Can AA Gold request advanced seat assignment on BA flights?
 

Have not been on BA for several years... At the time of booking, the site told me I cannot select seats at this time but need to wait until check-in is available (24 hours before the flight.)

Does AA Gold/oneword whatever have any benefits in terms of reserving seats ahead of time?

Unfortunately, no.

The BAEC program has no equivalent of AA Gold/oneworld ruby, so you'll have same privileges/perqs as a normal BAEC Blue member. Our friends over at the BAEC forum have gathered a pretty slick chart describing the different seating policies and applicable costs: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...l#post13433355

You can select seats prior to check in if you are prepared to pay for it; as a gold member you do not get it for free

I am newly platinum and have a BA flight (not tatl) and they (aa) told me I can not request seats ahead of time. Do I have to call ba directly (even though the ticketing was done through aa)?

At one time, BA only allowed a certain percentage of seats to be pre-assigned, whether one was flying in Club Europe or Euro Traveler - and this policy applied to all passengers, even BA Golds and Silvers and oneWorld Emeralds and Sapphires. All passengers booking after the percentage limit had been reached had to wait to select their seats.

I don't know if this is still the case - experts, can you comment, please?

Have you tried on ba.com (put in your record locator to access your flight)? I haven't tried this as PLT but it has worked every time so far (3 intra-european flights) as EXP.

You should be able to do it on ba.com.

Ok. Thanks for the clarifications. Though oneworld.com lists Pre-reserved preferential seating* (*In accordance with the individual policy of the oneworld member airline operating the flight.) as a benefit for Rubies... I guess BA does not recognize it, right?

So, is it going to be mad dash to grab seats at exactly 23:59 before the take off? My wife and I are on two different PNRs, so need to make sure we stay together

For AA Members [on BA Economy (World Traveler)]*:

AA GOLD: No free seat selection. Seats can only be selected when you check in online with BA 24 hours before departure. (or pay $30/$75 on BA.com for advanced seat selection)

AA PLATINUM: Free (no charge) seat selection on BA.com since time of booking. Exit row seats are not available to AA Platinum [on international flights]*


AA EXP (EXECUTIVE PLATINUM): Free (no charge) seat selection on BA.com since time of booking INCLUDING exit row seats.

GENERAL NOTE: If your first leg is on AA (connecting to a BA flight), check-in online at britishairways.com for the BA segment is NOT possible, therefore you will not be able to pre-select seats even 24 hours before departure.. You will be able to change your pre-assigned BA seat at the airport with the AA TA or the BA TA/GA.

* Later edit

Not sure if you mean this to apply just for general members. As a Plat with a first segment on AA that connected to BA, I've been able to choose my seat with an agent, which I then changed on the BA website weeks before the flight.

I was very clear on my last post when I talked about GOLD, PLAT and EXP advanced seat selection abilities which do not contradict what you are saying above.

My "General Note" pointed out the fact that if your BA flight (whether codeshare or not) is on the same record locator as the first AA leg, then it IS NOT POSSIBLE to check in online with BA (Regardless of AA Status). For AA Gold Members it means that they can only select their seats at the airport. Yes, PLAT and EXP can select seats since time of booking regardless of what else is on the record locator (AA or any other flight).

Cheers.

This isn't accurate -- I've selected exit rows (via BA.com and the BA PNR) numerous times. Just ensure your AA # is tied to the reservation.

AA PLT cannot select exit row seats in World Traveller or World Traveller Plus at the time of booking. Pay £50/€60/$75 for exit row seats between 14 and 4 days before departure.

AA PLT can select exit row seats in Euro Traveller for free at the time of booking.

Link to BA's seating policy here

As a followup, I was able to chose a seat online at BA.com, but only for myself, not for the rest of my family who don't have status but who are traveling on the same itinerary as I am. I called BA and they said they were unable to give the rest of my party seats until 24 hours ahead.
Should I try again? I did speak to a supervisor... and even though there are children traveling with me, they said no.

Ah, I guess I was in club world on award tickets.