Qantas Increases Legroom Charges; Changes to Row 4 selection on most 737 flights

[Kendall Roy]

I predict t24 will be the new t80. I can't see THAT many people paying for the privilege. T24 at OLCI it should be FFA

With a head start for those with prior connecting legs on the same PNR!

 

[henrus]

If VA's Economy X is anything to go by:

- On longer routes like stuff to/from Perth Row 4 will be paid for and snapped up quickly meaning worse off for Plat One/CL.
- On leisure routes row 4 will be snapped up by people who travel once per year, see Row 4 as paid for seat selection and select it at booking 10 months out, meaning worse off for Plat One/CL.
- On the golden triangle this will be the only one where the T24 will be useful and probably a benefit to those P1's/CL who book last minute but more than 24 hours out.

 

[eminere]

I predict t24 will be the new t80. I can't see THAT many people paying for the privilege. T24 at OLCI it should be FFA

One can hope.

 

[mbell1510]

Gold frequent flyer here and very disappointed by this news as someone who has benefited pretty much every time on the golden triangle by selecting Row 4 at T80.

While Qantas is touting it as great for P1 and chairman's club flyers, it is very much a devaluation of those unwritten but very welcomed benefits.

I wonder if T80 will still exist for other rows not previously selectable for flyers?

 

[opusman]

"Instead, the airline argues this change will favour Platinum One and Chairman’s Lounge members by reducing the T-80 grab for primo seats at no extra cost."

Lol, P1 and CL can nab row 4 at time of booking.

 

[hugo99]

Nicer in some respects, but not in all

View attachment 377143

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Typical grubby, worn-out lounge experience. Surely they’re not operating these places at a loss?

 

[RichardMEL]

I might be an entitled P1 w*nker, but I agree this is so poor.

I've written before that I've always thought exit rows and extra legroom seats should be free for Gold+. It would be more consistent with partners, and give more value to Gold and make it something potentially worth chasing (apart from lounge access, bags, priority etc of course).

I absolutely see the dissatisfaction and really think this is poor of QF.

Also the optics are absolutely terrible here. They are touting it as a plis for O1 and CL? So Hudson comes out six months ago and says oh we're all about our customers now and make it better. Now? Our top < 1% of flyers get rgis perk. Rest of you pay up? Really? Horrible message to send to your membership imo - and seemingly I benefit. Nah QF.. you stuffed this one up bigly.

This devalues the mid tiers imo. Is Gold still the sweet spot? Jury is spending more and more time imo.

 

[dylarr]

This just seems nickel-and-dimey and removes something that made the travel experience just a little bit better. Thanks Qantas!

 

[ksthommo]

Disappointing decision, when I do fly Qantas, loved the opportunity to select row 4 at T80.
Another perk down the gurgler, same as classic rewards availability, none, unless Jetstar flies the same route,
Qantas will let you have that one. Then pay extra for seat selection etc.

 

[madrooster]

Wouldn't this in theory not benefit P1/CL as anyone could pay for the seat now. Your average flyer will book generally earlier than your P1s unless its DSC season.

That being said, most exit row seats aren't booked on short haul legs so maybe they think there's biters at 3-4h distance?

There are no changes to the timing of what rows are visible and when. It will still be T-80h when row 4 would potentially but not always become visible to a platinum/gold/etc.

The mix of status pax and their PCV scores on the flight will continue to determine what rows are visible, eg. on a elite-lite flight, row 4 will likely be visible to most if not all pax, whereas on a elite-heavy flight, row 4 may only be visible to P1 or a high PCV platinum.

The key change for non-P1/CL/CLP1 pax is that instead of row 4 being free to select at T-80h, it is now chargeable.

Depends if they hold back R4 for sale til T-80...

Oh reading the article, apparently they are.

As per above, yes, row 4 will remain blocked to platinums and below until T-80h.

Just checking, but is there any other airline that charges their OWE members for extra leg room seats? Heck JL lets OW Ruby select that for free.

