How likely are Qantas to change Selected Seating?

[RedSMS]

Hey guys and gals,

Bit of a conundrum here, and I suspect this isn't going to work in my favour.

Besides travelling to my end destination (Boston,) I need to ensure a few things are correct before I book the last sector.

In June/July next year I will be travelling mel-syd SYD-LAX LAX-JFK jfk-bos JFK-LAX LAX-SYD syd-mel . ------> All the unbooked sectors are in lower case.

There are a few questions I would really like to ask before I book these legs.


1. I will hit 600 SC (Retain Gold) if/when I book mel-syd . jfk-bos and syd-mel (Prior to this my current bookings will see me at 570 (inclusive of SC Bonus but exclusive of a few 50% extra SC promo's)

So, that being said, the mel-syd and syd-mel won't be a problem as I can book them via the QF website. This will bring me to 590 SC's

The question is as follows (and here within I have the feeling that this isn't going to work in my favour

I am in actual fact flying to Boston, not JFK, but because I assumed it was fairly easy to do so at the time I booked SYD-JFK during a sale (then was planning to add jfk-bos at a later date.)

Now, If I head to the Qantas website (US) and punch in jfk-bos.... nothing comes up. (IE, ex AU, all the domestic legs to Boston all seem to go via LAX,SFO etc NOT JFK.

1A.Do I HAVE to make the booking on the QF website to receive QFF points and (PARTICULARLY) SC'S?

1B. If I make the jfk-bos booking on the AA website by entering my Qantas FF number (I am AA member also,) will I receive QF points and SC's?

1C. QF11 arrives into JFK at 16:40, according to the AA website, the only viable AA flight I could catch leaves JFK at 21:26PM.

1D.How can I make this JFK-BOS booking AND have access to the booking in my QF account?

1D. I notice that QF11/12 arrives/departs from terminal 8 at JFK, and so do AA DOM flights. I am QFF GOLD; Which lounge is better, The AA Flagship or the Admirals Lounge? And if so, what are the differences and what are the entry requirements?) I assume these are both in T8.

1E. Can I access both lounges since I am QFF Gold OW Sapphire?

1F. If I was on AA metal on an AA ticket, could I still access either lounges?

QUESTIONS REGARDING REFURBISHED A380 AND THE NEW PREMIUM ECONOMY SECTION

2A. Although I live in MEL, I decided to book SYD-JFK as at the time, the highly coveted 24A/B/J/K (Extra Legroom seats on non-refurbed A380's) were available for me to select at the time of booking, whereby ex MEL they were not. According to my booking, I have 24J (Aisle + Extra Legroom ) on SYD-LAX and 24A (Mum has 24B and she is Silver) on LAX-SYD, HOWEVER, I am assuming that by mid-late June 2020, most A380s will be refurbed.

My Question Regarding this is as follows, (QF Special Handling couldn't tell me this so I'm hoping that somebody here might have experienced this or actually know what the protocol is..)

If you have selected an extra legroom seat (IE 24A/B/J/K) and a customer service rep from QF has guaranteed you extra legroom seats, what happens when your allocated flight is on one of the refurbished birds with 25 extra people in the PE cabin and only 3 Extra Legroom seats (31D/E/F) IE

Who gets allocated these seats on QF11/12? I made my booking in mid-August and am Gold. At the time I made my booking the flight was basically empty...

I am fairly worried about this as with current config there are 4 Extra Legroom seats.... So this means that with the refurbed cabin, 1 person expecting an Extra Legroom seat will be shafted, and 1 other passenger will be stuck in the middle, with 31D and 31F next to them.....

2B. How do they determine who gets seat 31D (Aisle,) 31E (Middle,) and 31F (Aisle)?

2C. Does it have anything to do with Status? Date of Booking and seat selection? Your seat preferences in your QFF settings? Or whether you originally had 24B (Aisle) or 24J (Aisle)?

2D. Who gets shafted? For what reason? And Finally for anyone who has experienced the refurb in PE....

