Seat assignment on Qantas internation al flights
 

I am using AA miles to fly business class from LAX to SYD. When I got these tickets from AA, the agent assigned me seats. When I phoned the Qantas 800 no., the agent told me these seats were only preferences and seat confirmation does not occur until check-in. Is check-in available on line? How early before the flight can you check-in? Is it first come, first served? Any advice on how to keep the seats I was assigned by AA. Any help would be appreciated.

foxf1 - you scored one of the most difficult awards there are - lucky you! I am not sure about QF, but on BA you cannot book seats until 24 hrs to departure, unless you have elite status ( AA Plat and above).
You might pose this question on QF forum on FT (do a search first or they'll fry you).

Don't worry.

I don't know of any airline that guarantees seat assignment, but under normal ops most will honor the assignment.

I believe that's what the QF agent was trying top tell you.

We recently got back from a trip booked through AA on Qantas (multiple Business Class flights on Qantas) and you essentially understand the system. I can assure you there is ABSOLUTLY NO WAY for you to be assured of keeping the seats assigned by AA.

The seats assigned by AA are "only a preference". You will be assigned your actual seat upon check-in - it probably won't be the one "assigned" by AA.

No, you cannot check-in "online". The Qantas website will block your attempt and you'll be advised to call their reservations office. If you do call you'll be told you can check-in only at the airport.

There is a separate Business Class check-in line at the ticket counter and you'll be served in the order of your arrival at the airport. The thing to rememmber, however, is Qantas FF members are allowed to use on-line check-in starting, I believe, 24 hours prior to departure so even if you were the first person in line when the ticket counter opens there's no guarantee many of the seats won't already be taken.

You can theoretically check-in anytime on the day of your flight but only, of course, if the ticket counter is "open and staffed". That usually happens about 2 1/2 hours before their first outgoing flight of the day.

For what it is worth when my travel companion and I arrived at the airport for our "first" of many Qantas flights about 2 hours and 15 minutes before our scheduled departure time we were the only ones "on line" and we did not get our "AA" assigned seats. In fact we had no choice as all other seats were given to people who had their boarding passes "in hand". I have no idea if those seats were assigned to Qantas FF's who checked in on-line, travellers who were on connecting flights and had their passes issued earlier in the day or if others had just gotten to the airport much earlier than us.

We arrived at the airport a little less than 2 hours before our "second" flight on Quantas and essentially had a repeat of our first "adventure". We learned our "lesson" and for our 3 remaining flights we got to the airport about 75 minutes before departure and accepted whatever seats we got - even though we did ask politely "just in case" but knowing the answere would be "No".

Maybe Business is different, but I had AA assigned seats in First about 3-4 times and not once did I get a different seat.

foxf1 - I guess you have your DEFINITIVE answer.
Roams Around -thanks for the informative post.

and now that I thought about it, AA assigned business class seats on SYD-AKL R/T and again, the seats did not change.

Qantas online check-in is for Australia domestic flights only.

Update to my earlier post -
Spoke to AA agent, and was told that when I check in at SFO, I will be checked in all the way to Sydney.She has been working at her position for 19 years, and indicated seats have not been a problem.
Guess if you speak to enough people, you eventually get the answer you want to hear. Of course, it still may be wrong.
Thank you all for your help.

I am not sure I understand what you are saying:
" I will be checked in all the way to Sydney" - are you stopping somewhere?
"and indicated seats have not been a problem" - I am sure you will have a seat. But will it be a seat of your choosing?

The OP is flying SFO-LAX-SYD

Once again, I will say it. I'm willing to bet that the OP will get the seats s/he has at the moment.

I'm about 99% certain.

foxf1 - we would like to hear about your experiences with Qantas after your trip.
Thanks.

Just got back today from an AA issued Oneworld circle pacific with multiple Qantas flights in business.

International - Seats preassigned by AA did not change. No online check-in.

Domestic - No seat preassignment. QF will allocate seats prior to OLCI. As my husband and I were traveling on different PNRs, I had QF cross reference them. Our seats were always allocated next to each other (we could of course change them at OLCI if we wished).

Patty,
thanks for the info - it's good to know.

<<For what it is worth when my travel companion and I arrived at the airport for our "first" of many Qantas flights about 2 hours and 15 minutes before our scheduled departure time we were the only ones "on line" and we did not get our "AA" assigned seats. In fact we had no choice as all other seats were given to people who had their boarding passes "in hand". I have no idea if those seats were assigned to Qantas FF's who checked in on-line, travellers who were on connecting flights and had their passes issued earlier in the day or if others had just gotten to the airport much earlier than us.>>

Were these domestic or international flights? Domestic - they could have checked in on-line. QFF can request seating when they first make their booking - I'm not sure why your AA requests were dishonoured. Next time call Qantas and check they have actually been put through. I always double guess my TA and often find my seat request hasn't gone through.

You can also ask AA for your QF locator and check your seat requests on qantas.com.