QF now charging WP for all Exit Row economy seats [CL/WP1 exempt]

[Aussie_flyer]

IE is internet explorer (default browser for Windows systems).

It's called Microsoft edge these days I think

 

[snabbu]

Getting row 4 and or exits to/from PER is more of a challenge due to high volume of FIFO pax with status unless "the new sheila at work" hasn't put the ff number in their booking.

Nothing constructive to add here other than my vote goes to obb for quote of the year.

 

[Daver6]

It's called Microsoft edge these days I think

Sort of. IE and Edge are two different browsers. Edge is meant to replace IE.

 

[Jack_OC]

I have MEL-BNE-MEL flights that I booked ages ago and selected exit row seats for free as a WP, which of course was allowed at the time.

I have just got an update from the MyFlights app, saying my booking has changed - the change is the addition of "(unconfirmed)" after the seat number for both the outward and return sectors. Does this mean I'm going to be bumped out of the exit row seat? When I view my booking in the QF app it still shows my original seat selection. Anyone else had something like this happen?

 

[kevrosmith]

I have MEL-BNE-MEL flights that I booked ages ago and selected exit row seats for free as a WP, which of course was allowed at the time.

I have just got an update from the MyFlights app, saying my booking has changed - the change is the addition of "(unconfirmed)" after the seat number for both the outward and return sectors. Does this mean I'm going to be bumped out of the exit row seat? When I view my booking in the QF app it still shows my original seat selection. Anyone else had something like this happen?

Yes, I received the same notifications for all my bookings too this morning, showing the seat selection as "13D (Unconfirmed)" etc. I have gone back to QF via Twitter to ask them to re-confirm the previous advice they provided confirming that my seat selections made prior to the introduction of the Exit Row seat selection would remain: they previously indicated to me that the "fee is applicable to new and changed seat selections only."

My assumption is by marking the seat selection as "Unconfirmed", it may prevent online, mobile or kiosk check-in without payment of the additional fee, which contradicts the previous advice I have received.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Yes, I received the same notifications for all my bookings too this morning, showing the seat selection as "13D (Unconfirmed)" etc. I have gone back to QF via Twitter to ask them to re-confirm the previous advice they provided confirming that my seat selections made prior to the introduction of the Exit Row seat selection would remain: they previously indicated to me that the "fee is applicable to new and changed seat selections only."

My assumption is by marking the seat selection as "Unconfirmed", it may prevent online, mobile or kiosk check-in without payment of the additional fee, which contradicts the previous advice I have received.

You're either in the seat or you're not. If you're already in the seat then you won't be charged. I don't believe being in an exit as "unconfirmed" would prevent you doing Mobile or OLCI like it would if the booking was unticketed. Exits are free when doing OLCI in any case. Sounds like a temporary phase for bookings made prior to 05 July where the exit row was selected.

Airport ticket counters at domestic terminals do not charge exit row fees on the day.

Do you have access to Expert Flyer to check the flight and whether 'your' seat is showing as occupied? If not, I'm happy to check on my E/F account if required.

 

[Solid]

Just as a data point as a WP on post "enhancement" bookings on my regular SYD-MEL-PER-BNE-SYD work run I was able to choose select Row 4 or 23 after T-80. Can't give you exact timings.

 

[snabbu]

Just as a data point as a WP on post "enhancement" bookings on my regular SYD-MEL-PER-BNE-SYD work run I was able to choose select Row 4 or 23 after T-80. Can't give you exact timings.

No issues with my T-80 seating options either, row 4 available as normal.

 

[opusman]

Qantas is all about incremental enhancements, so expect row 4 to become chargeable (except for WP1/CL) in about 6-9 months time.

 

[kevrosmith]

You're either in the seat or you're not. If you're already in the seat then you won't be charged. I don't believe being in an exit as "unconfirmed" would prevent you doing Mobile or OLCI like it would if the booking was unticketed. Exits are free when doing OLCI in any case. Sounds like a temporary phase for bookings made prior to 05 July where the exit row was selected.

Airport ticket counters at domestic terminals do not charge exit row fees on the day.

Do you have access to Expert Flyer to check the flight and whether 'your' seat is showing as occupied? If not, I'm happy to check on my E/F account if required.

Yeah, I've got EF and my seating allocation has remained. I've never seen this "Unconfirmed" flag before, and in MyFlights app, it shows it against the seat allocation:



My concern is that it will be a way to flag that this seat hasn't been paid for, and by that, become a candidate for manually reallocation should the need arise (such as if 12 people turn up and want to purchase an Exit Row), or whether future system changes may mean it stops you at the kiosks and makes you go to a floor-rover, who then, noticing the un-paid/unconfirmed status, moves you etc. It's not beyond QF to do such things in the future. They're obviously more interested in making money out of these seats than providing them as a benefit for status pax, so only time will tell whether procedures are updated to handle such situations I've suggested.

For me personally, unless I can continue to move to row 4 at T-80, and considering VA is cheaper for flex fares on the routes I fly, not to mention have more consistent and regular business-timed flights, QF is doing precious little to keep me as a customer in the current environment. I get a larger standard discount using Accelerate vs. Business Rewards, not to mention the no booking-day window, and even better discounts using Promo codes, I can choose Economy X seat and row 3 at time of booking, and I get free booze on flights departing between 5pm-7pm (which, on my most common route, QF always charges for wine). As much as I prefer QF for other reasons, they're making it very difficult.

 

[Jack_OC]

Yeah, I've got EF and my seating allocation has remained. I've never seen this "Unconfirmed" flag before, and in MyFlights app, it shows it against the seat allocation:

View attachment 102656.

