Paid for Extra Legroom but Only Receiving until Re-Fuelling

deeds89 on 11/01/2017 - 13:02
Last edited 11/01/2017 - 13:20

edit: updated after advice from Neil

Hey Guys,

Seeking advice!

I've paid for extra legroom on a Qantas flight from SYD - NYC. I've been advised from Qantas, however, that the only available seats with extra legroom are from SYD - LAX (the stopover for re-fuelling) and then from LAX - NYC we have been designated to normal seating.

When I was completing the request online (a few months ago) an error appeared and it wouldn't allow me to complete the transaction so I ended up completing the transaction through the Qantas Webchat.

I was advised from Qantas that there are zero extra legroom seats on the LAX - NYC flight (I've never been on a plane that has had to stop for re-fuelling) and have been allocated random seats by Qantas - I was unable to chose my seats because they could not send me a seating chart of the aircraft/flight.

Basically I have paid full price for 2x extra legroom seats from SYD - NYC but am only receiving the extra legroom from SYD - LAX. Am I in any position to negotiate a portion of the moneys paid returned or anything to make up for the payment?

Appreciate any advice.

Cheers!

Travel

Comments

  • neil on 11/01/2017 - 13:13
    +9

    (I've never been on a plane that has had to stop for re-fuelling)

    Definitely not the same plane. It will be an American Airlines domestic codeshare flight. They are usually A321s (a smaller plane) whereas the SYD-LAX are A380s.

    It works the other way round for American Airlines customers flying from US to Australia. If they go to other Australian domestic airports the secondary flights will be covered by Qantas.

    • deeds89 on 11/01/2017 - 13:21

      Cheers Mate. I'll check my booking! So then as this domestic flight has no extra legroom seats available, I'm stuck?

      • neil on 11/01/2017 - 13:36
        +1

        Extra Legroom is a Qantas feature (I think).

        • You can select your seat only on Qantas international flights QF1 - 199 and Qantas domestic flights QF400 - 1349 (excluding QantasLink services). On QantasLink services you can request a preference for an aisle or window seat.

        The LA-NY flight is run by AA and have QF codeshare flight numbers with 4 numbers (e.g. QF3095) thus you can't select extra legroom.

        Can you do a seat selection on the LAX-NY leg?

        Seatguru has a breakdown of the plane. If you can be put into Main Cabin Extra that provides up to 6" of additional legroom.

        American flys almost hourly from LA-NY, so if there are no main cabin extra seats ask to be switched to a different flight. Just go to AA's site and look at flights.

    • Randxyz123 on 11/01/2017 - 13:41
      +1

      Normally SYD - LAX is a Qantas 747 but it does depend on the day I think.

      Every time I've been from Melbourne, it's A380 to LAX and then Qantas 747 to JFK. When you get on the LAX - JFK flight, there are flights from SYD and BNE that arrive in LAX at the same time and then you all get on one plane to JFK. This does probably depend on the day and availability etc

      You may have been bumped from a exit row for operation reasons or someone who is disabled and needs the extra room won't fit in another seat.

      There may also be other people (just normal Americans) going from LAX - JFK on that flight who already requested a extra leg room seat.

      Ring Qantas and see what they say. Also ask at the airport. They have more control than customer service on the phone especially if you ring with less than 24 hours to go before your flight.

  • try2bhelpful on 11/01/2017 - 15:56

    Cattle class on planes is just painful - I call them flying slums. I'm 5ft tall and I think there isn't enough legroom on planes; don't know how anyone else gets on.

    • Randxyz123 on 11/01/2017 - 17:23
      +2

      You've got to be kidding me… I'm 6"3 (193cm) and I actually struggle to fit. You at 5" would be fine on most qantas flights especially international where the legroom is actually reasonable.

      The fact that you think you don't fit in economy is laughable.

      • deeds89 on 11/01/2017 - 17:52

        Yep I'm 6'3 too and simply need that extra legroom!

      • Ughhh on 11/01/2017 - 22:40

        Im 5'3ish and legroom is fine for me too. Either she has very long legs and very very short lower body, which would be weird. Or just a …big person?

        • try2bhelpful on 12/01/2017 - 10:39

          Not a big person, I just can't get comfortable because I can't get my legs in the right position. I was trying to sympathise with people who are tall by indicating I cand't even get comfortable on these planes. YMMD to mine, but this is how I actually experience it.

      • try2bhelpful on 12/01/2017 - 10:37
        +1

        Not laughable, just my opinion. I find the plane seats really difficult to get comfortable in. However, nice for you to explain my issues to me.

  • deeds89 on 11/01/2017 - 18:18

    Thanks Guys, yes turns out it is a 747 LAX-JFK, I checked out the seats that the Qantas WebChat consultant put us in, standard seats. I might give Qantas a call the day of/speak to someone at check-in to see if there's anything they could do.

    • Randxyz123 on 11/01/2017 - 22:10

      Web chat is useless in my experience… Call their customer service number(unless you are flying out tomorrow).

      They won't be able to do anything in Sydney for the LAX - JFK flight. There is a customer service desk through security in LAX. That is where you should be going.

      In Sydney you'll get 2 tickets one for SYD -LAX and the other LAX - JFK. When you get to LAX you'll clear customs and immigration and leave your bags to be rechecked.

      The LAX - JFK flight is only 5 hours. It isn't that bad. It is manageable… JUST.

      At the very least try and get aisle seats.

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