2E. Are the Extra Legroom Seats any good in comparison to the current (soon to be refurbed seats)?


I know this has been a long post but thank you so much for taking the time to read this!

With much appreciation

RedSMS

Hi guys, I really hope somebody has some recent experience with this as the main purpose of booking this nearly a year out is that I had finally reached Gold status and could see the extra legroom seats (They were always blocked off when Silver and below.) Flying to NYC (Then on to Boston and Providence RI for a conference in JUN 2020. Anyway, on the SYD-LAX leg, I am in 24J (Aisle) and am travelling alone, on the return QF12, I am in 24A (Mum is 24B - Silver.)

I have recently had 3 operations to remove a relatively deep Melanoma on my calf, which due to a skin graft failure has resulted in an awful wound that is causing me grief. (At least the surgeons completely removed all invasive cancer and as a further plus, I caught it early and the Melanoma did not spread.)

I also have an extremely rare, severe and painful genetic skin disorder which is caused by the same genetic mutation as Psoriasis. In the air,my skin becomes unbearably dry and extremely uncomfortable. I cannot afford the 8 or 9 Thousand that it costs to fly J to the east coast of the USA and back, but I can afford PE. Every 2 years, I travel to the USA for a conference organised by the Foundation for Ichthyosis and Related Skin Types (firstskinfoundation.org). It gives me the opportunity to participate in research into new treatments and studies. The best part about it is meeting others who have similar conditions to me.

I attended this conference (Hence flying QF A380 PE) in 2014 (Indianapolis,) 2016, San Diego and 2018 (Nashville) and also travelled to Europe last year on the A380 in PE. I was so relieved when I achieved Gold Status as I could finally grab one of the coveted extra Legroom seats. I was finally relieved that unlike In 2014, 2016 and last year, I wouldn't have to write to Qantas Special Handling explaining my case and hoping for the best. Note, they granted me and my mother 24A/B/J/K from MEL-LAX and LAX-MEL in 2014, the same for LAX-MEL in 2016 and also last year from MEL-SIN-LHR, but not on the return, unfortunately.

I booked these flights nearly a year out so I didn't have to go through all this trouble... and now Qantas has added 25 extra seats and taken away 1 extra Legroom seat from their PE cabin on the A380. I really need extra Legroom, ESPECIALLY on long haul flights. It makes me feel so much less uncomfortable and allows me to feel better more quickly upon arrival.

I have scoured the web for information on how the new Extra Legroom seats are allocated but to no avail.

My questions are below.


QUESTIONS REGARDING REFURBISHED A380 AND THE NEW PREMIUM ECONOMY SECTION

2A. Although I live in MEL, I decided to book SYD-JFK as at the time, the highly coveted 24A/B/J/K (Extra Legroom seats on non-refurbed A380's) were available for me to select at the time of booking, whereby ex MEL they were not. According to my current booking, I have 24J (Aisle + Extra Legroom ) on SYD-LAX and 24A (Mum has 24B and she is Silver) on LAX-SYD, HOWEVER, I am assuming that by mid-late June 2020, most A380s will be refurbed.

My Question Regarding this is as follows, (QF Special Handling couldn't tell me this so I'm hoping that somebody here might have experienced this or actually know what the protocol is..)

If you have selected an extra legroom seat (IE 24A/B/J/K) and a customer service rep from QF has guaranteed you extra legroom seats, what happens when your allocated flight is on one of the refurbished birds with 25 extra people in the PE cabin and only 3 Extra Legroom seats (31D/E/F) IE

Who gets allocated these seats on QF11/12? I made my booking in mid-August and am Gold. At the time I made my booking the flight was basically empty...

I am fairly worried about this as with current config there are 4 Extra Legroom seats.... So this means that with the refurbed cabin, 1 person expecting an Extra Legroom seat will be shafted, and 1 other passenger will be stuck in the middle, with 31D and 31F next to them.....

