It is always worrying when the criteria for getting the exit row seat is simply whether you are willing to pay extra for it.
Surely the criteria should be: You can sit in the exit row if you are prepared to pay the £50 surcharge AND are willing and able to operate the emergency door and follow the directions of crew members should you be required to do so in an emergency.
I have been flying with BA for more than 20 years and have experienced their service levels in all cabins and up until recently I had never considered switching loyalties to another carrier.
They still have some of the best ground and on-board staff in the business but in recent years I have noticed that they also seem to have some of the worst.
On a recent flight to HKG I approached the empty business class check in for my WTP flight - one of the supposed benefits of being a silver executive club member.
At this point the check in agent usually smiles, says hello, and processes the information in a friendly manner. This particular agent just pointed in vaguely in front of her and said: "Why don't you use the machine?"
As a loyal customer this is irritating to say the least.
Sadly this is just another example of BA trying to make money in the short term and not realising (or caring) that it will irritate many of its loyal and high spending customers.
Charging £120 quid to reserve your round trip business class seat at time of booking is downright insulting.
Expect more of these no-frills like, add-on stealth charges to follow in the months ahead.
If you offer great service then many people will happily pay a premium to enjoy that service.
However if you charge a premium to begin with and then expect your customers to pay lo-co like add-ons then many people will begin to question just what they are actully paying the premium on in the first place.
BA want high spending passengers to join their executive club to gain customer loyalty, but charges like this will surely have the opposite effect.
This is a very bad move indeed.
P.