Waitlisting

[Nick]

I have a confirmed seat in November on QF 31 from SYD/LHR leaving SYD at 10.15pm however I would like to get an afternoon flight, possibly QF 5/QF 9 as I have friends booked on this flight. As it is the low shoulder season before Christmas, nearly every QF flight is booked at this time and I have put in a waitlist request to get put onto this flight if someone cancels.

I am wondering how successful people have been in getting on the flight(s) they wanted via waitlisting. Is there anyway I can find out how many people are before me on the list??

 

[straitman]

I am wondering how successful people have been in getting on the flight(s) they wanted via waitlisting. Is there anyway I can find out how many people are before me on the list??

To the best of my knowledge this will literally depend upon the luck of the draw :!:

You could ring and ask Qantas, and if you get a friendly enough reservations clerk he/she may help you. I believe however that it really will come down to getting the right person at the right time. No harm in asking though.

If it was me, I would ask:!:

 

[icemann]

Depends if you have any status or not. And in which class you're wanting to pay for. If you are willing to pay for a seat (instead of award flights - read 'free' through points), it's easier.

Regarding status, even if you are a 'nobody' in the eyes of the airline, being QC bronze (Qantas Club member (airline lounge) with bronze) is better than just 'bronze', which is even better than 'not a member at all'.

So, if you're not a member, join. If you can afford to spend $600 (which goes down to $300 per year after) to join up for the QC club, I recommend it. Originally, that's why I did (after not really knowing what it was like in the QC lounges), joined and never regretted it. I love it in there before a flight.

Plus, you do get priority waitlisting with QC membership - but if there are any silver, platinum or gold frequent flyers, they will get priority over you due to their higher status.

Add a bit of luck to it to, and if you can, be flexible in when you can fly.

 

[Nick]

Thanks for all your suggestions. Unbelievable as it may seem, my travel agent put in a waitlist request yesterday and this morning when I checked my bookings on my FF profile, I have a confirmed seat on the flights that I wanted (QF 5 / QF 9). But, my booking also displays that I have a confirmed seat on my orginal flight (QF 31) so I'll have to watch this to make sure that
(a) it gets wiped off my booking
(b) I have the seat on QF 5 / QF 9

A call to the travel agent or FF service Centre wouldn't go astray I feel :roll:

 

[icemann]

Definitely. Get things all O.Kd before you leave the ground - and remember to get your FF number placed on that reservation so that you don't go through the 'points chase race' after you've earned points / status and it's not been added.

Enjoy the flight But it's a long one (I've done it before).

 

[straitman]

Enjoy the flight But it's a long one (I've done it before).

Good luck and let us know how it all pans out Nick.

 

[thadocta]

Nick, I would not be too concerned about both flights showing up on your FF profile. (I am about to get technical here.)

When you have a confirmed booking, the flight readout in the QF computer will read something like:

QF 001 K 01JAN SYD LHR 1600 0500* HK1

In the above, most of it should be self explanatory, but the interesting bit is the "HK1" - meaning "Holding Konfirmed 1 seat".

It is not unusual to have the following:

QF 001 K 01JAN SYD LHR 1600 0500* HK1
QF 031 K 01JAN SYD LHR 2100 1030* HL1

The "HL1" means "Holding waitListed 1 seat". So you would be confirmed on one, but waitlisted on the other.

Now, once the waitlist clears, until they notify you, the original booking will remain in place - with a slight change:

QF 001 K 01JAN SYD LHR 1600 0500* HK1
QF 031 K 01JAN SYD LHR 2100 1030* KL1

This means that you are confirmed on QF 1, and the waitlist has been confirmed from QF 31, but they are yet to infrom you of this. Both of these flights will show up as confirmed flights in your FF profile though. Once they infrom you, the "KL" status will change to "HK" and the first flight will cancel.

I would not bother them about it, since you are confirmed on both flights. If they desperately need seats on the first flight they WILL get on to you (it will show up in their Q's thet they need to free up seats of passengers KL's on other flights).

Rest assured that if it is showing up as "confirmed" on the flights you want, then it is indeed confirmed.

