgrade but she wouldn't? (based on status?). That could be an issue (but somewhat amusing I suppose ...)

So ... does anyone have any thoughts? Have I made some huge blunder in my bookings? Any thoughts on my seat selections from anyone who is familiar? Anything else?

Many, many thanks!




Cheers,
Mat.

 

[ejb]

Hi MatF and welcome to AFF!

If you request an upgrade and your tix are linked you will both be upgraded or denied.

Others on AFF could comment on your seat selection better than I so I will leave it to them, however you can use the search function and there are plenty of threads about peoples favourite seats.

ejb

 

[winfred]

Those dates are just before or just after the peak period. As a WP (Platinum) member you should have a good chance of getting an upgrade on the HKG-SYD flight.

I would advise that you book only business or first class under classic award using your points as the value per point is much better.

 

[MatF]

Many thanks guys!

Any comments on seat selection at all?

Also, does anyone have any comments on Premium Economy vs Economy? Is it really worthwhile?

Cheers,
Mat.

 

[notzac]

Yes, it's really worthwhile. Longhaul whY on QF is fairly uncomfortable.

 

[straitman]

Yes, it's really worthwhile. Longhaul whY on QF is fairly uncomfortable.

Longhaul whY on any airline is fairly uncomfortable.

 

[notzac]

Longhaul whY on any airline is fairly uncomfortable.

Well, that's true as well. Though I'm told MH is quite respectable in whY, and VA also sounds fairly decent (well, except for their rude one-alcoholic-beverage rule).

I seem to luck out with cough seats, inedible food and indifferent service on QF in whY, so that's the basis for my non-recommendation.

 

[straitman]

I seem to luck out with cough seats, inedible food and indifferent service on QF in whY, so that's the basis for my non-recommendation.

notzac,

Are you related to JohnK :?:

I seem to get the opposite and generally have a pretty good run, so between Sue and I we obviously get JohnK and your share :!:

 

[MatF]

Hrmmm, starting to wonder if we should have just paid for economy all the way and used points for upgrades to business. Would have cost us a fair bit more than we've paid, but business all the way would be nice ....

I guess there's no guarantee we'd get an upgrade though - and hence we'd be stuck in economy.

Could still do it. Thoughts?