Seating Preferences

[Josh]

Hi,

I took my first flight today as a QFF SG, and given that I'm now on a higher level than PS, I was slightly disillusioned with the choice of seat I was given.
I have in my preference for a Forward Aisle seat, and was given 10C on a 737. (6 rows from the furthest forward seat. I mostly always got better than this as a PS). What I did notice was that were was an empty aisle seat or two in front of me, which i thought odd.
Also, I checked in over 1 hr before my flight, which i think would be a reasonable time. Maybe OLCI is the way to go to get your seat pref?

Anyway, my two questions for you people are:
1. For PS and above, what is your seating preference you have listed in your profile?
2. Do you ever get it, and how close do you get?


Cheers,

Josh

 

[Shano]

I have forward aisle as my seat preference.

For me it is a bit hit and miss. Typically I am seated anywhere from Rows 7 to 11 on a 73H.

Occassionally when flying with my boss (also WP) we get 4B,C if we are on the same booking.

My surname starts with "S" so this may have something to do with my seat allocation being as it is - people with surnames starting with letters towards the front of the alphabet may fare a little better, although I can't confirm this.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

For domestic in NZ I almost always get the same seat in row 1 aisle (NB no business class). Incidentally this seat matches my profile for international, which differs from my profile for domestic (where I choose not to have forward aisle preference due to the large number of platinums with the same preference = can be seated a long way back on some flights).

 

[serfty]

Your seating reflects my experience as a SG.

As a WP it got better but not really that much.

Since my wife has been PG I am nearly always at the front of the bus with my Forward Aisle Domestic preference.

 

[NM]

Hi,

I took my first flight today as a QFF SG, and given that I'm now on a higher level than PS, I was slightly disillusioned with the choice of seat I was given.
I have in my preference for a Forward Aisle seat, and was given 10C on a 737. (6 rows from the furthest forward seat. I mostly always got better than this as a PS).

Forward Aisle is the most popular seating preference for QF FF members. As you have noted, 10C means there was 6 rows in front of you, or 12 other people on the flight that received a forward aisle preference ahead of you, out of potentially 150 other passengers. That means you were scored in the best 10% of available seats - not bad given all the Platinum members come in ahead of you.

What I did notice was that were was an empty aisle seat or two in front of me, which i thought odd.

Not odd at all. Remember that the automated seat allocations are done prior to OLCI openingm which is now 24 hours before departure. In that time it is quite likely that some people will cancel or change their flight. Such a situation does not cause a full rearrangement of pre-allocated seats. Those seats become available to people using OLCI or for selection from QuickCheck kiosks. So the presence of empty seats up front generally means the people who were allocated those seats made the changes (to another flight or cancelled) quite late in the process and nobody else selected them from OLCI or QuickCheck.

Also, I checked in over 1 hr before my flight, which i think would be a reasonable time. Maybe OLCI is the way to go to get your seat pref?

It makes no difference at all for your pre-allocated seat assignment. That assignment is done before the flight opens for OLCI and your pre-assigned seat will not alter from that time. If you want to improve your pre-assigned seat, you need to wait until some of the higher status people have changed off the flight and freed up the better seats, then use OLCI to nab the vacated seat. If you use OLCI at 24 hours before departure, it is unlikely you will find anything better than what has been pre-allocated since the better seats have been pre-allocated to other passengers.

Anyway, my two questions for you people are:
1. For PS and above, what is your seating preference you have listed in your profile?
2. Do you ever get it, and how close do you get?

Forward Aisle. And yes, I always get an aisle seats pre-allocated that is in the forward most 10% of the aisle seats in my allocated cabin on the aircraft.

 

[SeaWolf]

I'm curious about why people prefer the aisle seat. Normally I opt for the window seat so I get a view on take off and landing and don't have people pushing over me to get to the toilet.

 

[Hawkeye]

I have my preference set to aisle for international (for convenience) and window on domestic (for the view). No matter how many times I fly into places, I still love watching the view.

My domestic trips are all less then 2.5 hours - for BNE-PER, I think I would prefer aisle after a couple of hours in the QP!

 

[d15.in.oz]

...I get a view on take off and landing and don't have people pushing over me to get to the toilet.

Shhhh, don't let everyone know. LOL. I too have no compunction about asking an aisle seat occupier to move their prestigious posterior so I can get out when I require.

 

[JohnK]

Apart from one flight BNE-SYD last May I am very happy with my domestic seat allocations since getting Gold last April. For international flights I am almost always seated in the first few rows if not the first row.

Recently I had 1C and 1D in my only 2 NZ domestic flights to date.

Just this week on my round Australia trip I had the following

• 7D SYD-ADL 737-800
• 6C ADL-ASP 737-800
• 2C ASP-AYQ 717-200 (had 1C and I changed it online)
• 2C AYS-PER 717-200 (had 1D and I changed it online)
• 6D PER-BME 737-800
• 2A BME-DRW EM2 (No 1A, could have had many choices though)
• 3D DRW-CNS 717-200
• 24F CNS-SYD 767-338 (1st row economy, flight full)

 

[Evan]

I prefer forward isle also, unless maybe an exit for not to far back.
I have no issues with people wanting to 'climb over' me but i will always get my as out of the seat instead, i usually drink more (water) and goto the toilet more than others, even just to get up and walk about. So for me it suits, if however i really could sleep and didn;t toilet break too much i would consider windows.

