British Airways

[katrina915]

First time flying with British airways and I am regretting it already. 24 hour check in for my flight and they pre assign all the seats so you can't change your seat on a full flight. I called them and tried to get my seat changed but they won't let me. I told them they really should indicate that on their website. Not a happy camper that I have a window seat for nearly 9 hours. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get an aisle seat? I have a bad back and get up at least once per hour. Thanks

[LHT28]

When you get to the check in desk ask them there if you can switch or ask the person in the aisle seat to trade

[orchestrapal]

This has been the case on BA for years. For a fee you can book your seat in coach in advance and with a problem like yours that would Pay. Secondly there is always the upgraded coach or business class.

[whatnot]

Also had that problem with them. And it is very irritating! Oh they do that to you in Business Class also. No seats assigned until 24 hours ahead unless you are a member of their frequent flyer program. Just pay the fee for preassigned seats. It's really not that pricey if it helps you survive the trip!

[katrina915]

I Would have paid the fee if they stated on their website that they pre assign all seats. No point in checking in 24 hours in advance. I fly solo and never had problem getting aisle seat with other airlines. I won't be flying with British airways again.

[katrina915]

So were is the trip advisor for airlines? I would like to rate my dissatisfaction with this airline in a public forum.

Thanks for the info. I will pay for aisle seat on return journey and see if I can switch on plane.

[retiring soon]

HI all!

 

Thanks so much for this info! I'm flying BA to London from Toronto & want a window seat so guess I have to pay in advance if I'm understanding this thread correctly.

 

~ Jo ~ :)

[LHT28]

I got world traveller plus seats from LHR to YYZ did not have to pay extra for choosing seats

I booked through cruise line but I do not think they paid for seat selection they don't on A C

 

All airlines seem to charge now to pick your seats in advance for Econ ..it is a money grab IMO :mad:

[Cotswold Eagle]

I got world traveller plus seats from LHR to YYZ did not have to pay extra for choosing seats

I booked through cruise line but I do not think they paid for seat selection they don't on A C

 

All airlines seem to charge now to pick your seats in advance for Econ ..it is a money grab IMO :mad:

 

BA charges for advance seat assignment in all classes, unless you are a member of the higher tiers of the loyalty programme. In fact the higher the class of cabin, the more it costs to reserve.

[LondonTowner]

As already stated most airlines charge for seat allocation these days. If you don't want to pay the charge, then you have to accept the seat they give you.

[paddingtonbear]

As already stated most airlines charge for seat allocation these days. If you don't want to pay the charge, then you have to accept the seat they give you.

 

 

On Qantas if you don't want to pay extra, 24 hours before the flight you can choose from available seats.

[orchestrapal]

So were is the trip advisor for airlines? I would like to rate my dissatisfaction with this airline in a public forum.

Thanks for the info. I will pay for aisle seat on return journey and see if I can switch on plane.

 

You have already voiced your dissatisfaction on this forum. The problem is not BA however but someone who requires certain seats who did not call ahead to find out how to procure the same. As much as we may not like an airline's regulations we should find out before we book.

[*source*]

On Qantas if you don't want to pay extra, 24 hours before the flight you can choose from available seats.

 

You can do this on BA also....

 

We did it recently for our family of 4 on a trip to and from Atlanta.

 

I love BA and we rarely fly with another airline unless it can't be helped.

[susan196222]

BA charges for advance seat assignment in all classes, unless you are a member of the higher tiers of the loyalty programme. In fact the higher the class of cabin, the more it costs to reserve.

 

INCORRECT, I have flown BA First Class from New York, Chicago and Houston

to London 5 times in the last 2 years and have not been charged for seat assignments.

[katrina915]

You can do this on BA also....

 

We did it recently for our family of 4 on a trip to and from Atlanta.

 

I love BA and we rarely fly with another airline unless it can't be helped.

 

I am telling you that I went into check in 24 hours in advance and ALL seats were pre assigned. There were no seats to change to/upgrade to. I called BA to pay to change within 30 minutes and they said no. AND BA admitted that they pre assigned ALL seats.

 

I am warning people of what can happen NOW, not what happened before.

Edited May 14, 2015 by katrina915

[LHT28]

BA charges for advance seat assignment in all classes, unless you are a member of the higher tiers of the loyalty programme. In fact the higher the class of cabin, the more it costs to reserve.

 

Well I guess the cruise line must have paid the fee

we had seat assignment months ago for our June flight

 

On AC I booked Bus class & chose our seats to FLA for Nov

 

I have no status with either airline

[Cotswold Eagle]

INCORRECT, I have flown BA First Class from New York, Chicago and Houston

to London 5 times in the last 2 years and have not been charged for seat assignments.

 

You are quite right, I should have said all cabins except First - I have never been lucky enough to travel First :) Their policy of charging in Club World (business class) is a major gripe on flyer forums, of course. I believe fully flexible fares in all cabins are exempt from the fee too.

