Qatar Airways Seat Selection

[axd]

Hey All.

Booked LHR-DOH-BNE on QR with Velocity FF points; got a reward seat, happy days. Can't select seats on Virgin website so I went to the Qatar website and there's no seats I can select for free. It'll cost more than 50 GBP per person to select even the coughpiest economy seats. Is that normal?

I rang Qatar and their customer service was awful, but I did manage to find out there is nothing they can do, and it is expected behaviour "on some flights, for some people", that seats can't be selected prior to check-in, without 20+GBP in fees per flight.

He couldn't guarantee that the 2 of us will be seated together (same ticket) but I'm hoping it's highly unlikely we get split up.

I'm platinum with Velocity and that doesn't give diddly squat apparently.

Am I missing something here, or will I just have to wait until check-in and hope there is half decent seats available? Has anyone else experienced similar and how did it turn out? Any tips?

Cheers

 

[knagelli]

I'm platinum with Velocity and that doesn't give diddly squat apparently.

If you are able to get the status match with Qatar airways in lieu of VA WP , you will then be able to select preferential seats on Qatar airways being their Privilege Platinum member.

Do you have any status ( gold/platinum) with Qatar airways ?

 

[kpc]

Hey All.

Booked LHR-DOH-BNE on QR with Velocity FF points; got a reward seat, happy days. Can't select seats on Virgin website so I went to the Qatar website and there's no seats I can select for free. It'll cost more than 50 GBP per person to select even the coughpiest economy seats. Is that normal?

I rang Qatar and their customer service was awful, but I did manage to find out there is nothing they can do, and it is expected behaviour "on some flights, for some people", that seats can't be selected prior to check-in, without 20+GBP in fees per flight.

He couldn't guarantee that the 2 of us will be seated together (same ticket) but I'm hoping it's highly unlikely we get split up.

I'm platinum with Velocity and that doesn't give diddly squat apparently.

Am I missing something here, or will I just have to wait until check-in and hope there is half decent seats available? Has anyone else experienced similar and how did it turn out? Any tips?

Cheers

Are these economy seats? I booked Dar-Doh-Adl in J x2 on QR using Velocity points and I was able to go to the QR website to select seats without any cost.

 

[knagelli]

Are these economy seats?

I am assuming they were economy seats as the business seats often come with free seat selection or preferential seating offer.

 

[axd]

Are these economy seats? I booked Dar-Doh-Adl in J x2 on QR using Velocity points and I was able to go to the QR website to select seats without any cost.

Yeah, economy rewards seats. Thanks for the reply

 

[axd]

If you are able to get the status match with Qatar airways in lieu of VA WP , you will then be able to select preferential seats on Qatar airways being their Privilege Platinum member.

Do you have any status ( gold/platinum) with Qatar airways ?

I don't have any status with Qatar Airways. I guess it is worth contacting them and seeing if they will do a status match, but I'm not hopeful. Thanks for the reply

 

[knagelli]

I don't have any status with Qatar Airways. I guess it is worth contacting them and seeing if they will do a status match, but I'm not hopeful. Thanks for the reply

I fear the status match is no longer offered unless I am wrong. It will be good to know if they have any way to match the status as I am also looking for a similar option for my partner.

 

[MELso]

FWIW, I booked MEL-DOH-MXP on QR through QF on a classic reward (in the good ol' days before the QR/QF tiff blew up) and I too am being asked to cough up $$$ for seat selection in economy. Will do seat selection at check-in 48h out from the flight...

 

[azza_1992]

I was in this exact situation recently. Used velocity points to book an economy reward seat on Qatar.

Initially I baulked at paying to pick my seat, but when I checked again after a few days I could thankfully then pick a seat for no fee.

Thought it might just take a few days for the QR system to register the significance of a Velocity WP frequent flyer number?

 

[Bolter]

FWIW, I booked MEL-DOH-MXP on QR through QF on a classic reward (in the good ol' days before the QR/QF tiff blew up) and I too am being asked to cough up $$$ for seat selection in economy. Will do seat selection at check-in 48h out from the flight...

VA platinum booked SYD-DOH-LHR codeshare through VA. Checked seat cost on the phone last week. No free seat selection. Although I see on the QR website you can check in 48 hours out, I was told that the free seat selection was from 24 hours out. Maybe it was her mistake and it didn't occur to me at the time to query it.

