Now Boarding ... Chicken or Beef?

[milehighclub]

Does the passenger manifest show who is travelling on an award ticket?

It could, it doesn't by default, but we could find out if we asked the ground staff if we needed to know.

We see name, status, if you have paid to pick your seat in economy, any special meal or other service information (like meet and assist, wheelchair, authorisation for excess luggage or medical equipment etc). At the end of the list is your connecting flight information if you are checked through (even on another airline). Then there is a tally of spare seats, then the seat location of frequent flyers listed by Qantas status, followed by those who are with other airlines by their Oneworld status.

...or in a similar vein has received an op-up?

Many thanks

TH

I have seen it, but it doesn't always happen. I assume it depends on the way the upgrade is processed on the system.

 

[Sprucegoose]

I have seen it, but it doesn't always happen. I assume it depends on the way the upgrade is processed on the system.

yes especially if there are catering issues, it would be disclosed.

 

[Fifa]

It could, it doesn't by default, but we could find out if we asked the ground staff if we needed to know.

We see name, status, if you have paid to pick your seat in economy, any special meal or other service information (like meet and assist, wheelchair, authorisation for excess luggage or medical equipment etc). At the end of the list is your connecting flight information if you are checked through (even on another airline). Then there is a tally of spare seats, then the seat location of frequent flyers listed by Qantas status, followed by those who are with other airlines by their Oneworld status.

Wow, thanks for your answer and you covered lots of other things which I had always wondered too!!!

 

[harvyk]

I've been on a couple of catering not assured flights, however each time I still received a meal (or snack). How oftan do CNA pax miss out on meals, and is there any sort of list which the flight crew takes with them on the carts or are they simply told "don't serve 24D until everyone else has a meal"

 

[Jobu]

On an oversold flight, who decides which passengers are upgraded and what criteria do they use (assuming you have multiple single-travelling WPs)? Or does the system do it automatically?

On the passenger manifest, are there other categories of status marked next to names (other than CL, WP, SG, etc), such as VIP or CIP?

 

[serfty]

On an oversold flight, who decides which passengers are upgraded and what criteria do they use (assuming you have multiple single-travelling WPs)? Or does the system do it automatically? ...

I'm not sure an FA is able to answer that one with complete authority.

However, look at this thread and references to "Proactive On-load":

• http://www.australianfrequentflyer....-flyer-program/upgrades-26221.html#post370651

 

[737]

I've been on a couple of catering not assured flights, however each time I still received a meal (or snack). How oftan do CNA pax miss out on meals, and is there any sort of list which the flight crew takes with them on the carts or are they simply told "don't serve 24D until everyone else has a meal"

It would all depend on the catering figures and what kind of meal service. In economy it would probably not be as look at as much as in business, as there is much more catering in terms of raw numbers and more chance of having spares. Flights where people have CNA would usually be shorter flights and there would be more of a chance to have leftovers. On refreshment flights there is always left over, and on full dinner flights there is usually spare and due to a shorter flying time, we probably wouldn't have time to look. On longer flights (eg to PER) it may be taken into consideration because nearly all people eat and it depends on the catering load.

In Business it is different as there are less people, less catering (in terms of actualy numbers) so therefore not as much scope to move even with more than 100% onload. It would all depend again on the day and where they were seated. If they were seat in row 5, they would be 'last' to be served, so there would be no issue, however, if there were in Row 1, and catering was tight, the conversation might be had to come back to the passenger.

So overall, it is not much of an issue in economy, however in business class it is definitely looked at and depending on the catering load, seating position (and perhaps status) the conversation would be had by all crew in Business to determine what would happen. This is why some would have difference experiences to others when they have had CNA on their boarding pass.

 

[737]

On the passenger manifest, are there other categories of status marked next to names (other than CL, WP, SG, etc), such as VIP or CIP?

Sorry to start another post, just realised the second part of the question.

In terms of 'status' the only thing that is physically on the manifest is the tier level. (CL, WP, etc..). As mentioned before, if you have status on a oneworld airline, that will be displayed too. If there was a CIP/VIP on board, depending on the circumstances, this would be communicated to the CSM before the flight. However, there may be notes written by ground staff that will appear on the manifest, however rarely unless its an operational note.

