Qantas A220 seating charge - is this a scam?

[Layslow]

Am travelling to Canberra to Melbourne Thursday and just went in (with just over 48 hours to go) to see if I could get a better seat on board the A220. I noticed this is now what Qantas are charging another $30 from row 4-9, A&C - are they serious.? Am Plat if that is worth anything....

 

[TheInsider]

Not a scam, they are extra leg room seats.

 

[oz_mark]

They are extra legroom seats. Compare the left and right hand sides of the plane.



Only Platinum one members have the fee waived.

 

[levelnine]

Is it the case that they never open these seats up for free? Even at T-80?

 

[elanshin]

Is it the case that they never open these seats up for free? Even at T-80?

Not at T-80 but at T-24 on check in.

 

[clifford]

Yes, but how much extra legroom? It's not as if they're exit row seats.

I wasn't aware of this, so in future I'll stick to Virgin's 737's in YX, rather than go with the 220 in Y, whenever possible.

UA, for example has extra legroom seats which are at no additional cost to Mileage Plus Elites. But good old Qantas won't do the same thing for its Plats, just another ploy to fatten the profit, and water down QFF benefits overall.

I guess we'll find out how bad in the next little while.

 

[RichardMEL]

This has been discussed in the original A220 thread and pointed out in some of the youtube reviews - the space is significant. No, not exit row, and not worth the charge imo, but it is absolutely better than standard Y.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Just worth pointing out that anyone can book row 4 for a fee at time of booking.

It’s no longer restricted to P1 (although FOC for us).
I’d imagine if it’s successful may end up getting rolled out to mainline

 

[NM]

I would not pay $30 for a CBR-MEL flight to sit in those seats. Some might consider that good value and choose to pay it. For a BNE-MEL flight I *might* consider paying $30.

 

[encryptededdy]

I just wish they opened them up (free) to status members first before check-in. Maybe 48h?

 

[elanshin]

I think this is honestly a case where they haven't thought it through the implementation properly.

Likely just wanted to use the existing exit row flag in the system. But if this is more of the norm going forward (lets say a321s also have extra rows of extra leg room) then they might need to rejig the whole thing a bit.

 

[oz_mark]

I think this is honestly a case where they haven't thought it through the implementation properly.

Likely just wanted to use the existing exit row flag in the system. But if this is more of the norm going forward (lets say a321s also have extra rows of extra leg room) then they might need to rejig the whole thing a bit.

The system can distinguish between exit row seats and extra legroom seats.

 

[clifford]

The system can distinguish between exit row seats and extra legroom seats.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. Perhaps you could elaborate.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays out vs VA. Just had a look at EF for tomorrow (when I'm flying VA CBR-MEL) and the loadings are somewhat in VA's favour.

If Qantas is happy for that to continue they'll keep charging WP's $30 for a forward LHS seat. Good luck to them. Might capture the Public Service, but elsewhere?

 

[oz_mark]

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. Perhaps you could elaborate.

Not all extra legroom seats are exit rows. If you select an exit row seat, you will get the exit row text. If it's not an exit row, you don;t. So to say they have reused the exit row flag to indicate extra leg room is not correct

 

[Fergo747]

I’d imagine if it’s successful may end up getting rolled out to mainline

If that is the case then that's further devaluation of P1 as I can just be a non status pax and purchase the seat. A few $30 'upgrades' throughout the year is a lot less than flying to attain P1!

 

[downgraded]

If that is the case then that's further devaluation of P1 as I can just be a non status pax and purchase the seat. A few $30 'upgrades' throughout the year is a lot less than flying to attain P1!

Extra leg room seats don't appear to be a published P1 perk - preferred "upfront" seats are, but not extra legroom. Given QF has never really had cabin configurations that had any meaningful extra legroom seats except for safety or logistical reasons, it is not really something that has been taken away if wasn't explicitly offered in the first place.

 

[Fergo747]

Extra leg room seats don't appear to be a published P1 perk - preferred "upfront" seats are, but not extra legroom. Given QF has never really had cabin configurations that had any meaningful extra legroom seats except for safety or logistical reasons, it is not really something that has been taken away if wasn't explicitly offered in the first place.

Disagree. Not wanting to speak on PF's behalf, I would assume she is referring to something like Row 4 on the 737 (similar to row 11 on A380). They do have extra legroom and are only able to be selected until T-80 by P1's (FOC). If this was removed and opened up to the public for a fee, then that would diminish that benefit

 

[Princess Fiona]

Disagree. Not wanting to speak on PF's behalf, I would assume she is referring to something like Row 4 on the 737 (similar to row 11 on A380). They do have extra legroom and are only able to be selected until T-80 by P1's (FOC). If this was removed and opened up to the public for a fee, then that would diminish that benefit

Agreed. Access to best seating is a published benefit of P1.
If it’s available to randoms for a fee then that’s a benefit that has been diminished.

 

[downgraded]

Agreed. Access to best seating is a published benefit of P1.
If it’s available to randoms for a fee then that’s a benefit that has been diminished. View attachment 373929

I stand half corrected - the above blurb is for international, not yet an A220 service.

 

[Jersey]

Not a scam, they are extra leg room seats.

Shows how some people are gullible If airlines including Qantas had not had extra seats added to these aircraft then passengers may have had more comfort of course no leg room is ok if the person is only 1.400 tall .