US Trip with Qantas/AA

[theworld2]

G'day,
Just booked a trip for four to the US in January 2011 in Business Class (3 people on one booking, 1 on another, worked out cheaper that way for some reason)

Flying MEL-LAX on QF93 on 2nd January
then getting onto QF107 LAX-JFK

LAS-LAX on QF3114 (AA774) on the 12th
LAX-MEL on QF94 on the 19th

For the MEL-LAX and LAX-MEL legs the seat selection has pretty much all but the last few rows as 'unavailable' in anyone's experience are they actually occupied or is it a similar situation to domestic seat selection were only the last few rows show up ahead of time? I put us as close together as possible 22A/B and 25A/B both flights and 1J/K and 6J/K for QF107 to JFK
Any tricks to getting a seat a bit closer to the front?
Last time we flew long haul had a friend at Qantas who organized great seats but she has since left unfortunately

Also for the LAS-LAX flight it shows up as being in 'Business' but as far as I know AA just has the two cabin "First" and Economy on a route like this. Safe to assume we'd be in "First" ?

We're all QF Silver FF by the way
Any comments/suggestions would be great
Cheers

 

[serfty]

Being PS enables you to select from limited seating; non status PAX (including QP) have no such option. Try again 3 to 4 days before the flights.

Qantas do not sell F on their QF codeshares on AA metal, so while you will be in "AA First" you will earn as for Business class.

 

[theworld2]

Thanks serfty

 

[ComeFlyWithMe]

G'day,
Just booked a trip for four to the US in January 2011 in Business Class (3 people on one booking, 1 on another, worked out cheaper that way for some reason)

Flying MEL-LAX on QF93 on 2nd January
then getting onto QF107 LAX-JFK

LAS-LAX on QF3114 (AA774) on the 12th
LAX-MEL on QF94 on the 19th

For the MEL-LAX and LAX-MEL legs the seat selection has pretty much all but the last few rows as 'unavailable' in anyone's experience are they actually occupied or is it a similar situation to domestic seat selection were only the last few rows show up ahead of time? I put us as close together as possible 22A/B and 25A/B both flights and 1J/K and 6J/K for QF107 to JFK
Any tricks to getting a seat a bit closer to the front?
Last time we flew long haul had a friend at Qantas who organized great seats but she has since left unfortunately

Also for the LAS-LAX flight it shows up as being in 'Business' but as far as I know AA just has the two cabin "First" and Economy on a route like this. Safe to assume we'd be in "First" ?

We're all QF Silver FF by the way
Any comments/suggestions would be great
Cheers

The MEL-LAX and LAX-MEL seem odd, few seats available for allocation but the flight still has heaps of availability. Try closer to the date, they will most likely release the seat allocations.
The LAS-LAX is 2-class as you said. QF sell into F and J class simultaneously for AA F (which is not as good as QF J IMO, more like QF Y+) so they can connect this with their J or F tix ex AUS. After QF J A380, it will be very disappointing.
Being up front on the A380 makes little difference IMO - all seats are great, except for the mini-cabin which is really great, however that is reserved for WP and CL generally, and impossible to get into without the status.
Make sure you call to link the two bookings - that will help with seat allocation. At worst, they should be able to sort out seats at the airport if you check in early. They may even be able to solve your seating allocation over the phone.
Enjoy your trip!

 

[ajw373]

G'day,
Just booked a trip for four to the US in January 2011 in Business Class (3 people on one booking, 1 on another, worked out cheaper that way for some reason)

Flying MEL-LAX on QF93 on 2nd January
then getting onto QF107 LAX-JFK

LAS-LAX on QF3114 (AA774) on the 12th
LAX-MEL on QF94 on the 19th

...

Also for the LAS-LAX flight it shows up as being in 'Business' but as far as I know AA just has the two cabin "First" and Economy on a route like this. Safe to assume we'd be in "First" ?

We're all QF Silver FF by the way
Any comments/suggestions would be great
Cheers

Correct on that flight AA has first and coach so you will be in AA first. However as you are on a Qantas codeshare flight number Qantas has sold the seat to you a business (which all cough aside is what it really is) so you will only get business points and status credits.

 

[digga]

G'day,
...
LAS-LAX on QF3114 (AA774) on the 12th
...Also for the LAS-LAX flight it shows up as being in 'Business' but as far as I know AA just has the two cabin "First" and Economy on a route like this. Safe to assume we'd be in "First" ?

We're all QF Silver FF by the way
Any comments/suggestions would be great
Cheers

Just a thought, but I'm pretty sure that QF will offer fairly indifferently (at least on some routes?) the AA code. I just tried a dummy booking and for at least one of the LAX-LAS options was offered both the QF code and the AA code for the same lowest-available fare. Booking the AA code will get you booked into first class directly rather than the business-but-flying-in-first QF code, earning you 50% more SCs and 25% more points (ok for such a short sector, it's not gonna be a whole lot, but every little bit helps, right ?). If you can change without (too much of a) penalty, maybe it'd be worth seeing what QF is able to do ... ?