BA seat selection
 

I am sorry if I am returning to an old subject. I have just paid for a long haul BA WTP flight booked in August last year. Out of curiosity I have just checked on the seat availabilty, I find to my amazement that WTP on this particular flight is nearly full,15 weeks before departure. I want to sit with my wife, and to secure the only 2 available seats together I am going to have to fork out £64 pounds for the privilage. What happens if one waits for a free seat 24 hours before departure and there are no seats in WTP left ? I bet one doesnt get upgraded to Business, and I will be mightly P****** off if having paid for WTP getting bumped int WT. Likewise on the return overnight. Any thoughts or solutions, or do I have to pay out a bit sharpish ? Thanks in advance. :confused:

It could well be that WTP is overbooked but the same goes for any cabin. The seat map however is not conclusive evidence of this. As a WTP pax i'm confident you would be upgraded to Club or, perhaps more likely, a WTP with status would be bumped up.
I think you're probably threating over nothing.

Not much experience with BA lately, but with many other airlines I've often seen the seatmap to show the cabin to be full (or close to) months before departure, but then when it comes to check-in there a numerous seats now free.
I imagine this is because the airline holds back a number of seats from selection until check-in. Why? I don't actually know, but I guess it would be to save them for high level frequent flyers that might book their flight last minute.

BA Experience
 

I am slightly less confident than jackieofalltrades.

Our two (fairly), recent experiences with BA, both in Business, suggest that, whereas in the old days, when one checked in on-line 24 hours prior to departure, one was 'competing' for seats only with the premium card holders, now with BA encouraging people to pay up front for an allocation at booking, there are far fewer 'spare' seats available for selection.

On BA026 HKG-LHR, the Mehmsahib and I were actually were flying up from Changi to join the flight, and so we were checking in there at around 14h00 for a 23h25 HKG departure. Cathay had a seat allocation for us on the BA sector that was less than ideal, so I took a trip to the BA Business lounge airside, where a very helpful lady was extremely frustrated to find that whoever had edited the flight had then locked it so that she couldn’t do anything for me, except send a message to HKG to say "oi!". Which she most certainly did, as I saw the print-out when we arrived in the lounge at HKG, and asked whether we could be moved. We were eventually sorted at the gate, thank you.

On BA043 LHR-CPT, I went on-line 24 hours before departure to find that we were placed in two aisle seats four rows apart, and again the seating apparently was locked. No joy with getting any change in the lounge, no joy with trying to get it changed at the gate, but eventually, an extremely efficient stewardess re-arranged the cabin so that we (and at least two other couples who also had been spread round the cabin), could sit together. Thank you to her.

If I was a cynic, I'd say that spreading people around when they do not pay up-front for seat allocations is a good way to encourage them to part with their money next time. After all, it’s another revenue stream for the airline at absolutely minimal cost to them. But the reality probably is that so many people have bagged seats weeks ahead that the poor person trying to edit the flight 24 hours or so before departure is left with very little flexibility, and people with the same booking reference get split up.

If you really want to sit together on what may be a busy flight, you either pay up front, or throw yourself on the mercy of the cabin staff and the goodwill of your fellow passengers, some of whom may be asked to move from a seat that they had requested and apparently been given, once you have boarded.

Although not referring to BA specifically, I'm with jackieofalltrades. It does depend on the airline, the type of aircraft and the flight concerned.

As one example, at the time of booking on a recent flight with KLM, my best option (in Y) for a window was 14F. On boarding (last to board) I noted that several rows nearer the front (but in Y) were empty. I believe that one reason for this is that the division between Y and C is flexible and the earlier one books the less choice one has because at that point in time the final C / Y configuration is undetermined and thus a number of rows will not be open for selection until nearer to departure day. Of course, long haul, with fixed cabin layouts, is another matter. Here again, I do believe jackieofalltrades is correct in stating that "prefered" seats remain blocked for Premium FF pax and are only released shortly before departure day.

I can confirm that BA did (can't say if the still do) hold some seats for premium card holders.

When I was gold I tried to book an open jaw (LHR-YVR x LAX-LHR). I couldn't do this on line so I called up the crappy ExClub desk in Bremen.

Before I could even speak I was told that unless I had a request that I couldn't do on-line I'd have to pay a fee. He then agreed that I couldn't do an open jaw myself and I wouldn't be charged.

Just before the call I had been onto the BA site and had determined the seats I wanted in WTP were available on both flights. The agent could see the seats on the Vancouver flight, but couldn't see them on the LAX flight. I checked again and saw they were available to me. Oh, he said, I don't have the same priority as you do. He then said - it won't be more miles if you book two one ways rather than an open jaw, so I'll book you on the YVR flight and you book the LAX flight yourself. And that's what we did.

Guess what, next credit card statement had a charge from BA (separate from the two taxes/fees/charges on the tickets). Turned out that they had charged me the fee. When I called them to remind them that they had agreed not to charge me I was told - You could have booked the YVR flight yourself, you didn't need us to do it. They refused to waive the charge.

One more reason why I don't fly BA.

