Qantas Platinum One experiences?

ChrisGibbs said:
Have to love it when QF downgrade an A330 to a 737. Tuesdays (21/11) QF409 SYD-MEL sector was an example of this. Had originally selected 23B. It is a good Y seat on the QF A330's but not so good on the QF 737's. Was lucky enough to do web check in and picked up the aircraft downgrade at about t-23hrs so was able to get 5C. By the sounds of the heated words on boarding a CL/P1 passenger on the flight wasn't so lucky and was allocated his original 23D A330 seat on the 737.

I'm assuming it wouldn't be to difficult to pull together a use case that caters for an aircraft downgrade and allocates seating on the downgraded aircraft based on the seating requests from the original aircraft.
Click to expand...

While I absolutely agree that an a/c change should trigger reseating I have 2 thoughts on this:

1. What happens if it's then subbed again? eg back up to a 330 ? It has been known to happen.
2. What if it's a late sub?

I think it opens a minefield here - in a downgrade you'll never satisfy everyone and of course some people's preferred 330 seats will be different to the 737 (for example, those who may dislike row 10 I think without the window)

And finally a personal observation on any entitled pax throwing a wobbly like this... come on it's a 1 hour flight you'll survive in 23D as much as you will in 5D with only a few extra minutes perhaps in getting off the a/c (which probably would be the really irritating part).

Remember the good old days when domestic seats were never preallocated and you got given what you got when you checked in? One argument QF and AN used for this system (where the seating was allocated overnight prior) was that aircraft subs can happen and no seat is guaranteed.

If it was me would I be annoyed? you bet ya. Would I be aware (I'm almost certain I'd look and note durng OLCI and sort it myself). Would I politely ask at the gate if I failed to notice before? possibly depending on how busy the staff were but at the end of the day if I couldn't easily swap to something a little better.. you know what? I'd cop it and think it's a 1 hour flight and deal.

It's amazing to me some of the childist antics one sees of *some* passengers, specially "very important business types with plat and gold tags" - specially the way they treat agents during a delay situation or something similar.

but I digress...
 
AMEX Velocity Platinum Card Benefits
Australia's highest-earning Velocity Frequent Flyer credit card: Offer expires: 21 Jan 2025
- Earn 60,000 bonus Velocity Points
- Get unlimited Virgin Australia Lounge access
- Enjoy a complimentary return Virgin Australia domestic flight each year

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

ChrisGibbs said:
I'm assuming it wouldn't be to difficult to pull together a use case that caters for an aircraft downgrade and allocates seating on the downgraded aircraft based on the seating requests from the original aircraft.
Click to expand...

The issue is, that the cost to add it is quite high, and is not a huge priority on the list of things to implement. Airlines that use the Altea system vote every year on what they want implemented, to tell you the basics of it.
 
I thought I should share a really good SST experience.

I fly the same route regularly and tend to sit in the same handful of seats. On two of my three MEL-LHR flights in the past month, seat 1A has been broken. I don't know if it's the same tail number, but it would be a coincidence if not. The first time, I got swapped with I assume someone on staff travel. But on Sunday, I had to sit in J.

I could have coped with that, as my only "demand" was a window so I could work in natural light when they put down the shades. But then one of the flight attendants had the nerve to ask me in a condescending tone of voice, "Are you OK?" I would probably have been thrown off an American flight with my response, but I basically told her I was not OK, as I paid thousands of pounds for the flight, did not appreciate her condescending attitude, and concluded with a bit of a lecture on customer service. She did eventually apologise, but I was stewing for the rest of the flight. The CSM couldn't cope with the situation and scurried away, and couldn't bring himself to even ask me the standard "How was your flight?"at the end. No one offered me any compensation whatsoever, whereas in the past they've offered me points etc. for minor things like the IFE not working.

So after a full night's sleep on the ground, I wrote an email to the SST. I tried to delete every shred of emotion, so it basically ended up as "seat broken, please reimburse me the 75,000 upgrade points". I received a nice response a couple of hours later saying how disappointing that would have been and immediately crediting the points, no questions asked.