 

[docjames]

Sorry to start another post, just realised the second part of the question.

In terms of 'status' the only thing that is physically on the manifest is the tier level. (CL, WP, etc..). As mentioned before, if you have status on a oneworld airline, that will be displayed too. If there was a CIP/VIP on board, depending on the circumstances, this would be communicated to the CSM before the flight. However, there may be notes written by ground staff that will appear on the manifest, however rarely unless its an operational note.

Who qualifies as a CIP/VIP? Not specific names, more positions (CEOs, Politicians, CL, other) or net worth to Qantas (ie. $$ spent or similar?)

 

[harvyk]

Does a FA \ CSM get tied to a particular A/C type like a pilot does? Or could an FA \ CSM switch between plane types (provided they have training for that type) in a single shift? Eg do a SYD-MEL run on a B767 then do MEL-CBR on a B737?

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Does the passenger manifest show who is travelling on an award ticket?

The OSL does not differentiate between pax travelling on a paid commercial fare in J vs an award ticket eg JASA.

If the CSM really wanted to know they could ask ground staff to check as the pnr would tell you.

...or in a similar vein has received an op-up?

This info doesn't automatically print out on the OSL (onboard service list) however should the crew want to a list of pax who have been op-upd ground staff can always print the regrade list (staff pax in J can be included on or excluded from this list).

The regrade list essentially shows people who are booked in whY in their Amadeus pnr but travel in J. This would include pax who do ODU’s on points in the QP plus pax who are op-uped by Yield Mngt 5 hours prior.

It would exclude pax who are travelling on J class award tickets eg JASA's booked in U class or pax who do points upgrades 24 hours prior as these bookings are confirmed in the Amadeus pnr.

 

[milehighclub]

Does a FA \ CSM get tied to a particular A/C type like a pilot does? Or could an FA \ CSM switch between plane types (provided they have training for that type) in a single shift? Eg do a SYD-MEL run on a B767 then do MEL-CBR on a B737?

As cabin crew we can be certified on more than 1 aircraft. As shorthaul crew are trained on 3 aircraft, they could indeed operate the example you gave. However some crew are only trained on 1 aircraft, for operational (and few other) reasons (like the A380 crew, or the London base when it was only the 747 flying)

When trained on a particular aircraft, it includes all the variations of that aircraft as well. For example A330-200/300 or 737-300/400/800.

Here is a list of the different crew bases, and what they are trained on:

Australian Longhaul Crew/Auckland Longhaul Crew/Tokyo Crew - 767/A330/747

Australian Shorthaul Crew - 767/A330/737

Jetconnect Shorthaul Crew - 737

London Crew - 747/A380

QantasLink crew are trained on the aircraft relevant to what aircraft they have.

In addition to that Sydney and Melbourne have dedicated A380 crew "pools". They are only trained on that aircraft (however some are 747 endorsed, as when the fleet was grounded they had the option to be retrained due to the extra 747 flying. They generally don't get any 747 flying though now, and can now choose to keep the endorsement, or lose it when they do our bi-annual recurrent training)

 

[ozbeachbabe]

On an oversold flight, who decides which passengers are upgraded and what criteria do they use (assuming you have multiple single-travelling WPs)? Or does the system do it automatically?

On the passenger manifest, are there other categories of status marked next to names (other than CL, WP, SG, etc), such as VIP or CIP?

Yield Management in SYD will look at domestic flights and generally do the regrades or op-ups 5 hours prior for domestic & approx 18 hours prior for international flights after they have actioned pax requests for points upgrades.

They would check the sort list so if you had say 10 WPs on the flight but only needed to op-up 5 it would rank the WPs in order of their PCV.
Check out Serfty's post for links to other threads on this topic.

Occasionally it may be necessary to op-up pax out of that order such as when they needed to op-up 2 commercial pax to onload 2 non-upgradeable staff into whY. A CL & wife were op-upd from 4BC into 1F & 2A but pax weren't happy they were separated so wanted to be put back in whY so they could sit together. Whoever was in 5EF went into 1F & 2A instead - not sure whether they were a couple or 2 individuals.

