Qantas Seat Selection?

[Oliver Gigacz]

My father and mother were booked on a Qantas flight last week, and when they checked in online, the seats selected for them were in different rows? It seemed like all other seats were ocupied, But when they checked if you could still buy tickets for Economy there were still alot. Anyone know why?

[Sarah C]

Both domestic and international flights have pre-select seat selection for Silver, Gold and Platinum FFer's. It means if there is a lot of Frequent Flyers on the flight, they have already selected thier seat before check in.

Also, did your parents make a selection of window or aisle in thier booking (or FF profile)? If they both selected aisle, the computer might have allocated seperate rows because of how the other seats were allocated.

[Oliver Gigacz]

I think my mother picked Window and my father nothing?

[Andre H]

This is definitely not customer friendly. Not everyone need a FF membership but it´s the only way to get two seats together in a qantas plane.
That´s absolutely a no go for long haul passengers, travelling together.

On nearly every network carrier everyone can pre select a seat ( free or with a small charge ) on the booking process.

[Robert S]

Originally Posted by Sarah C

Both domestic and international flights have pre-select seat selection for Silver, Gold and Platinum FFer's. It means if there is a lot of Frequent Flyers on the flight, they have already selected thier seat before check in.

I don't believe this explains it. When I flew back from Melbourne on a lunchtime flight on Easter Monday, I was Sequence 1 to check in and had a choice of about 25-30 seats on a 738. I don't believe tiered FF's could possibly have made up 80% of the clientele on the flight.

A colleague at work (who is a QF FF, but just Bronze) had the same experience checking in for a BrisVegas flight last week.

[Wenglock M]

I think there is an algorithm behind the OLCI system that determines the seats that can be selected by you. It is probably dependent on your QFF status, fare class, and possibly other factors (basically, the lower your status and fare class, the less choice of seats you have and these are usually towards the back of the bus).

Having said that however, more seats may open up closer to departure so just check back every now and then before you leave for the airport (and even when you are at the airport) to see if you can get a seat further up the front than what is offered by OLCI.

Wenglock.

[Sarah C]

Your fare class has a big role too - if you purchase the cheapest fare, you have less options.