Choice Air with British Airlways - checkin

It's not that this poster has a "highly restricted ticket". You're going to have to pay for advance seat selection in business class on BA, unless you've purchased a flexible ticket or have high enough FF status.

Most people do not buy flexible tickets. For a random week in June, NY-LHR, a restricted RT ticket in business cost $3259 and a flexible ticket (allowing free advance seat selection) was $6994. I would not blame the TA.

It's not that this poster has a "highly restricted ticket". You're going to have to pay for advance seat selection in business class on BA, unless you've purchased a flexible ticket or have high enough FF status.

Most people do not buy flexible tickets. For a random week in June, NY-LHR, a restricted RT ticket in business cost $3259 and a flexible ticket (allowing free advance seat selection) was $6994. I would not blame the TA.

Well, if it was not a flexible ticket, the TA should have told them this. Most people would assume that a Business ticket would automatically come with advance seat selection…

Well, if it was not a flexible ticket, the TA should have told them this. Most people would assume that a Business ticket would automatically come with advance seat selection…

No idea what the TA told them. BA has been charging for advance seat selection for many years now. It's nothing new.

No idea what the TA told them. BA has been charging for advance seat selection for many years now. It's nothing new.

Which goes back to the possibility that the TA is an order taker, who has little knowledge of the airline industry and its ticketing practices.

Well, if it was not a flexible ticket, the TA should have told them this. Most people would assume that a Business ticket would automatically come with advance seat selection…

Why should the TA say that? How can anyone assume that a ticket is flexible? If someone wants a flexible ticket and pay for that isn't it their responsibility to ask about that?

I should never assume that a ticket is flexible or come with advance seat selection, why should I?

Why should the TA say that? How can anyone assume that a ticket is flexible? If someone wants a flexible ticket and pay for that isn't it their responsibility to ask about that?

 

I should never assume that a ticket is flexible or come with advance seat selection, why should I?

It depends on the savvy level of the traveler. Some are naive and just ask for the cheapest ticket. Or, a TA could be new or not very good and just tell a client about a "great find on a cheap Business ticket." If you do not know to ask about the Terms and Conditions of a particular ticket (is it flexible on changes, refunds, seat booking), you should expect a TA to thoroughly explain what they are selling you.

Just like people booking with cruise line air: they rarely find out the actual fare class and rules for the fare the line gave them. Then, they complain that they couldn't book seats ahead or had to pay for them or they couldn't get their ticket endorsed over to another flight when something went wrong.

Why should the TA say that? How can anyone assume that a ticket is flexible? If someone wants a flexible ticket and pay for that isn't it their responsibility to ask about that?

 

I should never assume that a ticket is flexible or come with advance seat selection, why should I?

Because the average, non-frequent flying customer ASSUMES (frequently incorrectly) that because the TA is, well, a TA, they know anything and everything that might be relevant about the ticket. They've gone through a TA rather than book themselves in the first place, which generally indicates they believe a TA has more knowledge and expertise, and will expect that TA to explain such relevant details with them.

It depends on the savvy level of the traveler. Some are naive and just ask for the cheapest ticket. Or, a TA could be new or not very good and just tell a client about a "great find on a cheap Business ticket." If you do not know to ask about the Terms and Conditions of a particular ticket (is it flexible on changes, refunds, seat booking), you should expect a TA to thoroughly explain what they are selling you.

Just like people booking with cruise line air: they rarely find out the actual fare class and rules for the fare the line gave them. Then, they complain that they couldn't book seats ahead or had to pay for them or they couldn't get their ticket endorsed over to another flight when something went wrong.

I think that most people travelling for vacation want the cheapest ticket and assume that it's not flexible. Most, not all!

Because the average, non-frequent flying customer ASSUMES (frequently incorrectly) that because the TA is, well, a TA, they know anything and everything that might be relevant about the ticket. They've gone through a TA rather than book themselves in the first place, which generally indicates they believe a TA has more knowledge and expertise, and will expect that TA to explain such relevant details with them.

I have booked many tickets from TA's, but not i many years now, and I have never been told that the ticket isn't flexible. I have just assumed that it's nonflexible.

Most non-frequent flying customers probably doesn't know that flexible tickets exist!