Thank you all for your replies,I am afraid I dont share your confidence on it being all right on the night. Row 12 J and K are still available (747) which because of the extra space is ideal for me, and I will purchase them. BUT these seats are also ideal for families with small children, and I can see us geriatrics being bumped, quite rightly, but bumped where?, we do want to sit together, and though I am an Exec Club Member I have no points whatsoever. My days of travelling round the world with 32 bags of gear and the resultant excess baggage charges have long gone Being unduly pessamistic how does one get a refund for the prebooking fee? Interestingly, the return flight which is on a Saturday night is completely free, and I can have any seat or combination I want. We will see what happens regards Alan

ASKING FOR CREDIT CARD AT CHECK-iN
 

Friends of mine arrived at the check-in desk at Gibraltar for the BA flight to Gatwick, they had already booked their seats and paid for their flights some 11 months (yes!) earlier. After showing their passports a member of staff - presumably Gibair Handling - asked to see and scan their credit card which they had paid for their seats which they found most odd. They said to the check-in person they were not carrying the same credit card which they had booked the tickets, on hearing this they said they might have to pay again for the seats at the price on the day! Apparently there were only 30-odd passengers on the flight. After some huffing and puffing they were given their boarding cards and sent on their way so to speak.
Has anybody else heard of this - me thinks I smell a bit of a rat here!
Comments please

This is not as unusual as it ought to be. I think there is a message in the small print somewhere that tells you to take the card with you - even if it has expired.

Both my wife and I have been asked for the original credit cards on flights we did not book and pay for but where the reservation was made in the name of the flyer. I have been asked once on a flight I did book and pay for where the credit card had expired. Every time it has been suggested I might have to pay again but they have also said that if I can subsequently show I have paid the second payment will be refunded. In every case, after an extended period watching the check in agent tapping away whilst wearing a worried frown the problem has solved itself.

My experience of the Gib lot is that they don't really know how the system works.

Credit Card Used for Booking
 

I seem to recall that the self-service check-in consoles scattered around the T5 concourse ask one to insert the credit card used for the booking... presumably as a quick way of identifying your booking so that one can check-in... not sure what happens if one has a number of bookings on the same card... maybe it gives one the option to select where one wants to go... or maybe it's clever enough to give only the option of checking-in for a flight on the day one is interrogating the machine.

What happends if the card has been compromised and a new one with a different number has been issued? Is it OK or a new tickket must be paid?

Surely if you book two seats you expect them to be allocated next to each other? They wouldn't split travellers up would they? Bloody outrageous if they do.

My wife and I took a trip to Rome a few years back. I tried to check in online 24 hours before and couldn't. Arrived at Ter 5 in good time for the the mid morning flight, no seats together. It was a code share / connection with a flight that had originated in LA some 15 hours earlier. So the through booking facility had taken the seats and on paper we were not able to sit together. No help at check in or the gate, on plane, steward was convinced, that "she who must be obeyed", was a well known actress, and couldn't possibly sit with some unknown oik. My wife bears no possible resemblance to aforsaid diva, and anyway last time I saw th lady concerned she had dyed her hair pink, and I am not having my wife do that to get a seat together on a flight.

I have always been asked for the Credit Card used to buy the ticket, and I have always thought that it was some kind of fraud prevention. Alan:O

Many thanks everybody for your coments. I agree about Gibair - worst handling company I have ever come across and usually they have to turn round just four aircraft a day!

Credit cards at check-in.
 

I think that there is a seperate thread for this. Anyway, when you book you are asked to take the credit card with you, whether or not it has expired. As far as I have been told, the banks actually ask for this. If you do not have the card, the staff will try their utmost to sort it out by other means of confirming identity etc (billing address of the card is one question that is asked). It is only as a last resort that a new ticket has to be purchased, the old one being fully refunded to the old card.

Getting seats together has become more problematic since BA started charging for seat selection.

I was booked on BA from LHR-YYZ last December with Mrs DL in WT, and was keeping an eye on the seat map for availability in the weeks and days leading up to the flight, about 2 days before the flight the seat map went from very empty to pretty full.

I decided to bite the bullet and pay for some seats 2 days before, selecting the pair of seats on their own at the back of the 777.

Seats selected, I didnt get round to checking in on line and left it until the airport. The airport kiosk didnt let me check in and directed us to a desk where we were upgraded to WTP. The flight was overbooked in WT, so I`m wondering if the payment for seats in some way helped us up the priority list for upgrade.

On the way back, we were booked in CW anyway and I easily secured the pair of seats in the middle 24 hours before departure online. I did notice though on the way back that in a full CW cabin, a lot of couples and groups of people were separated so I think the lesson is be pay for seats or risk it but be prompt with the online checkin 24 hours before!

CREDIT CARD AT CHECK-IN
 

In all my years of flying around the world I have never ever been asked for a credit card to verify my ticket that is why I posed the question and I know what I would tell somebody if ever I was asked and it would not be have a nice day!

Just booked:

'If the payment cardholder is travelling, you must bring the card used to pay for this booking to the airport with you, for verification, before you can travel.'

As I (and another) said earlier, in practice they will sort it - unless you are rude to them, in which case I would expect different rules to apply!

If you cannot take the exact card with you, due to theft, then take an original copy of the card statement, showing the transaction. That gives your address and is a reasonable work around.

When receiving a new card - check that you don't need to keep the old card for an already booked flight. Just cut the card to show it's expired.