QFF Platinum requesting release of extra Classic Reward seats?

[NoName]

Re: QFF Platinum and request release of extra Classic award seats

A family member is requesting release for transpac flights for myself & Mrs Noname today. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

Success on the outbound (QF93 in F on wed for me, QF11 in F on a mon for Mrs Noname) but nothing on the return (which was a Friday). Only thing available was Y+ on QF16 the day before which unfortunately doesn't suit in terms of date.

Does anyone want to offer an opinion of the likelihood of being able to get two opened up closer to the date (maybe a week or two before) on a Friday from LAX/SFO to any of the eastern capitals? We have an existing booking on CX in J out of JFK but strong preference would be to depart LAX on QF.

Should I:
1: Keep existing bookings on CX and hope for release of seats on QF closer to the date or;
2: Book two awards on QF in Y from LAX and hope for release of J seats closer to the date?

 

[Quickstatus]

Re: QFF Platinum and request release of extra Classic award seats

Well done on one sector.

Very unlikely for there to be further J release on a flagship route although anecdotally there have been stories of success as you are hoping.

At this point in time better to book any available award seats you can find.

 

[Moindardt]

Re: QFF Platinum and request release of extra Classic award seats

I spoke to a lady at QF last week about the chances of getting seats released for the end of the July holidays back to Australia. We looked at DFW-SYD and there was 4J sold for 8/7 and only 3J sold for 9/7. She said it should be a cakewalk to get 3 released each day and maybe as many as 6. Got all the points posted/family transferred into my account and rang today. Nothing, nada, zip, zero, zilch on any flights. I asked how many seats were left because there were heaps last week and he said not many. I logged onto EF and there was now 7J on 8/7 and still only 3J on 9/7 and he wasn't happy when I challenged him and wanted to know how I could see. He took a lot to confirm that was correct and then said it wasn't possible to go off for a manual review. I was offered Y with the new upgrade though.

Is this just a case of HUACA or a new way of doing things?

For 8/7 F9 A9 J9 C9 D9 I9 W9 R9 T9 Y9 B9 H9K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 G0
For 9/7 F9 A9 J9 C9 D9 I9 W9 R9 T9 Y9 B9 H9K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G0

For LAX-BNE
8/7 J9 C9 D9 I9 W9 R9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9L9 V9 S9 N9 G0
9/7 J9 C9 D9 I9 W9 R9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 G0

 

[Ansett]

Re: QFF Platinum and request release of extra Classic award seats

I spoke to a lady at QF last week about the chances of getting seats released for the end of the July holidays back to Australia. We looked at DFW-SYD and there was 4J sold for 8/7 and only 3J sold for 9/7. She said it should be a cakewalk to get 3 released each day and maybe as many as 6. Got all the points posted/family transferred into my account and rang today. Nothing, nada, zip, zero, zilch on any flights. I asked how many seats were left because there were heaps last week and he said not many. I logged onto EF and there was now 7J on 8/7 and still only 3J on 9/7 and he wasn't happy when I challenged him and wanted to know how I could see. He took a lot to confirm that was correct and then said it wasn't possible to go off for a manual review. I was offered Y with the new upgrade though.

Is this just a case of HUACA or a new way of doing things?

For 8/7 F9 A9 J9 C9 D9 I9 W9 R9 T9 Y9 B9 H9K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 G0
For 9/7 F9 A9 J9 C9 D9 I9 W9 R9 T9 Y9 B9 H9K9 M9 L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 O9 G0

For LAX-BNE
8/7 J9 C9 D9 I9 W9 R9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9L9 V9 S9 N9 G0
9/7 J9 C9 D9 I9 W9 R9 T9 Y9 B9 H9 K9 M9L9 V9 S9 N9 Q9 G0

For me it would be HUACA. Seems some Customer service personnel are more helpful than others.

 

[hossein_au]

Re: QFF Platinum and request release of extra Classic award seats

... a benefit is not an official God-given right...

Let me put the record straight: a "benefit" is never a "right", regardless of context. Period!

I did come across in my last post as bitter because I am. I am bitter, not because I think it is my God-given right, but because I am not given enough information to manage my own expectations. If they accept requests for seat release when there are N or I availability, one can be forgiven to assume high availability in I and N seats coupled with the flight being rather empty should mean high chance of the request being granted.

 

[Quickstatus]

Re: QFF Platinum and request release of extra Classic award seats

HUACA is often the way for other QF customer questions. WP award seat release is probably different as the computer tells them yay or nay. There is no discretion from the QF agent. However there is not harm to HUACA.

Again I would exhort people to take a low key approach to this matter, as its technically an unpublished benefit which can easily disappear. Rather than pushing the agent for a release, I would respectfully say thank you then Huaca.

 

[hossein_au]

Re: QFF Platinum and request release of extra Classic award seats

HUACA is often the way for other QF customer questions. WP award seat release is probably different as the computer tells them yay or nay. There is no discretion from the QF agent. However there is not harm to HUACA.

Again I would exhort people to take a low key approach to this matter, as its technically an unpublished benefit which can easily disappear. Rather than pushing the agent for a release, I would respectfully say thank you then Huaca.

