Staff Upgrades

[puppysparkes]

It is a little OT but with AA often I am asked to move from my booked J or F seat, especially on long haul, simply because 2 upgraded people want to sit together, annoys the hell out of me with the plastic put on smiles I get sometimes and the instant frowns when I say no. There should be an unwritten rule, if you get the upgrade, simply sit where you are assigned, or refuse the upgrade and sit where you originally planned if you want to be together, since when did the J or F cabin become a game of musical chairs orchestrated by those who are fortunate to be placed there at the last moment.

Personally it will depend on how the request is put to me. If its rude you get nothing, but I'll never deny a happy couple or a parent with a child/children. My only condition is that I'm seated in an aisle seat.

 

[love_the_life]

It is a little OT but with AA often I am asked to move from my booked J or F seat, especially on long haul, simply because 2 upgraded people want to sit together, annoys the hell out of me with the plastic put on smiles I get sometimes and the instant frowns when I say no. There should be an unwritten rule, if you get the upgrade, simply sit where you are assigned, or refuse the upgrade and sit where you originally planned if you want to be together, since when did the J or F cabin become a game of musical chairs orchestrated by those who are fortunate to be placed there at the last moment.

Agree totally - if you score an upgrade be happy; if you paid for your seat, hang onto it (unless the change is to a better seat)

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Here is what happened to my wife and I last August coming back from New York to Melbourne. We had booked and PAID for Business seats and had confirmed and booked our respective allocated seats 12 hours before leaving New York.

Arrived at the airport, checked in and were given Boarding Passes, DID NOT CHECK THEM... as we knew our seats, so we thought. Got on the plane and found my wife and I were separated, initially taken aback and then looked at Boarding passes with different seat numbers.

My wife was sitting next to a young guy who had the window seat and I was sitting elsewhere in Business. Kicked myself for not checking and mentally noted....NEVER DO THAT AGAIN..ALWAYS CHECK TICKET BEFORE LEAVING CHECK-IN.

Sipping on a glass of champagne and CSM spoke to me and said she had noted we were on the same booking and why were we sitting apart, jokingly said "are'nt you speaking ?" told her that we had pre-confirmed seats together but boarding passes had been issed at the desk and it was my fault anyway and I had not chedcked them etc"

Next thing the CSM goes over to young guy and asks him to go into the galley with her, they come out and she advised me he had "offered" to change seats with me ( I was elsewhere in an aisle seat), my wife said she clearly got the message he was staff.

True story..about 5 minutes later the Captain "happened" to come into the section and asked us if all was fine, enjoying the service etc,etc, we told him we were, we had a chat and off he went. Now that IS customer service.

Obviousl the staff member knew ther person at the desk in New York and wanteed a window seat and mine was it even though it split my wife and I up. Was I angry,well initially annoyed but I should have checked the Boarding Pass and did not so you can't always blame other people. It was a good lesson for me. I always double check now that the seat I book is the seat I get. My philosophy is always..First time is the lesson, 2nd time is the mistake.

Both the CSM and the Captain could not have been better and both did it unprompted. I did wonder though what might have been said to the staff member by the captain.

By the way my son is a Qantas pilot and we could also have gone staff travel ( maybe if available, but maybe not) but we had paid full price for our tickets and there was no way that the CSM would have even known that. My status then was Platinum so I guess she was just doing her job...exceedingly well and looking after her customers.

Occasionally a CSA may make a mistake with changing seats so eg you may have a pax that had 8F & maybe wants 14K which is vacant but the CSA accidentally enters 14A in error which is already occupied. That would bump the pax previously in 14A to 8F instead. Now had the pax originally in 14A been checked in already a new boarding pass would print out so that should be a red flag to the CSA if two boarding passes get spat out.

If the pax in 14A hadn't checked in yet & the inadvertant seat change happened it's less obvious as you don't get a reprint of the boarding pass so the mistake may go unnoticed, however surely the CSA checking in the couple should notice that a couple have split seats & deal with the situation ie move them back to where they should have been.

Your response to the situation is admirable. However, inevitably full fare pax and their preferences should always precede other bookings; yes above U class fares and inevitable seat separation.

That could get a bit tricky as it would depend how you look at things - who's more important to QF, an NB booked in J or a WP in U? A bit like the argument of what came first, the dinosaur or the egg?

It is a little OT but with AA often I am asked to move from my booked J or F seat, especially on long haul, simply because 2 upgraded people want to sit together, annoys the hell out of me with the plastic put on smiles I get sometimes and the instant frowns when I say no.

There should be an unwritten rule, if you get the upgrade, simply sit where you are assigned, or refuse the upgrade and sit where you originally planned if you want to be together, since when did the J or F cabin become a game of musical chairs orchestrated by those who are fortunate to be placed there at the last moment.

Who do the plastic smiles belong to, the cabin crew or the upgraded pax? :shock:

AA are obsessed with never having an a/c go out with an empty seat in a premium cabin so as long as they continue to do these op-ups for elite pax the musical chairs will continue.

 

[puppysparkes]

That could get a bit tricky as it would depend how you look at things - who's more important to QF, an NB booked in J or a WP in U? A bit like the argument of what came first, the dinosaur or the egg?

