BA- advance seat reservations - shambles.
 

So, many months ago I spent thousands of pounds on club world return tickets to Johannesburg only to be told after handing over my money that I cannot reserve my seats until 30 days before the flight unless I cough up even more cash even though we are exec club members!

Outraged I protest but there is nothing I can do about it. Now, 30 days before, I ring up to reserve our seats and now I am told we cannot do it until 24 hours before the flight unless I cough up that cash! This is outrageous and that's what I tell them.

What kind of outfit are these people running.

With Virgin Atlantic, where we have now booked some future economy seats many months into the future and used points to upgrade them to Premium economy, we could book our seats straightaway. Sheesh.

I was thinking about taking a BA business class fare to JFK until I saw that seat reservations were not included and were around €100 returns extra. In business class!!!

Are there any other major airlines that holds true for?

Absolute madness.

I guess it's all about demand and pricing - I suppose that if seat selection was 'free', then the seat price would be higher. That said, it is poor when Air Canada can do it at the time of booking - in fact they do it before booking. You can see the seat availability before you choose a particular flight and then pick your seat there and then. That was for a trans atlantic flight in PE for exactly the same price as the identical BA flight.

The last time I flew PE I deliberately chose Virgin over BA, entirely due to the fact that Virgin offers free seat selection. As it turned out, the Virgin experience was so much better than BA [friendlier crew, better food, more comfortable seats] that I would now make Virgin my first choice, given a choice between the two airlines.
I think charging for seat selection, especially for Business Class, is a prime example of accountants running the company, as alienation of the biggest profit earners does not seem to have been 'costed in' to the decision.

BA ceased to be my first choice for lh over 27 years ago. It's a pity because the actual service on board is really not bad. That said, I have only experienced their PE in the 744 and it was certainly less than VS. It might be different in other aircraft but the basic seat config is not as good.

Emirates. Flying economy, I was able to book a fantastic window seat on the A380, just a couple of rows from the front for no extra charge, at least 4 months before the trip.
South African - I also did the same
AirLink SAA - Ditto.

Furthermore, I also had the choice of changing the seat choice, at no extra charge on all 3 airlines.

But BN, I have paid my money, I am on the flight, I will be sitting in the business class section - there is no question about it - I will be sitting somewhere in that section of the plane.

What does it matter to BA where I sit in the cabin? They are not trying to entice me to buy their ticket as opposed to someone else's because I have already bought my ticket.

What does BA gain by this practice?

Edit. I rang them back again and by somewhat nefarious means (suggested by the BA rep on the other end of the phone!) I have now reserved our seats on the plane. (No, I can't divulge this wheeze I'm afraid).

"What does BA gain by this practice?

Money, money , money... that's all they think about these days

Emirates allow me to book seats for free 3 months ahead of leaving

Seconded. Add in the extra elbowroom in VS PE and the lack of toilets in BA WT+ and it's a no brainer.....

Why are Business Class flyers treated this way?
 

I agree. It seems to me that if you book advance purchase discounted fares they will crush you in some way, even Business Class. For example, I have seen airlines charge for seat selection and also for additional baggage. It usually works better for higher frequent flyer classes but not always. Their algorithms are varied and inconsistent, especially when it comes to code-share flight bookings.

I've concluded the only thing is to go into the booking process far enough to see all the inclusions (more particularly if you can see the exclusions) and be able to escape before you pay if you don't like what you get. However I have been trapped and had to cough up extra for seat selection after paying for the flights and it irks me but what can you do?

They are trying to make extra revenue at any chance they get, so all the old expected rules are out the window. Buyer beware. Change airlines if you can verify a better deal. And try a good travel agent - sometimes they can come up with better than a direct deal!

Way I understand it is (inc Club)


BA - Gold & Silver Exec - at time of booking.


BA Bronze - 7 days in advance


Everyone else - 24 hours.


Flew out and back this month with friends - they are silver and booked seat last December. We had to do the 7 day booking despite booking at the same time.

Profits and bonuses for executives. Do you really think they are going to change their policies for you?

Slightly off topic. Someone noticed that on BA's beta booking sight it no longer says food will be provided in economy FOC on all flights. It's still there on their old site.

they flagged last month that on some flights they are doing away with catering.......

We have rattled down to 'blue' and when I first tried to book the seats ba said 30 days (after they had my money). But nonetheless, when I rang within the 30 days they said 'No, 24 hours' - Hence my frustration.

But politeness and reasonableness has got us the result we wanted in the end.

No, I'm not expecting ba to change their policy for me*

But next time I'll be flying with someone else if I can won't I.

* in strict terms, they have actually as I got the result I wanted which was not in line with their published policy.

Well done, as it appears that a poor working stiff has overruled senior management. This gumption has been seriously lacking in the past. They could be learning.

I'm constantly amazed at these complaints. On every booking site I use before I hit the confirm icon, I ensure I have got everything I want, that includes seat selections etc...If I can't get what I want, I don't confirm as it is virtually impossible to correct afterwards.

The original booking was made by a third party tour operator, not by me. Given the date and time we needed to be in SA I presume it was their only option.

What do you do if you want to fly somewhere and only one operator suits your timing requirements?

I was recently sat in business on a very short european flight with my wife and the steward slowly made his way to the back of the cabin serving G&T's to where we were sat. He knelt down beside me, leant on the arm of the seat and said ' Mr Yellowtriumph, we have not seen you on our planes recently, is there any reason for that? Is there something we can do to see you more often? Is there something we can improve on to see more of you?

Somewhat flabbergasted I replied that my wife and I will fly to wherever on whichever airline suits our schedule and at a price we are prepared to pay, if that happens to be your airline then so be it.

He replied "yes, that makes sense, we all have to look out for value for money, I would strongly advise you to keep an eye on Qatar's website, they always seem to have a lot of good prices and I use them a lot myself".

I was sat on a BA flight.

(I make it sound as though my wife and me are gadding about the world sat in business class all the time - that's not actually the case, we are modest travellers really).

yellowtriumph, no need to be apologetic about your chosen class of travel. I am retired and certainly not affluent by any means, yet I choose to fly long haul in Business Class or not at all. Since I am paying for the privilege out of my own modest pocket, with the exception of airlines on my NO FLY list, I seek the best Business Class deals available. As soon as an airline wants to add this, that or the other on top of the offered fare, they've lost me as a potential customer. It's for this very reason that BA have never motivated me to use them.

Emirates is joining the party.

Emirates to charge fee for seat selection from October 3 | GulfNews.com