Well, if it was not a flexible ticket, the TA should have told them this. Most people would assume that a Business ticket would automatically come with advance seat selection…

I think that it's true that a competent TA should have told them that it was not a flexible ticket. If you buy a ticket from an airline by phone, the agent should tell you about the most important features of the ticket, including whether it's non-refundable and how much it will cost you to change the ticket. I'm not sure whether there are specific regulations about this, but this has always been my experience, and seems to me to be good practice in accordance with normal common-law contract law principles. It's also important because these days there are actually pretty few completely inflexible tickets, so it's not a case of having just one or the other.

However, whether or not a ticket comes with free seat pre-allocation may have nothing directly to do with whether or not the ticket is flexible. Even on British Airways, there are some highly restricted tickets that allow you free seat pre-allocation on some sectors.

Of course, once you get into territory like Choice Air, where different airlines may treat the bookings in different ways, you're probably in uncharted waters on a lot of these issues. The people who buy these tickets probably don't often know what they've got, or what the difference is between that and what they might have got if they'd bought a ticket directly from the airline, and very probably wouldn't post much about them on the Internet - so it's hard to benefit from past experience. I think that the moral of the story is that if you buy your air tickets through Choice Air or a similar scheme, even if it was the most sensible way to buy them there are respects when you simply have to go with the flow so far as the disadvantages are concerned.

 

Most non-frequent flying customers probably doesn't know that flexible tickets exist!

That's kind of my point. The infrequent flyer doesn't know enough to know what they don't know. They count on the TA to tell them whatever they should know to be able to go into it eyes wide open, but if their TA is just an "order taker" and doesn't know either, you have the potential for a very unhappy pax when their assumptions are proven incorrect.

That's kind of my point. The infrequent flyer doesn't know enough to know what they don't know. They count on the TA to tell them whatever they should know to be able to go into it eyes wide open, but if their TA is just an "order taker" and doesn't know either, you have the potential for a very unhappy pax when their assumptions are proven incorrect.

Very few people flying for vacation are interested in paying for flexible tickets since they cost so much more.

If someone don't know anything, they have to ask. They buy a ticket between two airports at a specific time, that's what they need to know. If they need to be able to cancel or change their flight, they need to ask about that.

These two things are not necessarily linked.

 

I think that it's true that a competent TA should have told them that it was not a flexible ticket. If you buy a ticket from an airline by phone, the agent should tell you about the most important features of the ticket, including whether it's non-refundable and how much it will cost you to change the ticket. I'm not sure whether there are specific regulations about this, but this has always been my experience, and seems to me to be good practice in accordance with normal common-law contract law principles. It's also important because these days there are actually pretty few completely inflexible tickets, so it's not a case of having just one or the other.

 

However, whether or not a ticket comes with free seat pre-allocation may have nothing directly to do with whether or not the ticket is flexible. Even on British Airways, there are some highly restricted tickets that allow you free seat pre-allocation on some sectors.

 

Of course, once you get into territory like Choice Air, where different airlines may treat the bookings in different ways, you're probably in uncharted waters on a lot of these issues. The people who buy these tickets probably don't often know what they've got, or what the difference is between that and what they might have got if they'd bought a ticket directly from the airline, and very probably wouldn't post much about them on the Internet - so it's hard to benefit from past experience. I think that the moral of the story is that if you buy your air tickets through Choice Air or a similar scheme, even if it was the most sensible way to buy them there are respects when you simply have to go with the flow so far as the disadvantages are concerned.

True. I was trying to be general. If I were an infrequent flyer, I would most likely assume that I could pick my seats for free regardless of fare. That used to be the SOP, so I would assume nothing has changed, especially if I was not told by my TA or phone agent that I either 1)had to pay for a seat allocation or 2)seats are not pre-assigned, but you get them at the gate or 3)no seats released until T-24. I would be upset if I went to try to pick seats, only to be told that, due to my fare, or this airline's new SOP that I could not do so right then and for free. It should be part of the service from your TA that you are fully made aware of what you can/cannot do with the ticket you are buying. With the various cruise line air schemes, since you don't know what type of ticket you actually have until later in the process, the buyer must either know to ask those basic questions about seating and meals and changes or suffer the consequences if things are not what they thought they had bought.