Yeah I wouldn't want to call that, it would probably be assessed by the bean counters insofar as bums on seats and margins.

 

[JohnK]

Agree totally - if you score an upgrade be happy; if you paid for your seat, hang onto it (unless the change is to a better seat)

The civil lebertarians firmly believe if a couple are upgraded from deep discount economy and are seated separately then everyone else should be inconvenienced so the couple should sit together.

Do not ask me to move. You will not like the answer.

 

[cove]

Once all the valid points upgrades are done why would anyone object to flight staff being seated in the best available. Empty seats are a waste regardless of whether they are in First, Business or Premium Economy.

 

[ecg]

The civil lebertarians firmly believe if a couple are upgraded from deep discount economy and are seated separately then everyone else should be inconvenienced so the couple should sit together.

Do not ask me to move. You will not like the answer.

I wholeheartedly agree!

 

[BadgerBoi]

Once all the valid points upgrades are done why would anyone object to flight staff being seated in the best available. Empty seats are a waste regardless of whether they are in First, Business or Premium Economy.

It can degrade the service; cabin crew can spend more than their fair share of time chatting with their old friends, or making new friends and playing the "who do we know in common?" game. It can affect catering; I've seen people who appeared to be paying passengers denied their first choice of meal at the expense of an upgraded non-rev (admittedly I've seen this on foreign carriers, not QF), and it can degrade the cabin ambience when J is filled up with upgrades.

Years ago I flew Lauda in J to Vienna. It would have been a great airline, however they seemed to be hell-bent on filling up every premium seat so about half the cabin seemed to be upgrades (not staff). It was a zoo.

 

[Steelo]

Its not so much the objection to staff flying in J - and following the rules - however, on the routes I fly, - on 737's - points upgrades are often denied (from a full economy fare) only to see the a significant number of J seats occupied by staff.

Once all the valid points upgrades are done why would anyone object to flight staff being seated in the best available. Empty seats are a waste regardless of whether they are in First, Business or Premium Economy.

 

[UP4014]

Its not so much the objection to staff flying in J - and following the rules - however, on the routes I fly, - on 737's - points upgrades are often denied (from a full economy fare) only to see the a significant number of J seats occupied by staff.

If you know they are staff presumably they are in uniform, hence travelling for work.

If people really want to fly J then buying a ticket will get you that otherwise surprise surprise you might only get what you have paid for.

 

[Steelo]

A points upgrade is paying for the seat - its just using Qantas's currency. And yes some are in uniform and some are not - in country areas you do recognise staff.

If you know they are staff presumably they are in uniform, hence travelling for work.

If people really want to fly J then buying a ticket will get you that otherwise surprise surprise you might only get what you have paid for.

 

[cmon0005]

Pretty poor form for anyone (especially staff) to ask someone to move down in class for which they have paid for.
If they so desperately want to sit next to someone they should go sit in Y and 'gift' someone their seat in J.

 

[N860CR]

Without being rude, chances are this event didn't happen as described. Any staff member doing this would face instant dismissal.

 

[Mal]

Without being rude, chances are this event didn't happen as described. Any staff member doing this would face instant dismissal.

Well assiming it did... And there is nothing to imply it didnt, said staffer should be sacked or if a beneficiary should be banned from using staff travel. Simple.

 

[smarty11]

Without being rude, chances are this event didn't happen as described. Any staff member doing this would face instant dismissal.

Well that is a bit harsh... both ways.. there is nothing to suggest that it didn't happen.. and the OP is a well seasoned traveller (P1).. so why would they make it up..?

The flip side : assuming it happened as described.. deplorable as it is.. definitely not worth someone getting a sack for it. A strict caution with temp/permanent withdrawal of the privilege is more fitting 'punishment'.

 

[UP4014]

Without being rude, chances are this event didn't happen as described. Any staff member doing this would face instant dismissal.

Knowing how it works, I tend to agree. Abuse of any type re staff travel ends in one way.

 

[redslert]

I'm not surprised at all by this story.
Unfortunately in my experience the loudest and most obnoxious J passengers are usually family members of staff.

Not the staff themselves, but family members who got cheap fares.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

Without being rude, chances are this event didn't happen as described. Any staff member doing this would face instant dismissal.

I don't doubt for a second what was said by the OP however I'm inclined to think that it may well have been a spouse of the QF or JQ staff member who requested the seat swap. Some beneficiaries can't quite embrace the fact that a staff traveller doesn't get the same rights as a commercial pax & need an attitude adjustment.

I've witnessed a couple of incidents on QF flights I've been on but both cases were JQ staff members, one on Duty Travel as she was in uniform and the other leisure travel. I'm fairly confident in both instances the CSM would have taken the matter further.

 

[UP4014]

The number of people with Jedi mind powers on AFF have really impressed me. With everyone knowing who has paid, who is staff, who hasn't paid, who is family.

I can only dream of such expertise. :shock:

Matt

 

[DAC1]

The number of people with Jedi mind powers on AFF have really impressed me. With everyone knowing who has paid, who is staff, who hasn't paid, who is family.

I can only dream of such expertise. :shock:

Matt

Or the amount of people who know all about staff travel having never worked for QF.