2B. How do they determine who gets seat 31D (Aisle,) 31E (Middle,) and 31F (Aisle)?

2C. Does it have anything to do with Status? Date of Booking and seat selection? Your seat preferences in your QFF settings? Or whether you originally had 24B (Aisle) or 24J (Aisle)?

2D. Who gets shafted? For what reason? And Finally for anyone who has experienced the refurb in PE....

2E. Are the Extra Legroom Seats any good in comparison to the current (soon to be refurbed seats)?





I know this has been a long post but thank you so much for taking the time to read this!

With much appreciation

RedSMS

 

[AustraliaPoochie]

On cheaper J fares, they will do it willy nilly.
I wanted window on the QF AKL BNE 330 plane.
PICKED 7a at booking, discJ...
Just because I was late in doing OLCI, they put me to 2f.
I asked the ISS guy at the gate, and no luck.
J cabin was chockers.
They really don't care about your preferred seat request.
Full J fare seat request might stick tho.

 

[Lynda2475]

Im fly SYD-HKG in PE on Boxing day and my flight is still showing as as A380-800, when i booked the flight back in Feb I selected 2nd row aisle in the mini-cabin upstairs (on both outbound and return flights). Logged on yesterday and found that on both flights id been moved to the exit row (which I deliberately did not select orginally as wanted to have my hand bag within easy reach under seat in front rather than the over head bin).

And of course the only other seat available is a middle one, so i need to stick with the exit row. At least on the return fligth I was able to move it back to 2nd row.

 

[Beano]

Qantas must have thought they were doing you a favour. Exit seats cost extra and highly sought after because of extra leg room.

 

[Lynda2475]

Qantas must have thought they were doing you a favour. Exit seats cost extra and highly sought after because of extra leg room.

That was my assumption too, but it is not always the case. Not a massive issue, i will just be sure to board early enough to get the bin above my seat.

 

[RichardMEL]

As an aside, another reason to book AA flights on the AA *US* website is pricing in USD is so much easier for AAgents to handle.

This one time, on the way to band camp, I had booked on the AU site for a flight (because I was stupid). For reasons need to make changes at the airport due to other factors, and because it was priced in AUD that caused the AAgents all kinds of conniptions (it shouldn't have mind you, but it did). Eventually sorted but it would have been so much easier if it wasn't.

Lesson learned, AA US site always for me.,

 

[eric2011]

1. I will hit 600 SC (Retain Gold) if/when I book mel-syd . jfk-bos and syd-mel

You wont retain Gold if/when you book your flight. You will only retain Gold after you have flown and the SC are allocated (usually 2 days to 1 week) Lounge usage in LAX or JFK wont happen if not actually gold on the day. The fact that you will become gold in the following days is not relevant

 

[Beano]

Does the flight cross over your anniversary date or do you land after your anniversary date? If so you may be in trouble. The critical issue will be whether your status appears on your boarding pass. If your gold is on the pass then you are OK. If you are using the app then it may also be preserved. I've foung SCs turn up quickly and I,ve heard comments on this site where PAX have left with one status and arrived with another, higher status.

 

[Sprucegoose]

2B, C, D: Randomness. The booking system doesn't seem to have any sort of preference of one person over another. As can be seen above Platinum, etc FFyers have been moved to the centre of the economy cabin downstairs when a refurb'd bird is swapped in. Given none of the seat numbers align then it is anyone's guess which seat you will get. If it is so important then setting up ExpertFlyer or a similar service with a seat change alert so that you can see if the flight changes in advance, and get the seat quickly before it disappears, if it is even available.

2E: If you look at the seatmap there is a bulkhead wall between the PE cabin and the galley. None of the seats along the front row seem to be 'extra legroom' or at least not as much as the old PE row 24. There are a scattering of news articles on the internet, some hopefully with pictures. You will be loosing legroom though by the looks of things

I have been allocated first row of Y on a 332 to change to 738, both seats 23B.

keep an eye on things as advised.