WRT CIP/VIP - this terminology is rarely used these days because someone's status eg WP really dictates that anyway. Besides any travel agent could enter CIP or VIP into their GDS booking so just because the comment was on the manifest didn't necessarily mean that the pax was important to the airline.

In the late 90's I worked for a GDS who was previously a travel technology company owned 67% by Telstra. As I did a fair bit of travel I was a QP member under the Telstra scheme. Apparently everyone's QP profile had "CIP - Telstra Employee" in it as I found out one day when checking in for a QF flight when the checkin agent said "so you work for Telstra do you" to which I replied "Christ no".

 

[Jobu]

Thanks Oz, that's pretty interesting. Surprising that the upgrades are a full 18 hours before for international flights, explains a lot! I'm curious as to how flight crew know which company I work for (been mentioned to me on a few occasions) and also they seem to have information on my next few flights, presumably for advising on connections? Cheers

 

[Jobu]

Also just to clarify, so Yield Mgmt in Sydney handles ALL upgrades, anywhere in the world?

 

[milehighclub]

Thanks Oz, that's pretty interesting. Surprising that the upgrades are a full 18 hours before for international flights, explains a lot! I'm curious as to how flight crew know which company I work for (been mentioned to me on a few occasions) and also they seem to have information on my next few flights, presumably for advising on connections? Cheers

On most international flights we get a handover form from the First class hosts. This lists all First class passengers (if there is First class) and all Chairmans lounge members (regardless of cabin) plus any other passengers that the hosts feel we need to know about.

We are told some or all of the following - their final destination, who you work for, why you might be travelling and also who you are travelling with if in different cabins, or not seated together if in the same.

 

[niemann]

I may as well ask the obvious. What are the best methods to increase your chances of getting an upgrade. Some say it depends on status, others say it is random, others how well you treat the check-in agent... I figure it doesn't hurt to ask, as yet I am yet to be offered an upgrade, even for a price. It might be because I travel on seamens tickets

The FA response is correct: QF does not upgrade people randomly. Like everything in life there's a system. In order of priority it is:

1. Pay for a J seat (!)
2. Use FF points and your tier status to upgrade (not guaranteed, higher tier = higher chance, and not all seats available in J are available to FFP upgraders. If they can't assure you a meal (because it's too late), they don't usually allocate the upgrade to commercial people. This can be a bit annoying for some, as many people would happily take the upgrade with a meal-not-assured note on the boarding pass. As staff, your upgrades happen around T-15, so your boarding pass usually has the note 'Meal Not Assured'. This meal thing is also why staff are preferentially seated at the very back of the J cabin (row 5 domestic 767)...gives the cabin crew a chance to meet commercial pax meal needs first, with leftovers for the staffies.
3. Work for the airline (and have a regradeable ticket, which is the norm).
4. Work for another airline (as above).
5. Be a high-tier member on an oversold flight - this might get you to premium economy on long haul. It's less usual to go from Y to J directly though, and there are usually enough platinums to provide this too before gold gets a look in.
6. Dress well. This is standard for all airlines. Discretionary upgrades are rarely made to people sloppily dressed. The 'richer' you look (in a discreet way, not that third-worlder bling look) the better.

 

[niemann]

LOL OZ at the old CIP/VIP SSR elements. I don't even know if they exist anymore, but they were completely useless and basically ignored by the airline because there was no quality control over who put them in eg. travel agents.

 

[niemann]

Also just to clarify, so Yield Mgmt in Sydney handles ALL upgrades, anywhere in the world?

Yes, correct. Even if eg. an airport manager overseas requests an upgrade for a pax, this is checked/managed/approved (in a way) by 'Duty Yield Ops Management' (DYOM) in Sydney. The vast majority of upgrades are processed automatically as part of points burn, no humans get involved.

 

[niemann]

The OSL does not differentiate between pax travelling on a paid commercial fare in J vs an award ticket eg JASA.

I thought the manifest had the fare class listed against each pax: from which you could tell if you knew the codes which was award or not (The award travel is booked in a separate class.) Maybe not, haven't seen one for a while. Staff are definitely listed, as the crew often need to tell you 'no food sorry'.