 

The policy is here: http://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/seating/choosing-your-seat

 

The big red font was a little unecessary IMHO.

Edited May 14, 2015 by Cotswold Eagle

[nyfeds]

We have a BA flight booked from LHR to LAX for this August. We used AA miles for award seating in Business Class. We had to pay to reserve the specific seats we wanted. We're fussy about location on planes and felt it was worth the fee. Otherwise, we could check in 24 hours prior to the flight and choose a seat, free of charge.

 

I hope you are able to change your seats. It is pretty common for airlines to play "musical chairs" even when seats are reserved. My advice is to check reservations often to ensure that you've not been moved/reassigned.

Edited May 14, 2015 by nyfeds

[*source*]

Y As much as we may not like an airline's regulations we should find out before we book.

 

Agreed - this is what we do. Check if we are flying with someone new what their policy is... :)

 

I am telling you that I went into check in 24 hours in advance and ALL seats were pre assigned. There were no seats to change to/upgrade to. I called BA to pay to change within 30 minutes and they said no. AND BA admitted that they pre assigned ALL seats.

 

I am warning people of what can happen NOW, not what happened before.

 

I think most people would, as mentioned above, check before they book. The option is there again when you complete your API to pay to change your seat. It is very common to have a full flight. Ours was full on the way out to Atlanta but I usually log in half an hour before the 24 hour window, so that if the OLCI is open, I can still change.

 

That said.... BA are very very accommodating onboard. We were once travelling home from Orlando and our Virgin flight was delayed for 24 hours (the last time I ever flew with Virgin Atlantic). BA got us the last 4 seats on the plane and because we had children with us, invited people to come forward and switch seats so we could have our (young at the time) children with us.

 

Hope you have a super flight, despite your initial reservations :)

[aquilegia]

INCORRECT, I have flown BA First Class from New York, Chicago and Houston

to London 5 times in the last 2 years and have not been charged for seat assignments.

 

Well, he may have been wrong, but I don't think you need to have shouted at him, and in bright red too.

[Bob++]

Well I guess the cruise line must have paid the fee

we had seat assignment months ago for our June flight

 

On AC I booked Bus class & chose our seats to FLA for Nov

 

I have no status with either airline

 

I also like BA and have flown with them many times. I always pay the extra as I too like an aisle seat and my wife, for some strange reason, likes to sit next to me.

 

The one time this wasn't possible is when we flew to Prague to join a Viking River Cruise. I was told that with block bookings like that, no bookings were possible. When we boarded, everyone was swapping and it was quite easy to swap a window for an aisle seat. Lots of milling around though.

[LHT28]

I also like BA and have flown with them many times. I always pay the extra as I too like an aisle seat and my wife, for some strange reason, likes to sit next to me.

 

 

I paid to upgrade to WTP from ECON....my seats are assigned

so hopefully no milling about when we board ;)

[Globaliser]

Not a happy camper that I have a window seat for nearly 9 hours. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get an aisle seat?

I am telling you that I went into check in 24 hours in advance and ALL seats were pre assigned. There were no seats to change to/upgrade to. I called BA to pay to change within 30 minutes and they said no. AND BA admitted that they pre assigned ALL seats.

This does sometimes happen when there's a very full flight and especially when there are lots of families with children (who essentially have priority when seats are allocated). But it isn't normal BA practice, so venting anywhere isn't going to do you much good as the vast majority of BA passengers who check-in online 24 hours before their flight will have some choice of seats.

 

It's always the case that if you don't pre-allocate a seat (paying if you need to), you're gambling on what's available when online check-in opens. This time you gambled and lost - you might have found that all the aisle seats had already gone to those who were able to get free pre-allocations, who had paid for them, who were able to check-in earlier than you (eg because of connecting flights) or were part of large groups that had blocks of space allocated. Other times you might have gambled and won. This isn't something that the airline needs to spell out. It's something that long pre-dates the current practice of charging for pre-allocations; I've spent most of the last 40 years learning how to manage the risk.

 

Window seats are actually in high demand, so you may have little difficulty finding someone who doesn't like being in an aisle seat and would prefer to be by the window. Ask onboard, or ask the cabin crew to help. However, if you had a special need to be in a specific kind of seat, then given that you had the option of paying to pre-allocate, it seems a little short-sighted not to have done something about it when you had the chance.

I also like BA and have flown with them many times. I always pay the extra as I too like an aisle seat and my wife, for some strange reason, likes to sit next to me.

You'd find it even stranger, surely, if she paid extra to not sit next to you? ;)

[VMax1700]

So were is the trip advisor for airlines? I would like to rate my dissatisfaction with this airline in a public forum.

 

Why would you want to make public the fact that you didn't bother to read the terms of booking?

[PaulaJK]

This is a BA issue..perhaps not BA alone...but I have flown BS on many international carriers and BA is the only one that required us to purchase /pay extra to select seats. We did pay the last flight because the prior experience had my spouse and self rows apart [same surname]. I gather they make no effort to seat family members together.