Pre flight information

[Stargazer]

I have noticed that some members seem to be able to find out information regarding their flight before takeoff. Two questions:

1.how can I find out what type of aircaft I will be flying on. (In reading some posts members have noted that the scheduled aircraft was altered after they had made their booking. Is there a web site where you can find out this information. (eg if flying QF is there a web site which provides this information)
2. how do you find out which seat you have been allocated (In reading some posts members have mentioned that they orginally booked in a particular seat only to find out they have been moved. Obviously this is important to know if you want a specific seat. Is there a web site which gives you this data (again use QF as an example).

Finally I noted the following on one past

We had booked in PE, and upgrade requests in for Business at the 90 day point,

What is the procedure to make upgrade requests:?:

 

[harvyk]

Depends on what airline you're flying on... On QF you can get basic type \ sub type just by clicking on the flight number in the booking page. Down the bottom it will have the type of aircraft scheduled to do that flight.

Some of the more serious members have subscriptions to expert flyer (or other such sites) which can also give information about specific aircraft (ie the rego number) of the aircraft scheduled to do the flight.

This can be really useful where the same type of aircraft has different in flight services, for example selecting any QF A380 \ B747 \ A333-300 will have AVOD and skybeds, however only some of the B737-800 and A330-200's have AVOD, and the chosen seating varies between the A332's. There are some people (myself included) who chose flights based on which aircraft is scheduled to fly the route.

To get upgrades, it differs depending on the airline but typically once you've booked into an upgradable class you log onto their frequent flyer portal and request an upgrade via their website. Some airlines will allow you to do cash upgrades. Others will only allow upgrades via points.

 

[mannej]

OT but all the QF 332's have AVOD

 

[Stargazer]

There are some people (myself included) who chose flights based on which aircraft is scheduled to fly the route.

Sorry for the stupid question coming up -- how do you find out which aircraft are scheduled to fly on a particular day. Eg. if have flexibility in terms of departure date and want a particular aircraft:?:

And is there a web site (eg Qantas) where you can find out about the different types of aircraft and what services/amenities they offer:?:

 

[richie9x]

There are several different ways.

Log into Qantas website. View your booking. Click the flight number e.g QF123 and it will pop up a window showing the aircraft type. Qantas will allow you to assign a seat if you are at least silver status and show you what seat you have selected.

https://www.checkmytrip.com/ is run by the people who make the reservation system that Qantas use. Enter your reservation number (booking reference) and your last name then you are given details about your flight including you seat assignment.

ExpertFlyer.com will show you information about your flight. They use to be subscription only, but now offer a cut down free service which can be useful. The main advantage of expertflyer is that you can check a flight before you have booked the ticket.

FlightStats.com will show you basic aircraft type for your flight.

 

[harvyk]

Sorry for the stupid question coming up -- how do you find out which aircraft are scheduled to fly on a particular day. Eg. if have flexibility in terms of departure date and want a particular aircraft:?:

And is there a web site (eg Qantas) where you can find out about the different types of aircraft and what services/amenities they offer:?:

After seaching on the qantas site for flights, click on the flight numbers and that will tell you what type of aircraft is scheduled to fly. You can do this prior to actually booking.
Qantas has some info about the different aircraft types here including seat maps - Onboard Seat Maps for the Boeing 747-400ER Extended Range Aircraft

Most flights are usually operated by a certain aircraft type, for example I know QF807 will always be operated by a B737, change of days won't do anything. That said there is a website \ document out there (sorry can't remember the URL) which lists out the routes by flight number and what aircraft they typically run on those routes.


You may also be interested in seat guru - Airline Seating Charts - Best Airplane Seats - SeatGuru which has some suggestions as to the best \ worst seats. Take their advice with a grain of salt, certain things which make a seat good \ bad may not be things which you care about.