QF - yes (only P1 get them free)
BA - no (emerald and above get them free for long haul, sapphire and above get them free for short haul)
AA - no if you're a JL/QR/BA/AA/IB/AS/AY elite (sapphire and above get them free), yes otherwise
JL - no (ruby and above get them free)
CX - no (sapphire and above get them free)
MH - yes (only MH platinum gets them free at OLCI)
AY - no (emerald and above get them free)
QR - no (sapphire and above get them free)
UL - yes (no one gets them free)
AS - yes (only AS/AA elites get them free)
IB - no (sapphire and above get them free)
AT - no (ruby and above get them free)
RJ - yes (no one gets them free)

I predict t24 will be the new t80. I can't see THAT many people paying for the privilege. T24 at OLCI it should be FFA

That is my expectation of what will happen, although it won't be a free for all. It will still be gated by the status/PCV-based seat blocking depending on how elite-heavy the flight is.

Given that the status/PCV-based seat blocking is already in play at T-80h anyway, I'm not expecting a huge shift in row 4 availability. The timing will simply move from T-80h to T-24h.

With a head start for those with prior connecting legs on the same PNR!

Correct.

If VA's Economy X is anything to go by:

- On longer routes like stuff to/from Perth Row 4 will be paid for and snapped up quickly meaning worse off for Plat One/CL.
- On leisure routes row 4 will be snapped up by people who travel once per year, see Row 4 as paid for seat selection and select it at booking 10 months out, meaning worse off for Plat One/CL.
- On the golden triangle this will be the only one where the T24 will be useful and probably a benefit to those P1's/CL who book last minute but more than 24 hours out.

This won't happen - see the start of this post.

Gold frequent flyer here and very disappointed by this news as someone who has benefited pretty much every time on the golden triangle by selecting Row 4 at T80.

While Qantas is touting it as great for P1 and chairman's club flyers, it is very much a devaluation of those unwritten but very welcomed benefits.

I wonder if T80 will still exist for other rows not previously selectable for flyers?

There's no other changes to T-80h other than the fact row 4 will be chargeable between T-80h and T-24h. This period will still be subject to status/PCV-based blocking controls.

 

[opusman]

This devalues the mid tiers imo. Is Gold still the sweet spot? Jury is spending more and more time imo.

QF are clearly moving more and more towards the only real benefit of mid-tier status being lounge access and increased baggage allowance. All the other little niceties of both Gold and WP are gradually being whittled away.

 

[RichardMEL]

Thanks @madrooster - really informative on a number of items.

 

[PERLHR]

BA - no (emerald and above get them free)

Sapphire and above get them for free for sure on BA metal.

AY - no (emerald and above get them free)

Sapphire and above get them for free if I remember correctly.

lanshin said:
Just checking, but is there any other airline that charges their OWE members for extra leg room seats? Heck JL lets OW Ruby select that for free.

 

[AIRwin]

As someone who isn't a P1, who lives in 4A/K when travelling in economy

4F

 

[madrooster]

Sapphire and above get them for free for sure on BA metal.

Sapphire and above get them for free if I remember correctly.

For BA... sapphires and above can select exit rows free of charge on short haul, but on long haul it is emeralds only. I've updated my post to reflect the distinction.

For AY... no, exit rows are emeralds only on both short and long haul.

 

[mviy]

Row 4 at T-80 was one of the main benefits of SG/WP when flying domestically. I’ll miss that extra leg room, but don’t see the point in paying for that for a short flight.

 

[jimmy hutspah]

Poor poor form, QF

 

[levelnine]

Even if the practical effect of the change isn't huge, the optics of appearing to increase charges for your most engaged members (those who know about the T-80 rule) in exchange for no extra benefit are incredibly poor.

 

[mviy]

If you do pay extra for row 4 and then get moved due to operational reasons to a different flight and don’t get put in row 4 it’ll then be another refund to apply for causing more inconvenience.

 

[Princess Fiona]

Row 4 at T-80 was one of the main benefits of SG/WP when flying domestically. I’ll miss that extra leg room, but don’t see the point in paying for that for a short flight.

Wasn’t it a benefit for everyone who didn’t have access at time of booking?
Has been extensively written about on Pointhacks etc and is widely discussed on the various FF facebook groups.

I agree it would have been a better outcome for Plats if at T80 they could still select it without charge.