On an A330 i also really like 23-A/K as you can easily climb over the person beside you.

Evan

 

[serfty]

... On an A330 i also really like 23-A/K as you can easily climb over the person beside you. ...

A bonus with these particular seats is the armrest under the window actually can be raised to give an extra few inches of lateral space. This can'r be done with 24/25/26/27 ... etc. J/K

 

[Shano]

My aisle preference is for mainly two reasons - access to briefcase for laptop, ipod, book etc, plus I find it gives me more shoulder / leg room than the window seats.

 

[Kiwi Flyer]

Yup - easy access, quicker deplaning, more room (much of the time can stick a leg out into the aisle), easier to get out and stretch legs on longhaul, etc.

I give a few more reasons here.

 

[codash1099]

I'm curious about why people prefer the aisle seat. Normally I opt for the window seat so I get a view on take off and landing and don't have people pushing over me to get to the toilet.

I find aisle seats roomier. As for toilet access, I prefer to be apologised to rather than apologising to someone. Purely a personal thing. And at my age, easy egress to the toilet is a definite advantage

 

[tuapekastar]

I like the aisle for most of the reasons already mentioned, but particularly for two:

The fact that there is nobody beside you, and being able to slightly intrude into the aisle gives at least a feeling of extra room.

I hate having to clamber over people to get in/out of my seat (and the ability to usually be able to raise the aisle armrest in economy so you can just step straight in out in/out is very convenient, especially when your tray is down or the person in front is reclining). As a previous poster said I would much rather be the apologisee (is that a word?) than the apologiser.

Though if there was a reason (particular aerial view promised of something I had not seen before, on a relatively short flight) I might plump for the window.

And unless my seat neighbours were Elle Macpherson and Claudia Schiffer types, then never the middle. :shock:

 

[Evan]

A bonus with these particular seats is the armrest under the window actually can be raised to give an extra few inches of lateral space. This can'r be done with 24/25/26/27 ... etc. J/K

I didn't wan't to give people too many ideas I happen to like those seats and can usually get them if i know a week or 2 in advance of travel.

Had 37C in a QF 744 to MEL-HKG-LHR the other day and even slept during take off and climb ! i am either getting better or maybe i was just really tired.

Wonder what the odds are of getting the BA aircraft missing 28 A/K, does that make 29 A/K a decent seat ? (AC that should operate that leg is EF is showing missing seats, just wonder how often its substituted)

E

 

[Skyring]

My seating preference is window on the shady side, as far forward as possible, but not over the wing. For me, the view is everything.

Business Class or better is great, but in the back of the bus, I'll wedge myself into the seat, my backpack under the seat in front, and I'll be happily self-contained for the whole 14 hours or so. No alcohol or tea/coffee, fruit juice and water to keep the fluids up, and a couple of fully charged laptop batteries.

What is nice is to be on a flight that is half full and to have a whole two or three seats to yourself. Then I can really spread myself.

 

[simongr]

Hmm - I still havent settled on aisle/window preferences yet. I am set at forward/aisle but I fly very little domestic and on international I just choose my seats before flying.

On my upcoming DONE4 I have a range of seating allocations selected. MOstly forward aisle. However for my short US domestic trips I had actaully selected window for the view (those trips have now been canned). Given my travel is somewhat lumpy and not often am I on the same flight repeatedly (that should change this year though into Asia and I am liking CX254 from LHR).

My allocations currently are:

CX110 SYD-HKG 11-H
CX882 HKG-LAX 83-C
AA234 LAX-MIA 02-B
AA404 MIA-MCO 02-H
AA1832 MCO-LGA 06-B
AA1385 JFK-BGI 04-B
BA2152 BGI-LGW 03-A
BA6842 LGW-PFO 01-A
BA663 LCA-LHR 03-A
CX254 LHR-HKG 11-K
QF128 HKG-SYD 12-B

I think they are mostly forward aisle actually

 

[serfty]

... However for my short US domestic trips I had actaully selected window for the view (those trips have now been canned). ...

AA234 LAX-MIA 02-B
AA404 MIA-MCO 02-H
AA1832 MCO-LGA 06-B
AA1385 JFK-BGI 04-B ...

Note that for AA Meal Flights in the front cabin service meal preferences are normally taken from the rear or the front of the cabin depending on whether the flight number is odd or even. This may be important if you are choosy as while there may be more than one meal option, there are normally only as many meals loaded as there are F seats/pax; if you are last to be offered a meal, you will generally have to take what's left.

On the AA FT forum it's referred to as "FEBO"; "Front Even, Back Odd".

Having posted that, it does not always work; out of six flights I have FEBO followed 5 times. Many seasoned AA travellers go for the middle of the cabin just in case ...

 

[simongr]

I thought I had accounted for FEBO - but might have another look at:

AA1832 MCO-LGA 06-B
AA1385 JFK-BGI 04-B

Those are both in completely the wrong seats :shock:

And that's because my itinerary shows different seats to the seat map on AA:

Per AA:

AA1832 MCO-LGA 4E
AA1385 JFK-BGI 6A

Now I tihnk the JFK-BGI is fine - its a morning flight and I am at the back - and have specifically chosen a window seat so I can get a view of New York flying out - first time for a morning flight in/out of NYC.

I dont know why the itinerary doesnt match AA - but I will go with AA.

For 1832 its definitely 04-E which is row 2 so should be ok.

Just thinking of more tweaks (again) to the itinerary...