Is this a new charge by Qantas?

[markis10]

But I think you missed my point. The article states outright that if you get on last you have to find seats. WRONG!!!! Qantas gives you a seat when you check in. You do not find seats on a first come first served basis. So I stand by my statement that the article misunderstands the qantas process.

Yes I did miss your point, (just as you did miss the example I gave where it occurred in Y ).

In the 9 examples I have seen, two were resolved on the aircraft by the CSM in something of a mad scramble so to speak , obviously it was not a seating free for all but then again neither is QF a LCC as the article also infers!

 

[medhead]

(just as you did miss the example I gave where it occurred in Y ).

Not entirely as I thought I quoted the below post. Can only blame operator error that the quote didn't appear, and laziness for not reading the entire thread (to see the Y example) before replying.

I beg to differ, while nothing has changed in respect to seat allocation or the lack of it, customers at least now have the option to ensure that it's not a lottery that it normally is for non status pax. It's still been a regular occurrence to have the last minute seat shuffle so a family can sit together for me, the last one when traveling in J a month ago when I was paged in the J lounge.

Seats are not preallocated automatically, and when the aircraft hits limits for the allocations by pax the lottery kicks in.

 

[TheInsider]

In regards to international flights, familys or group bookings who havent selected their seat will be pre-allocated seats around -48 to -24hrs out from the flight. This is done manually by a staff member.

If bookings are not 'linked' we cannot seat bookings together as we don't know that these people are actually travelling together.
Children will generally always be seated next to their parents (or atleast one of them).

Passengers can choose to pay the $20 fee for their prefered seat, or simply it will be pre-allocated to them when the flight is being edited.

UMNR's will always be seated next to a female near the rear of the aircraft.

 

[Moody]

A few years back I was flying O/S with my family. It was with Qantas. I had previously rung them to request the 4 seats across the middle of the 747, and request a couple of special meals. It all looked good and the seat numbers appeared on QF.com and CMT.com.

At the airport I was told we were not seated together - i.e. they had split passengers on the one PNR. I asked why. They could not answer. I insisted on a row together and we ended up at the back of the plane.

Let me repeat this for those who cannot retain information. This was Qantas international about 3 years ago. Could people please stop confusing opinion with fact.

Maybe Qantas have improved their systems and would now never split up passengers on a single PNR or one where the PNRs have been linked. I'll believe that when Qantas tells me, not self-proclaimed experts on this site, and until then this particular "myth" is not busted.

 

[serfty]

Moody, it's like the Staff seating thread - there are rules but sometime these are not followed, either accidentally or deliberately.

 

[Pushka]

What airline was this; aside from WN (Who I have not flown), I believe seat pre-selection is generally available. On those USA carriers that I have flown, seat selection has always been available.

It was a flight from Las Vegas to LA!. It was actually a lot of fun. The flight was full, so quite a lot of people. There were four of us (2 Adults 2 Children) and each adult grabbed a child to at least get two seats together (one was a four year old). We ended up sitting OPPOSITE this Mexican family who had brought on their own Pizza, and they shared it with us like it was a picnic! Weird having people facing you (other than FA's) while flying. But it was like a Rugby Scrum trying to get onboard. This was in 1995.

Cant remember the name but it is a well known carrier.

 

[straitman]

A few years back I was flying O/S with my family. It was with Qantas. I had previously rung them to request the 4 seats across the middle of the 747, and request a couple of special meals. It all looked good and the seat numbers appeared on QF.com and CMT.com.

At the airport I was told we were not seated together - i.e. they had split passengers on the one PNR. I asked why. They could not answer. I insisted on a row together and we ended up at the back of the plane.

Let me repeat this for those who cannot retain information. This was Qantas international about 3 years ago. Could people please stop confusing opinion with fact.

Maybe Qantas have improved their systems and would now never split up passengers on a single PNR or one where the PNRs have been linked. I'll believe that when Qantas tells me, not self-proclaimed experts on this site, and until then this particular "myth" is not busted.

.... and one event does not make a trend.

I have been told specifically that they do 'try' to sit people together but things do go off the rails occasionally.

 

[oz_mark]

Let me repeat this for those who cannot retain information. This was Qantas international about 3 years ago. Could people please stop confusing opinion with fact.