 

[Motto]

I am a Virgin Velocity Platinum member and just recently booked a return flight from Brisbane to London, through the Virgin Australia website. I couldn‘t select seats as the partner airline was Qatar however I had a VA number for my flights. Rang Virgin and they said to contact Qatar for your seating. Did that and was told that I had to pay. Spoke then to a member of Platinum Velocity who told me that they have to honour complimentary seats and extra luggage as I have a VA number for flights and a Platinum member. Again, back and forth and yet still no result/clarity. I have filled out the complaint form and am asking for a full refund. Very disappointed in Virgin Australia.

 

[Bolter]

I am a Virgin Velocity Platinum member and just recently booked a return flight from Brisbane to London, through the Virgin Australia website. I couldn‘t select seats as the partner airline was Qatar however I had a VA number for my flights. Rang Virgin and they said to contact Qatar for your seating. Did that and was told that I had to pay. Spoke then to a member of Platinum Velocity who told me that they have to honour complimentary seats and extra luggage as I have a VA number for flights and a Platinum member. Again, back and forth and yet still no result/clarity. I have filled out the complaint form and am asking for a full refund. Very disappointed in Virgin Australia.

I'm in the same position and was just about to accept that I'll have to pay for the seats if I want something decent. Surely this must be covered in the terms & conditions of the booking but I haven't done a thorough search yet.

 

[justinbrett]

If you have QF status pop that number in the booking (even on VA award). I did and now I’ve got WP perks including free seat selection.

 

[hb133]

Does anyone know the situation when booking a cash economy flex fare through VA? When booking the equivalent fare on the QR website, priority seats are included in the fare but is this the same when booking from VA? VA are currently slightly cheaper for the flights I'm looking at plus the extra points as gold would be helpful...

 

[jmprice]

Booking Qatar through an agent or another airline is always tricky when it comes to seats. Their website is one of the more difficult ones. In my experience, you will usually always have to pay, and so be prepared for that. If you haven't booked direct, and do choose to pay for seat selection through Qatar's website, also be advised that you often cannot easily then change your seat selection, so be sure to get it right the first time! It really comes down to how much you're saving through not booking the relevant fare with Qatar directly. Sometimes it makes sense to just book direct, and other times to go through an agent/another carrier, as I have seen some substantial savings doing it this way too. For example, I recently paid 2800AUD for return flights from Australia to UK during a peak travel period (operated by Qatar, codeshare with BA). I saved 1200AUD booking it through BA, even after paying for seat selection.

 

[CorporateFlyerMEL]

As OW Emerald, I was able to select exit row seating in Y for no charge

 

[clarkkent]

Is it possible to select seats online on a QR codeshare VA domestic flight? Doesn't work for me on either the QR site (with QR platinum FF number in) or the VA site (for which I found the record locator only after changing my FF number to my VA one, QR PNR didn't work there).

 

[Vic]

As OW Emerald, I was able to select exit row seating in Y for no charge

Is this a loop hole, change to QF Platinum, select seats and then change back. For VA codeshare on QR...

 

[madrooster]

Is it possible to select seats online on a QR codeshare VA domestic flight? Doesn't work for me on either the QR site (with QR platinum FF number in) or the VA site (for which I found the record locator only after changing my FF number to my VA one, QR PNR didn't work there).

Yes. You need to call VA and they can manually assign seats for you.

Is this a loop hole, change to QF Platinum, select seats and then change back. For VA codeshare on QR...

The moment you change back to the VA FF number it will set a timer that will auto cancel your seat selection after 24-48 hours as VA elites do NOT get free seat selection on QR when booked in classes that normally have paid seat selection.

Booking Qatar through an agent or another airline is always tricky when it comes to seats. Their website is one of the more difficult ones. In my experience, you will usually always have to pay, and so be prepared for that. If you haven't booked direct, and do choose to pay for seat selection through Qatar's website, also be advised that you often cannot easily then change your seat selection, so be sure to get it right the first time! It really comes down to how much you're saving through not booking the relevant fare with Qatar directly. Sometimes it makes sense to just book direct, and other times to go through an agent/another carrier, as I have seen some substantial savings doing it this way too.

Booking directly with Qatar does not guarantee you free seat selection.

 

[Vic]

The moment you change back to the VA FF number it will set a timer that will auto cancel your seat selection after 24-48 hours as VA elites do NOT get free seat selection on QR when booked in classes that normally have paid seat selection.

Thanks. Learning experience for me, being this will be my first time in economy on Qatar.
I'm a bit annoyed at myself for not getting the flex fare on the outbound, which was only ~$100 more and came with free seat selection.
On the flip side, the difference in fares (cash saved) for the return leg is ~$100-$200 more than the seat selection fee.
I did also save about $90 by booking with my virgin business account.

:aside: I see I can go in the draw for 500SC now, with 25 words or less on why 500 SC would be good. lol