Exactly what I'm seeing too - and like you, I've never seen this before. It's something I would notice as I've been using the MyFlights app for years, and it alerts me when even the most minor changes are made to a booking - even stuff like remarks being added.

My concern is that it will be a way to flag that this seat hasn't been paid for, and by that, become a candidate for manually reallocation should the need arise (such as if 12 people turn up and want to purchase an Exit Row), or whether future system changes may mean it stops you at the kiosks and makes you go to a floor-rover, who then, noticing the un-paid/unconfirmed status, moves you etc. It's not beyond QF to do such things in the future. They're obviously more interested in making money out of these seats than providing them as a benefit for status pax, so only time will tell whether procedures are updated to handle such situations I've suggested. .

I agree. This change to relevant bookings appears to have only been made yesterday, which was several weeks after the policy changed for new bookings. Therefore, I'm not sure if I'm ready to accept it's just a temporary measure to facilitate bookings made prior to 5 July - if that was the case, would it not have been necessary to make the change on 5 July at the latest? Their system was apparently happy to accept my seat selections were confirmed (to the extent that any seat selection is ever confirmed) between 5 July and yesterday. Also, why the choice of word "unconfirmed"? What else can that possibly mean? I'm afraid I remain very suspicious.

 

[kevrosmith]

Exactly what I'm seeing too - and like you, I've never seen this before. It's something I would notice as I've been using the MyFlights app for years, and it alerts me when even the most minor changes are made to a booking - even stuff like remarks being added.

I agree. This change to relevant bookings appears to have only been made yesterday, which was several weeks after the policy changed for new bookings. Therefore, I'm not sure if I'm ready to accept it's just a temporary measure to facilitate bookings made prior to 5 July - if that was the case, would it not have been necessary to make the change on 5 July at the latest? Their system was apparently happy to accept my seat selections were confirmed (to the extent that any seat selection is ever confirmed) between 5 July and yesterday. Also, why the choice of word "unconfirmed"? What else can that possibly mean? I'm afraid I remain very suspicious.

Entirely agree. And to add info to the discussion: I monitor friend's bookings in MyFlights as well, and bookings which did not have Exit row seats had "Confirmed" assigned to their seat selection:

 

[OzEire]

For exit rows, "unconfirmed" could refer to the need for a suitability check on the day of travel - both willing and able (OLCI or kiosk ask the question) and physically capable, either self assessed and affirmed by the pax or verified by the gate agent.

Has anyone seen the flag status on a paid exit row (still unconfirmed?).

 

[Jack_OC]

For exit rows, "unconfirmed" could refer to the need for a suitability check on the day of travel - both willing and able (OLCI or kiosk ask the question) and physically capable, either self assessed and affirmed by the pax or verified by the gate agent.

Has anyone seen the flag status on a paid exit row (still unconfirmed?).

That's plausible. However, whatever the reason for adding this flag, they seem to have only decided to do it yesterday. The booking I'm referring to was made ages ago, seat selection was done at the time, and nothing has changed in the interim about the need to confirm my suitability to occupy an exit row seat. Maybe that is the explanation and it's just a coincidence that they added this flag shortly after introducing the policy to charge WPs for these seats on new bookings. However, the sceptic in me remains unconvinced!

 

[kevrosmith]

That's plausible. However, whatever the reason for adding this flag, they seem to have only decided to do it yesterday. The booking I'm referring to was made ages ago, seat selection was done at the time, and nothing has changed in the interim about the need to confirm my suitability to occupy an exit row seat. Maybe that is the explanation and it's just a coincidence that they added this flag shortly after introducing the policy to charge WPs for these seats on new bookings. However, the sceptic in me remains unconvinced!

And I agree with this. They already seemed to have a mechanism to flag for suitability check: online check-in, you didn't receive your boarding pass and had to front-up to staff, and similar at kiosks, you had to see a floor-rover. I would say nothing needed to change to already cater for suitability checks.

 

[schofs]

Hi guys - the Confirmed/Unconfirmed flag comes from Amadeus, and I only implemented a day or two ago (as you notice above )

The reason it's there is that we've seen a couple of times on bookings where BA have shifted someone's seat, but the new seat has not updated in the feed, but what they have done is change the status of the seat the user originally had to Unconfirmed.

Because the new seat was not reflecting correctly in the feed, I made the flag visible so that users were prompted to check their booking.

If anyone has any specific examples they'd like me to look into the data for, please feel free to email me at [email protected] with your login email address and the PNR, and I'll see what's happening in the data.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[pjm99au]

Chris

I'll go off topic for a moment and say I think your app is brilliant. Thank you for all of your hard work on it

Peter

 

[schofs]

Chris - I'll go off topic for a moment and say I think your app is brilliant. Thank you for all of your hard work on it - Peter

Thank you - hopefully it'll continue to be useful - thanks to everyone for the feedback

 

[kevrosmith]

I received a Twitter Reply from QF this morning:

Customers who have already selected their Extra Legroom seat ill not be charged for the seat selection, and the pre-paid seat selection will be honoured. The free is applicable to new and changed seat selections only.

And seeing schofs clarification above, it does seem like this was a myflightsapp change, and not a QF change, which is good to know and helps put things in perspective.

 

[serfty]

...
And seeing schofs clarification above, it does seem like this was a EF change, and not a QF change, which is good to know and helps put things in perspective.

I would suggest myflightsapp rather than E/F.

E/F have an authenticated rep as in "ExpertFlyer Voice".