I travelled to Sydney on the weekend. On the way up I checked in online 20 hours prior. I only had a choice of three seats in the plane. This was ok because I was flying by myself. On the way back to Melbourne the same thing happened although myself and my fiancé had to be separated. We checked in over an hour early. When we got to the bag drop I asked if the seats could be changed. The Qantas assistant said that the plane was full and there was nothing that she could do. Ok fair enough. However I asked why the seats were already full. I was advised that Qantas platinum flyers were allowed to reserve their seating upon purchase. On this flight were families upset that they could not sit next to each other, children having to sit away from their parents.

How is this fair? How is this just? If people want special treatment they can pay extra for business class. When preferential treatment interferes with whether or not you can sit with you husband or children is unjust. It is a classed based preferential treatment even when all passengers in economy pay the same.

I do not believe that Qantas should have take away liberties that were previously given to all passengers i.e. the right to sit with your partner when checking in early time. I will stick with Virgin from now so that I am not treated like a second class citizen.

Platinum flyers usually spend in excess of a years' average salary on flights with the airline. Why shouldn't they be given some perks in return for their loyalty?

It clearly states when you book that you can select your seats at "X" time- if that doesn't work for you then don't fly with them. I think you'll find Virgin also have similar policies for their Velocity members and you have to pay extra to sit in bulkhead rows.

FYI, all passengers in economy (or, any) class do NOT pay the same. You have non-refundable, sale, fully flex fares within each class which all have a different price. So no, not everyone pays the same. mostly, platinum flyers are choosing fully flex tickets which can be up to double the 'sale' economy price, so I would think they are entitled to some benefit for that extra money- which is usually the ability to change dates without a fee and to select seats before anyone else. You too can buy a fully flex ticket and enjoy the same benefit.

So actually, they are paying extra for "special treatment" as you call it.