Given the challenges I've heard other people going through with downgrades, I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.
 
I am shocked the points refund was not automatic if you had to sit in J... or did the downgrade occur post boarding/departure?

Anyway it's always nice to receive a sympathetic response and prompt action!!
 
This may not be a specific P1 situation, but today, after yet another trip back to Australia, I arrived for my last sector - the usual QF flight SYD-BNE (in J)

As always in my experience on these flights, the two staff working the J cabin were absolutely flawless. Great people, not just professional but showing genuine flair and love for their customer service. I really appreciate this as by the time I get on this flight I have usually travelled two days straight and am absolutely buggered with no tolerance for problems.

Yes, it has P1 on my boarding pass and on their manifest or whatever, but I see them delivering this same level to all those in the J cabin. From what I can see from 1A anyway ;)

Those short SYD-BNE flights wash away many a sin I have suffered on their long haul......
 
RichardMEL said:
I am shocked the points refund was not automatic if you had to sit in J... or did the downgrade occur post boarding/departure?

Anyway it's always nice to receive a sympathetic response and prompt action!!
Click to expand...

It was post boarding. One side of my brain thought I should throw a tantrum and get off. The more rationale side said that would mean a hotel in Melbourne and not getting home for another day. Before F, I used to think J was a luxury :)
 
La Mouette said:
It was post boarding. One side of my brain thought I should throw a tantrum and get off.
Click to expand...

Even so the csm's have an ipad these days where they can put a report against your profile to be followed up with you.
 
La Mouette said:
I thought I should share a really good SST experience.

I fly the same route regularly and tend to sit in the same handful of seats. On two of my three MEL-LHR flights in the past month, seat 1A has been broken. I don't know if it's the same tail number, but it would be a coincidence if not. The first time, I got swapped with I assume someone on staff travel. But on Sunday, I had to sit in J.

I could have coped with that, as my only "demand" was a window so I could work in natural light when they put down the shades. But then one of the flight attendants had the nerve to ask me in a condescending tone of voice, "Are you OK?" I would probably have been thrown off an American flight with my response, but I basically told her I was not OK, as I paid thousands of pounds for the flight, did not appreciate her condescending attitude, and concluded with a bit of a lecture on customer service. She did eventually apologise, but I was stewing for the rest of the flight. The CSM couldn't cope with the situation and scurried away, and couldn't bring himself to even ask me the standard "How was your flight?"at the end. No one offered me any compensation whatsoever, whereas in the past they've offered me points etc. for minor things like the IFE not working.

So after a full night's sleep on the ground, I wrote an email to the SST. I tried to delete every shred of emotion, so it basically ended up as "seat broken, please reimburse me the 75,000 upgrade points". I received a nice response a couple of hours later saying how disappointing that would have been and immediately crediting the points, no questions asked.

Given the challenges I've heard other people going through with downgrades, I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome.
Click to expand...

I hope I haven’t got that aircraft this week. My upgrade came through a week ago and I have been put there. For some reason I can’t touch the booking so there I will stay
 
I found a website theqantassource.com that has a lot of history, according to which the dud seat was on VH-OQE. But there wasn't any future schedule.

I've switched to 1K for this week's flight as a precaution!

But as an aside, it's a bit disappointing that they can't or won't fix an F seat in 5 weeks.
 
Has anyone received a P1 Christmas gift yet?

I got a strange email from Sendle that my delivery was on its way, but I haven't ordered anything. The pessimistic in me says it's spam. The optimist in me is still hopeful ...
 

Become an AFF member!

Join Australian Frequent Flyer (AFF) for free and unlock insider tips, exclusive deals, and global meetups with 65,000+ frequent flyers.

AFF members can also access our Frequent Flyer Training courses, and upgrade to Fast-track your way to expert traveller status and unlock even more exclusive discounts!

AFF forum abbreviations

Wondering about Y, J or any of the other abbreviations used on our forum?

Check out our guide to common AFF acronyms & abbreviations.

Recent Posts

Currently Active Users

... and 17 more.
Total: 315 (members: 67, guests: 248)
Back
Top