JQ Seat Selection

[Peter JB]

I'm flying JQ this week...and I have already chosen my seats online. Of course the exit rows are never available to select so my question - who gets them? If they cannot be selected online, what if the plane fills up in bookings, are they made available then to the last 12 bookings because everyone else has taken all the others (assuming naturally that every person has booked all other seats online AND have chosen a seat)? The dangerous part of this of course is that children will be in the last 12. So I'm interested in how that works.

Whilst I have booked, if I get to check in early enough, can I request the exit seat and therefore swap for my already booked seat?

Interested to hear any thoughts on this.

[Rhys Xanthis]

Check in online (24hrs before departure) and see if they are available, if so, move.

However when we booked a Jetflex fare from Mel -> Per, all exit row seats were available, so i would bet they are taken.

[Peter JB]

Ah yes - Jetflex. Of course, you get the seats made available. Oh well, I guess my only chance is that nobody has booked a Jetflex fare!!

[Chris Tully]

Even if they are free at check-in, you still need to secure them before anybody else does.

No guarantees...

[Todd Milton]

Normally the Exit Row on Airline Systems are not available due to restrictions in place by the airline or governing body. The restrictions in place are, A Person must be over 15 years of age, Able Bodied and must be able to understand English. Weird that they allow only JetFlex passengers into the row, but it does make sense. Reward the people that pay the most.

I would like to see what happens when people check in at the kiosk. At Qantas, it will print out a rejection pass so a customer service officer can assess the person to see if they are suitable, does anyone know if this is the same for JetStar?

[Adam P.]

A Person must be over 15 years of age, Able Bodied and must be able to understand English.
...and willing to help out in an emergency if required.

[Michael Mak]

The exit rows are available to JetFlex passengers. But you can always check-in online, print out your boarding pass then go to the airport and ask for exit row seats. If they are available and if you meet the requirement, they will assign the seat for you and print out a new boarding pass.

I've done it many times the only time I got rejected was when the flight was full and I got to the airport late (BNE-SYD).

Michael

[Rhys Xanthis]

I would like to see what happens when people check in at the kiosk. At Qantas, it will print out a rejection pass so a customer service officer can assess the person to see if they are suitable, does anyone know if this is the same for JetStar?

They didnt care at bag drop.

We got asked once we sat down by the F/A if we satisfied the CASA rules.

[Brendan Lawrence]

Passengers restricted from sitting in exit row seats by CASA definition are;
- People with permanent or temporary disability,
- Children under 15 years of age,
- Adults nursing infants,
- People who do not understand or speak English,
- People requiring an extension seatbelt,
- Deportees or prisoners in custody.
In addition, company policy also includes;
- Pregnant women over 6 months gestation.

As mentioned already by others, JetFlex passengers are able to select exit row seats but they too will be assessed by check-in staff for suitability to sit at the overwing exits. If they receive a boarding pass at one of the kiosks or have printed it at home and walk straight on to the aircraft then they would have agreed to the exit row seating requirements that they are prompted with on the screen. In that case it's an honesty system and it will then only be cabin crew that will notice if they do not meet the requirements to sit there and it's then the Left 2 Primary cabin crew member (who is positioned at the overwing area during boarding) that must re-seat passengers... and that can be a nightmare at times! Sometimes delaying departure.

Any remaining exit row seats not selected by JetFlex passengers are allocated to other passengers who request them at check-in on a first-in first-served basis and if that fails to satisfy the minimum 2x ABPs (Able Bodied Persons) per exit row (8 in total at the A320 overwing area) then check-in will re-allocate suitable passengers to those seats. If they haven't done that due to time constraints or last minute no-shows then cabin crew will re-seat pax to meet the ABP requirements.

So Peter, after all that, get to check-in for your flight when it opens and provided the JetFlex passengers booked on your flight have not already snapped up all the exit row seats (and not all of them are that clever, and often do just pick any old seat in the cabin), then the staff should be able to allocate you the exit row if you don't have a broken arm or leg of course, and you understand the English I'm speaking, lol ! ;)

[Lukas M]

Brendan, do many passengers travel with JetFlex, its just its so expensive and all?

[Chris Tully]

Expensive? Mate, you should have been flying around 20 years ago! That was expensive!

[Lukas M]

Expensive?

Suprising prices though, say AVV-SYD
Jetsaver $79
JetFlex $229

Bit pricey, just interested if some people take up JetFlex fare. I guess its good for business travellers

[Rhys Xanthis]

We payed $449 one way MEL-PER but had no choice.

QF was $600+ !

[Steve Jones]

Rhys, did you try Tiger? I would be surprised if they charged that much except at short notice on busy days!

[Rhys Xanthis]

Rhys, did you try Tiger? I would be surprised if they charged that much except at short notice on busy days!

Well it was something similar...decided to go with JQ...FF points, plus it was a good flight anyway. And couldnt really justify $400 for a ticket on tiger.

It was the 2nd last day of school holidays in april, so the airlines obviously up the prices (capacity too, but meh).

[Peter JB]

Thanks Brendan for your lengthy but informative response. In the end I have not bothered to try for an exit row, but I did use the check in facility. Funny thing though...When I booked I chose 6A and 6B and when I checked in it had us down as having 4E and 4F! :confused:

Anyway I left it at that...closer to the front! :D

[Brendan Lawrence]

No problem Peter. Well at least the engines sound better forward of the wing. ;)

And Lukas, regarding JetFlex, I would say it ranges from about 4-10 passengers per flight that present at the boarding gate with a JetFlex boarding pass. That's just going from rough memory - I'm tearing those boarding passes so quickly and just have enough time to check the essentials like flight number/destination but I do occasionally catch the "JETFLEX" printed at the top.

Generally though I see more JetFlex pax on our heavy business traveller routes like MEL-HBA, AVV-SYD (for the business folk in the outer west or Geelong) or even MEL-OOL because the usually Qantas-travelling suits have to jump on Jetstar and either have their ticket paid for by their company or need to have a fully flexible ticket. Most times on a Hobart the overwing exit rows look like business class. :p

[Peter JB]

Got back today, great trip to Tassie. Gee those seats are tight man, dunno how the bigger people cope. I didn't bother checking in online on the way back this morning, got to the airport check in and he offered me the exit row straight away!! :D Plenty of room this time. :)