Maybe Qantas have improved their systems and would now never split up passengers on a single PNR or one where the PNRs have been linked. I'll believe that when Qantas tells me, not self-proclaimed experts on this site, and until then this particular "myth" is not busted.

If by 3 years ago, you are talking September 2008, this is when Altea went live on international flights (after domestic had completed). All sorts of things were happening with seating at the time!

 

[nn31]

As someone who used to work for QF - this is the kind of article that we would dread reading in the morning, and know that the rest of the day would be filled with bored housewives/househusbands calling to yell at you and threaten that they had better all be seated together...

Any airline staff with half a brain will place everyone in one PNR where possible. Where not possible the bookings would be linked and comments placed. This is not just QF, it is every airline. But the key phrase is "Any airline staff with half a brain"... some are stupid, untrained, tired, or grumpy. I never once had a fragmented small group booking - and often would fix blunders made by other agents in the process.

I can also tell you it helps to treat airline staff with some respect. Talk to the res staff like cough and expect them to accidentally forget to link one of the PNRs. At check in, talk down to them and you might find yourself told that due to equipment faults or 'operational reasons,' that you are now seated right at the back of the aircraft, outside the busiest toilet, within 1 row of the UMs or if you're extra lucky: wedged between the fattest pax on the flight.

Know i went a bit off topic there, but situations where pax are broken up often leads to staff being treated like absolute cough.
If this option means this situation can be eliminated then I'm all for it. As long as it is sold the customers properly.

 

[rechoboam]

I can also tell you it helps to treat airline staff with some respect. Talk to the res staff like cough and expect them to accidentally forget to link one of the PNRs. At check in, talk down to them and you might find yourself told that due to equipment faults or 'operational reasons,' that you are now seated right at the back of the aircraft, outside the busiest toilet, within 1 row of the UMs or if you're extra lucky: wedged between the fattest pax on the flight.

While I always treat all airport staff with respect - my family used to be in the business and my dad seemed to know the ground staff well - that all seems a bit harsh to me. Travellers are rarely at their best due to hassles with kids, sleep/food deprivation, jet lag etc etc. Making their trip even worse is surely just going to lead to your colleagues in the air getting the brunt of it as well. If someone's rude to me at work (my clients are also, ahem, not at their best when they see me) I have no problem gently telling them to behave (in the nicest possible way) ..

 

[nn31]

...that all seems a bit harsh to me. Travellers are rarely at their best due to hassles with kids, sleep/food deprivation, jet lag etc etc. Making their trip even worse is surely just going to lead to your colleagues in the air getting the brunt of it as well. If someone's rude to me at work (my clients are also, ahem, not at their best when they see me) I have no problem gently telling them to behave (in the nicest possible way) ..

I'll keep it short so i don't get kicked for off topic haha -

There are tired, jet lagged and exhausted PAX- they are okay. you know they are and you try to help them. they usually are abrupt to you and a bit flustered, but (usuall0y apologise along the way - but those signs are something you train yourself to look for (if you are a good staff member).

Then there are the others that really, truly believe they are above anyone serving them. They speak down to them, threaten them, shout, ridicule and insult staff. THESE are the PAX who get 'special treatment.' QF is quite tame in this respect but have a chat to some of the airline staff in EU - esp the UK.

It comes down to this: Why in the world would you anger the people who are going to be in control of your life for the next xx hours/days?? They control your comfort, your drink, your food and to an extent your ability to sleep and ability to express bowl movements.


Back to this fee - the only danger i can see in it is if people book over the phone, res staff could be trained to push this onto PNRs with families. Not sure if travel agents would be able to req such a service but I can see some untrained or gullible agents pushing this on the customers also.

 

[rechoboam]

...
It comes down to this: Why in the world would you anger the people who are going to be in control of your life for the next xx hours/days?? They control your comfort, your drink, your food and to an extent your ability to sleep and ability to express bowl movements.
....

I don't know, but it's not confined to aviation. Take a look at the way patients let fly at their surgeons sometimes minutes before the guy is about to cut open their body and rearrange things. You'd think that everyone would be wanting their doctor in a nice and calm mood...

