Linking bookings and seat selection

[Tooner]

Mr & Mrs Tooner are travelling with the 3 little Tooners to JFK in March, all booked, paid for and seat selected (carefully - to ensure no poor unsuspecting passengers will be in any danger of having their seat back kicked).

Mother-in-law will also join us on the flight on the way over to assist, but was booked separately (even though by me), and is starting from BNE, not SYD.

If we both ring QF and link the bookings, would I then be able to select a seat for her close to or next to us on-line, or would I only be able to request via the service centre.

Any experience with this?

Thanks

 

[serfty]

You best best is to call Qantas Premium and discuss. They are generally only two happy to help.

(Call during normal East coast business hours and Saturday mornings to get "Qantas premium", Outside of these hours the quality of the service can vary greatly.)

 

[cryan]

Good luck with that - I am travelling with Mr Cryan Melb ( FF of 20 years) to Lond late March with Q - all booked and paid for and careful seat selections in economy last November- yesterday i noted that the seats on the A380 leg ( Sing to Lon) were now showing us as unallocated.
Rang Q and was told " we can not guarantee seat selections" so we have now been allocated some very ordinary seats.
very disappointing and a complete waste of time when they can just change it at whim.

I hope you have better luck, when I flew to USA with the 3 little cryans they did at least seat us altogether.

 

[straitman]

Good luck with that - I am travelling with Mr Cryan Melb ( FF of 20 years) to Lond late March with Q - all booked and paid for and careful seat selections in economy last November- yesterday i noted that the seats on the A380 leg ( Sing to Lon) were now showing us as unallocated.
Rang Q and was told " we can not guarantee seat selections" so we have now been allocated some very ordinary seats.
very disappointing and a complete waste of time when they can just change it at whim.

I hope you have better luck, when I flew to USA with the 3 little cryans they did at least seat us altogether.

This happens, for obvious reasons, if there is an aircraft substitution. Did your allocated aircraft change :?:

 

[MelUser]

My own experience about notes in bookings linking passengers seems to be ignored by airport control.

This happened last year 5 pax, 3 separate bookings. QF were unwilling/unable to sit us together in Premium, then upgraded to Business and split all over the plane - front, back, upstairs downstairs.

Even at the airport staff seemed unable to do much and then at last minute in lounge was sorted to about 80% of my satisfaction.

My own view is that as more and more of the aircraft is preseated - Qantas's customer feedback is telling them that is what people want - then it will harder and harder for different bookings to be seated together.

Indeed it may well end up down the path of American Airlines where nearly 100% of the plane is preseated.

I have found myself seated away from travelling partners on AA where we have been on the SAME BOOKING on a number of occasions.

I think a phone call to the Premium Desk where you get the premium desk proper helps. They will phone "airport control" and get them to do things that would normally be not possible.

 

[cryan]

No - our aircraft has not changed - we had seats 50 A and 50 B on the A 380 and they were removed from my booking and I was unable to get them back, a call to Qantas confirmed that.
I guess its the luck of the draw, i wished i hadnt wasted my time though.

 

[straitman]

No - our aircraft has not changed - we had seats 50 A and 50 B on the A 380 and they were removed from my booking and I was unable to get them back, a call to Qantas confirmed that.
I guess its the luck of the draw, i wished i hadnt wasted my time though.

Maybe an A380 with a different seating configuration if such actually exists.

Other than that I have no idea and have never had the problem.

 

[kiwial]

No - our aircraft has not changed - we had seats 50 A and 50 B on the A 380 and they were removed from my booking and I was unable to get them back, a call to Qantas confirmed that.
I guess its the luck of the draw, i wished i hadnt wasted my time though.

Perhaps they were load balancing the aircraft and you were unfortunate to have been chosen for the weight redistribution exercise? Too many people in one area affects the aircraft trim for take off.

 

[oz_mark]

50A/B/(C) is a bassinet position, so perhaps something has happened with that.

 

[Tooner]

An update: Rang Qantas Premium and spoke to a nice lady who told me I can't necessarily link our bookings and then select seats online, but she'd see what she could do. After initially sayinh there were no seats near us (we've taken 40ABCDE) she rang "seating" and got 40F for the MIL.

Into the bargain, MIL got 53H on the way back from SFO (she isn't flying back with us).

Time will tell whether we all end up together, given the MIL will check-in in BNE rather than SYD.