[Benny]

Hi All,

Just a tip from an ex-employee for increasing your chances of getting a decent seat:

1) For domestic flights - Turn up early! Check-in can re-allocate your seat easy enough

2) For international flights - Seats are pre-allocated. Your travel manager should be able to grab you the best seat available.

3) NEVER EVER state that your hurt or injured and required more space so can you have an exit row. The answer will definitely be NO and they have the right to refuse to board you on the aircraft.

4) One of the rules for an exit row is that you must not be travel with a dependent. So leave the kids, pregnant wife and your 100 year old aunty at home.

5) Certain titles will also help your chance of ending up in the exit row. If you're a police officer or fireman or the like, make sure that's clearly on your profile. Use "Detective David Jones" when booking your ticket. The airline wants to ensure that you're fit enough to pull a 20kg door out of the aircraft and throw it. Chances are a member of the services will be fit enough to do it, whereas the fat teen who works at Macca's probably can't.

6) MOST IMPORTANT - Be POLITE and FRIENDLY. The amount of egotisical wankers who demand that they get the best seat and use the classic line "do you know who i am" will never get it. Chances are they'll get NSR (Not Suitable for Regrade) on their booking.

I hope this helps!

Benny

[Lindsay Wilson]

Benny, sage words that I'm sure everybody will heed.

I agree with the "leave your prestige at home". I treat others as I would like to be treated. Whilst being Plat helps (particularly for my forward aisle request or asking for exit row seating at check-in), I may not always be there (in fact, I can almost guarantee that I won't make it next year for 2006 use).

[straitman]

Thanks Benny,

Lindsay stole my words. Be friendly, be happy, be easy to get along with etc, etc and most of all make yourself look like the sort of person that should have an exit row.

You hope you never need the exit row, BUT if you ever do you don't want someone sitting there who is going to have trouble with handling the exit. ie no kids, little old ladies, walking sticks, wheel chairs or other physical limitations for operating an exit door/window.

[thadocta]

I'm always rather bemused by the fact that I can get an exit row when checking in at the Qantas Pub three hours before hand. What condition do they expect us all to be in after three hours at a free bar?

Dave

[straitman]

Originally Posted by thadocta

I'm always rather bemused by the fact that I can get an exit row when checking in at the Qantas Pub three hours before hand. What condition do they expect us all to be in after three hours at a free bar?

Dave

You don't have to be upstanding. That's why they give you a seat

[NM]

Unfortunately, the best seats are no longer available to us. On severalo occasions I have bene invited to take the third or forth best seat in house for takeoff or landing. Obviously they would not let me have the best seat (front left) or second best (front right) since those folks in the white shirts with gold thingies on their shoulders get to sit there. But on the larger busses (744, 767) there are a couple of seats directly behind that have a great forward view.

It was always interesting when a passengers entered thinking the small forward cabin was a changing room :? .

But, alas, that is now a dream from the past. Now I prefer to aim for a seat that has full recline for my long haul flights. And even though the audio entertainment through the headphones on those forward viewing seats is interesting, I now use my Shure E3 earphones to cancel out the extraneous sounds and conversations that surround me.

[sully]

What about dress code? I imagine that if you are in your 5 year old trackie dacks, sloppy joe and have decided the the trip started yesterday so a shave wasn't essential, that the chances of any special treatment is low. I dress in the smart casual uniform and have this feeling that it makes a difference on some occasions.

A little bit of non-patronising banter seems to go a long way as well. I recall the last time I flew BA that I mentioned the on-line check in facility that the CSO wasn't aware of. I explained it to her and she was quite thankful. Whether the upgrade from WT+ to business was related to that I can't be sure, but I know I never got to sit in the seat I had chosen because the recline was much better.

[NM]

In my experience with operational upgrades with Qantas, the computer has already processed the upgrade long before the traveller arrives for checking. I gusss if you were really sloppily dressed the checkin agent could over-ride the upgrade and put you back into the paid cabin, but unlikely. There are plenty of paying business and first class passengers who travel "comfortably".

But I always travel in neat clothes. I feel better wearing something presentable. Not a suit (unless going straight to a meeting), but neat slacks (eg Dockers, not jeans) and non-iron button shirt with collar. But that has not helped to get operational upgrades on Qantas international flights .

[willyroo]

Originally Posted by Benny

1) For domestic flights - Turn up early! Check-in can re-allocate your seat easy enough

Don't quite agree with you there.

I've had a number of op-ups this year on oversold flights, some reason for this must be due to my normal practice of checking-in around 20 minutes before the flight closes.

[straitman]

Originally Posted by willyroo

Don't quite agree with you there.

I've had a number of op-ups this year on oversold flights, some reason for this must be due to my normal practice of checking-in around 20 minutes before the flight closes.

Trading drinks at the QP for drinks on board

Good move when it works. :wink: