What happened to seats opening at t-80

[maureeng]

Hi

I tried to chose my seats from Mel - Syd and return at T-80 and noticed they had not opened up the seats as they used to. Tried again for Thursdays flight and still all blocked. I even called Qantas and she saw a better seat but when she tried to get it for me it was restricted. Closest I can get is 49J! I know I have been bumped back to bronze as all my international flight last year were on points ( I will be back to silver next month) but I used to be able to pick at T-80. Anyone else had this problem? I know it is a first world problem as my kids keep telling me.:-|

 

[mannej]

I don't think those with status see this as a problemðŸ

 

[maureeng]

I know. My husband is Platinum :-(

 

[blackcat20]

T-80 is usually independent of status, but its not always set in concrete. Sometimes they open up later.

 

[JohnK]

Still able to choose a "better" seat ~T-80 hours.

I have just allocated 4D at ~T-79h 10m as I go sidetracked earlier.

Sometimes cannot get row 4 as it may possibly be allocated to a Platinum One or Chairman's Lounge.

 

[opusman]

I've checked my NB parents in a few times and even at T-24 there was almost no choice - just a small smattering of seats dotted around the rear third of the aircraft. PCV is obviously very low in this case

 

[Daver6]

Something is definitely going on with this. MrsDaver6 and I are on the same flight but different PNRs from PER to BNE tomorrow. Im PS, she is SG. At T-80 barely anything opened up. For her, more opened up, but still not the usual. Now at T-26 no changes either.

 

[amaroo]

I don't think those with status see this as a problemðŸ

hahaha I saw what you did there

 

[maureeng]

Something is definitely going on with this. MrsDaver6 and I are on the same flight but different PNRs from PER to BNE tomorrow. Im PS, she is SG. At T-80 barely anything opened up. For her, more opened up, but still not the usual. Now at T-26 no changes either.

JYes even with my low status I used to be able to get better seats at T-80 but now 47J is the closest on a Syd - Mel flight . I need to stop using points for my flights to get my status up .

 

[eric2011]

T80 worked well for me last week both ways as SG. Every seat in J opened up to me at T80 including the prized Row 1

 

[pshepvic]

I think they are now restricting to WP and SG - I still get more seats available at T-80 but a colleague who is silver does not. Same flights. This seems to vary by airport - I find ADL, BNE, HBA are broader, but PER and SYD seem more restricted. They are also keeping some seats blocked still - sometimes only one or two seats are released at T-80 in row 4 (738 aircraft) and others will be released later.

Today I got 4A at T-56, which was still blocked all day yesterday and this morning at T-60.

 

[Mrmaxwell]

I think they are now restricting to WP and SG - I still get more seats available at T-80 but a colleague who is silver does not.

This.

Especially on busier routes it seems premium seats are being kept locked up .

 

[ChasingDaylight]

Does (/did) T-80 apply to only Dom flights or does it work on Intl flights also?

 

[bismarck]

I have definitely noticed that they don't seem to be opening up at T-80, particularly on busy routes like SYD-MEL. Used to be able to reliably move into exit row but no dice anymore. Looking forward to moving back up to SG in a few weeks

 

[ozbeachbabe]

As WP I can see row 6 back but last week the day prior to a SYD/BNE flight I could select row 4DEF however I picked 5A as there was someone in 5C & turned out 5B was a shadow.

Always got to be cognizant of opportunistic muppets who love to vacate a perfectly acceptable aisle or window seat a few rows behind for the Holy Grail of 4B or 4E.

 

[dodgeyhack]

Something is definitely going on with this. MrsDaver6 and I are on the same flight but different PNRs from PER to BNE tomorrow. Im PS, she is SG. At T-80 barely anything opened up. For her, more opened up, but still not the usual. Now at T-26 no changes either.

Nothing to see here...

 

[Princess Fiona]

From a purely selfish point of view I'd think it was a good thing if T-80 seat selections were better for SG/WP etc as they are better at the time of booking.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

From a purely selfish point of view I'd think it was a good thing if T-80 seat selections were better for SG/WP etc as they are better at the time of booking.

A lot of WP and SG book 'last minute' or within T-80 so if forward seats are blocked off for their use there's less chance of being stuck down the back.

 

[serfty]

I think the 'real' T-80 is a glitch so wouldn't be surprised if it went away.

I haven't used it for a couple of years, but what I would see happen, was that all unallocated seats would open up for about 10 minutes at some point shortly after T-80.
For me, it was usually around 5 minutes after, but for others I've given the info to it's been up to 20 minutes. But in all cases the window where every seat was open was short.
After that window closed, seat options changed, but it seemed to be a PCV based system. On work fares which are usually in a more expensive (i.e. upgradable) bucket I'd have a good choice. On personal fares, choice would be very poor.

T-80 per se was never a glitch - it was simply policy. Any 'glitch' would relate to how it is being implemented with the processes around it.

When Qantas first went to Altea and "notional seating"; their bulletins published on the matter indicated that the t-80 would remain "as normal".

(In fact, that's when I first came across 't-80' )

 

[medhead]

Really shouldn't talk about this glitch in the wild.

But I suspect they might have employed a FFlyer who is slowly fixing these sorts of things.

**Detailed description of glitch**