Hi, my partner and I are flying Mel to LAX in June 2014.

Hi, my partner and I are flying Mel to LAX in June 2014. He's booked in business class and I've paid for premium economy. Just wondering- we are thinking of swapping seats from time to time during flights. Has anyone else done this, any issues with it? Although we have enough points to upgrade from premium economy to business, it's an extra 100000 points which I don't think is worth investing. All advice appreciated, thanks!

Upgrading from PREM to BUSINESS is 45,000pts.

On Qantas, that is.

Thanks so much for all the answers, I really appreciate it :)

yes, we are flying on qantas and so I guess we will be doing "sentry duty" and swap seats halfway through the flight. I would imagine I'll get the first half of the flight to snooze in business class luxury as my hubby likes to drive in the USA and I need him to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for LA traffic (yikes). Thanks everyone.

Yes, what airline are you flying? There's a Qantas flight and a Virgin Australia flight, although only QF runs daily.

If you're flying Virgin, Premium Economy is of a better bet anyway since its Business Class is so dated. However on QF 93, the A380-800 has Business Class as a better bet. So if you're flying VA, don't swap, but if you're flying QF, try your best.

Generally, we will allow one swap during the flight. That's it. No swapping back and forth  as it's disruptive to those around you. If you want to chat and space was permitting you could spend a limited time in the coward business lounge area. Iat the end of the day it's at the discretion of the on board manager. 

Generally, we will allow one swap during the flight. That's it. No swapping back and forth  as it's disruptive to those around you. If you want to chat and space was permitting you could spend a limited time in the coward business lounge area. Iat the end of the day it's at the discretion of the on board manager. 

QFcrew,

How would you regulate/police the swapping? Not being cheeky...Just curious to know the mechanics.

Presumably the Business pax would go down to PE (never the other way around-heavens forbid!) swap seats and the PE pax would make their way up to the Business cabin. Technically this could happen many times. 

Would you request the person in the Business cabin to provide their passport and boarding pass mid-flight to prove their identity? Or would you get other Business pax to dob in the offending party?

We make the appropriate name changes on the passenger list. Advise them no further swapping is permitted. This is now your designated seat. It's easy to monitor . Normally the request is made at the start of the flight or during boarding. It's usually the husband travelling in business on a company paid fare. The wife is in economy on a personally paid fare. The husband asks if the wife can take his seat and he will sit in economy for the sector. 

Fantastic! So it's like sentry duty - First person sleeps for the first 7h then swaps over to allow the second person to sleep the rest of the way. 

Presumably if you're travelling as a couple long haul this is a really good strategy to maximise sleep while managing cost.