 

[Happy Trails]

It comes down to this: Why in the world would you anger the people who are going to be in control of your life for the next xx hours/days?? They control your comfort, your drink, your food and to an extent your ability to sleep and ability to express bowl movements.

They'd have their hands full trying to control my bowel movements.

 

[medhead]

They'd have their hands full trying to control my bowel movements.

Pun intended?

 

[straitman]

Pun intended?

The mind boggles :!: :shock:

 

[fdken]

This is a beat up. People on the same PNR are always seated together unless they arrive late. Qantas cannot allow people under 13 years to travel alone (and a seat on your own is alone) unless they have been tagged as such in the system. And when you try to upgrade with points it states that this applies to everyone in the same booking.

Well I had booked reward flights for my wife and I, 3 weeks ago, therefore same PNR I Imagine as they were on the same booking. I travel extensively, but usually on credit card points so no status. I tried to check in 22.5 hours before flight it was at 5:55am flight. I was allocated Row 52 and my wife 55 from memory. No other seats were available to move on screen.

I rang the frequent flyer number and they said as I had checked in I would have to try at gate. On dropping bags there was one seat closer (in Row 54).

I then checked with cityflyer desk and they moved me.

Therefore, I would say from experience you are not guaranteed a seat together if on the same PNR, however you should bloody well ought to be, I would have been pissed if it wasn't able to have been moved

Cheers

 

[nn31]

They'd have their hands full trying to control my bowel movements.

LMAO that made me laugh
thats what eye drops and other laxatives are for

 

[Zulaiha]

We fly quite a lot, and my youngest has air sickness in every flights, we too had been allocated different seats twice and another 2 times in different cabins in fact (flying all Y, but one in the front the other in the back cabin).

I personally never cared but always warned the cabin crew that my daughter has air sickness if they willing to cope with her than I am happy. 4 out of 4 times we were supposed separated, they put us back together

Edited to add:

my first experience was in fact with Qantas, I was nervous and angry at the check in staff that did not want to listen all she said was that the flight was full and there is nothing she can do!

 

[astrokid]

From iol.co.za

Qantas not kid(ding) around

"Would you pay a shed load of money just to sit next to your own child on a plane? It may sound like a silly question, but one airline is assuming you’ll do just that. When I heard the news that Qantas had started charging for parents to sit with their offspring on long-haul flights, I assumed it was a belated April Fool joke. But, sadly, to the chagrin of overwhelmed, overcharged parents everywhere, it’s true.
From now on, economy passengers on long-haul flights will be asked to pay $20 (about R150) per person per flight for its Advanced Seat Selection service. In case you can’t do the maths, this means that a family of four will need to shell out a minimum of $160 on a holiday just to ensure that they can travel together.
Why is the airline doing this? Because, as any no-frills airline will tell you, when you haven’t stumped up for priority boarding, are last to get on the plane, and can’t find enough seats to enable you to sit next to your kid, there’s no guarantee that you’ll have seats together.
Qantas is by no means alone in introducing a seat-selection charge. In fact, you’ll be hard pressed to find an airline that allows you to choose a seat in advance without clobbering you for cash in the process. But should it really be considered an “optional extra” to sit with your child? Should we really have to pay to be sure that our kids won’t have to spend the entire journey wedged between strangers at the other end of the plane?
Only a couple of months ago, a poll revealed that children were considered the most dreaded passengers of all. And various surveys have found that a rather depressing number of people support the idea that kids should be banned from flights altogether.
Just when you thought airlines couldn’t make it any more difficult to travel with kids, they went and found a way. Flying with children is never cheap or easy, and it’s certainly never fun. Add in the fact that you’re treated like some kind of social pariah every time you go anywhere near a plane – and that you’re charged extra in the process – it’s a wonder any of us do it at all. – The Independent on Sunday"

At least u can seat select now! U never used to be able to... Just link the bookings! and they will look after you

 

[Storyteller]

From iol.co.za

Qantas not kid(ding) around

"Would you pay a shed load of money just to sit ..snip..."

..snip...It comes down to this: Why in the world would you anger the people who are going to be in control of your life for the next xx hours/days?? They control your comfort, your drink, your food and to an extent your ability to sleep and ability to express bowl movements. ..snip...

snip..
thats what eye drops and other laxatives are for

Aspects of the conversation seem to be at full circle.