Dave

 

[icemann]

I had to laugh at this

HK ?! Qantas can't spell 'confirmed' ! They spell it with a 'k' ?!

*LOL*

Dear oh dear. Go to the back of the Klass (sic) Geoff Dixon, you're a very poor speller.

Oh dear. It's no wonder then, that they can't get my outstanding transactions credited then, is it ?

Seriously though, why not use 'c' ? HC ? Is this a different airline code ?

 

[thadocta]

HK is a standard code used by EVERY airline CRS in the world - C is used for Closed, K for confirmed.

Dave

Editted to change "C" code - X is for Cancelled

 

[Nick]

Thanks Dave for your technical explanation. I guess I can sort of recognise it because my travel agent has showed me her screen when she types all the codes in to see what flights are available and I've seen what it looks like when I have a confirmed seat on a Qantas flight.

I'm not going to lose sleep over the whole thing as I don't leave until late November, so there is plenty of time for it all to sort itself out.

Oh well, the only thing in front of me now is the long flight straight through to LHR with a 1 hour and 40 minute stopover in SIN. I guess it will be well worth it when I get over there at 5.20am in the morning :shock:

 

[icemann]

Nick, if you have Qantas Club Membership (which, if you're high up in the status of the program, or are willing to pay for membership), a 1 hour 40 min stopover anywhere is made a lot easier with lounge access. It is expensive, but on a long flight, it makes it worthwhile.

Go in, kick back, get a drink and relax. Mate, it's great. I recommend it. Even get a shower if you want one.

I'm flying MEL-LAX soon, then doing some business in the states and so I'm going right through CHI and JFK. Then, I go to Europe (do more business), back through SIN. The QC lounges help a lot on this kind of round the world 'dance'.

 

[Nick]

Thanks for your suggestions Icemann, but as I'm only 20, the funds don't stretch as far as Qantas Club membership unfortunately :cry: It would have been nice to just slip into the QC lounge in SIN and have a few drinks to let the time slip by.

Maybe one day in the not too distant future, I will be able to fly business class and be a QC member. At least my FF points are accumulating so that's a good thing

Have fun on your trips. How many of these trips do you do per year??

 

[icemann]

No worries mate

I remember some years ago I joined the QC club, really - 'just to see what it was like'. I never looked back. I fully recommend it. I saw it at the time as an investment, because I was flying separate leisure and business flights, both within about a week of each other, so I wanted to try the lounge access. Now, it's an integral part of my business / leisure trips. I need it to keep in touch with home + family (in case anything goes wrong) and it provides a useful calling point for business, work, or just kicking back and watching TV with a drink.

Once you go in it, you will love it. If you do enough business trips a year to get gold / platinum status, you get complimentary membership, but even if you just do a few long haul a year, it is still worth it. Every time I go overseas, I take a business colleague or my fiancee in, and they like it too. If I go with my fiancee, she gets the lounge access too, and that means that we don't have to fork out for a partner QC membership, because she is technically 'my guest'.

You don't just get the lounge access, you get the priority check-in (which, on some days, has saved my behind and/or my sanity) - meaning, waltz up to the business / QC counter and check in, instead of waiting in the 3km long queue at economy on a public holiday. You also get priority baggage handling, and so, your luggage (is meant to) come off the carousel first. I say this because Adelaide domestic has a bad habit of not doing this with mine. But usually it does come off first (before everyone else's).

I have rellies in Europe, and so I go back to visit them about every 1-2 years, plus a few friends in the states too and Asia. Couple that with a few business trips and you're looking at 3-4 good, long trips overseas (either business or pleasure) a year, plus God knows however many domestic flights. I have one flight to LA soon, doing business there, plus NYC, back through Europe on a RTW fare, plus (potentially) a wedding to go to in Thailand and one in NYC.

Business class is nice - but the beauty of flights is that....if you can get the business you work for to pay for it, it's even better ! Now that, is the whole art. Getting someone else (usually work) to pay for business trips, then using those frequent flyer points for your own personal holidays + upgrades.