Good advice. I have personally never pushed the issue; I have always very politely asked, and have thanked the agent regardless of the outcome. Even if I had P1, or even if this was a published benefit, I would still be polite and would thank the agent. I think this is just good manners (which admittedly is becoming a lost art).

 

[Moindardt]

Re: QFF Platinum and request release of extra Classic award seats

Ok. So I called back and had a chat with another nice guy (I must say they are all exceptionally pleasant people on the Platinum line). He said that there is no manual reviews anymore and he has noticed a decrease in additional seats being released lately because everyone is trying for upgrades. I asked if it was anything to do with this new upgrading Y rewards seats and he said it will probably go more down that path so they don't have to release as many and WP's are more likely to get an upgrade because they are first cab off the rank.

Thankfully I have lots of options including extending into another fun trip around the world for miles and points. I'll see what they say in a few weeks.

 

[MrJetset]

Re: QFF Platinum and request release of extra Classic award seats

Manual reviews have not stopped. Likely you got a standard agent who are woeful when compared to the real premium agents.

QF blocks certain days of the week and certain time periods. These are internal policies where agents are instructed to never proceed with a request to revenue management.

 

[defurax]

Re: QFF Platinum and request release of extra Classic award seats

Well on some route QF seems to have removed ALL J classic reward seats. I used to book SYD-NOU and BNE-NOU on QF or the codeshare on SB, but I looked with EF and not a single J seat is available for all of 2016. I never called QF to request the release of a "U" seat, but maybe that's the only way now to get a J seat to NOU.

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

The more I read this thread the more I feel the issues are certain agents and the attitude of certain requestors. I always greet them politely by name then ask of they could do me a favour and put in a request for a Business award seat (sometimes I drop the "uniform" class) as there's no availability online. They're usually very obliging and put the request in the system, we wait while it happens and 9 times out of 10 computer says yes. Of course I don't request stupid things like SYD-LHR one month out, as really that's a combination of unrealistic expectations and poor planning. YMMV.

 

[Abdul_A350]

Of course I don't request stupid things like SYD-LHR one month out

Perhaps you should.

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

Perhaps you should.

I have realistic expectations and would only request such a thing with a minimum of a 3 month lead time. I have made enough award redemptions over the years to know what is likely to be released, plus unlike some, all my leisure trips, including paid J and F are planned well in advance, usually 6-12 months.

 

[boomy]

I have realistic expectations and would only request such a thing with a minimum of a 3 month lead time. I have made enough award redemptions over the years to know what is likely to be released, plus unlike some, all my leisure trips, including paid J and F are planned well in advance, usually 6-12 months.

According to QF, you may sometimes have better chance to get positive result when requesting seats one month or less in advance.

Planning ahead certainly didn't work for me lately so YMMV.

 

[hossein_au]

The more I read this thread the more I feel the issues are certain agents and the attitude of certain requestors. I always greet them politely by name then ask of they could do me a favour and put in a request for a Business award seat (sometimes I drop the "uniform" class) as there's no availability online. They're usually very obliging and put the request in the system, we wait while it happens and 9 times out of 10 computer says yes. Of course I don't request stupid things like SYD-LHR one month out, as really that's a combination of unrealistic expectations and poor planning. YMMV.

That is precisely my approach as well. I ask for their name and then address them with name. After some pleasantries I ask if they could possibly look into requesting seat release as I cannot find any reward seats online. And of course I do some homework before hand to ensure there is availability in N or I classes. I also try to be flexible and ask for either economy or business seats and I usually am happy to nominate a couple of alternative flights.

Seats, especially for domestic routes, used to be release either straight away or within a day or so. Recently, however, I have noticed seats are not confirmed straight away. In this last episode I had to call back every couple of days for about 2 weeks before I was told yield management has rejected the request. QF website still, to this second, shows the flights as "requested".

 

[BD1959]

According to QF, you may sometimes have better chance to get positive result when requesting seats one month or less in advance.

Hi boomy,

I've always thought that QF very, very seldom release further reward inventory closer to a fly date. Where do QF say that your chances increase within a month of the flight?

Regards,

BD

 

[serfty]

Hi boomy,

I've always thought that QF very, very seldom release further reward inventory closer to a fly date. Where do QF say that your chances increase within a month of the flight?

Regards,

BD

Because the closer you get to the flight the better idea Qantas yield management would have as to loading and whether to release reward seat because there is less chance of cash sales.

 

[BD1959]

Because the closer you get to the flight the better idea Qantas yield management would have as to loading and whether to release reward seat because there is less chance of cash sales.

I understand the logic serfty, I've never seen it as a documented process by Qantas.

I also thought with the advent of bidding, upgrade requests being later etc, that QF would be more likely to use these avenues than just releasing back to Award availability.

Regards,

BD

 

[Abdul_A350]

I cannot claim to understand the process but three weeks ago was successful with request for release of a flight to London today.

 

[JohnK]

Re: QFF Platinum and request release of extra Classic award seats

I know some people have posted success but I have been knocked for SYD-BKK many times and now don't bother asking.