Sorry if this is a long post, but it raises some important issues of concern to many, and at the end I would appreciate some constructive advice on what I can do.
I have two long-standing BA WT+ return bookings - one London-LA (from which I have just returned) and the other London-Miami in February. It is important (if not reasonable) that my wife is always seated beside me (I have a weak arm after a stroke, although I am not disabled or unfit to fly), so when BA announced that it is now possible to pay to select your seats in advance of the 24-hour check-in, I jumped at the chance.
All went well in getting the seats I wanted - until it came to paying. BA said their system would only accept the credit card used for the original booking. But my card was replaced when it was compromised recently.
No good, they would not budge. It was the rules, they said.
However, they offered to mark my special requirement against the seats I wanted, and promised that this would be sufficient to ensure we were seated together.
When I went to check in for my flight to LA, I was offered an upgrade to Club World for £400 each one-way. I accepted. Funnily enough there was no problem about my new credit card being acceptable for the upgrade! I never saw what seats I had been allocated for the original WT+ booking.
When I checked in to return from LA, I found we were seated in separate rows. The desk clerk said the plane was full, everyone else had paid for the seat choice, and nothing could be done. The purser told me that it was 'probably done deliberately by the bolshie ground ops staff who like to upset the passengers in the hope they'll take it out on the cabin crew, of whose perks and pay they are very jealous'. Maybe so.
During the flight, the woman I was seated next to told me that she had not booked her place. It had been allocated by the computer. So why was my request ignored and our booking split up? All they had to do was to give her the seat which my wife had been forced to occupy.
Not surprisingly, I now have no confidence that my 'special request' note on my Miami flights will be honoured. Yet I am prepared to pay, would rather pay (I seek neither privilege or upgrade or a free booking) and with BA announcing a £250 million loss this week, it seems that that nice Mr. W.Walsh can do with the money.
Can anyone can suggest a way around this? Is there a contact at BA who will help? I can't be the only passenger whose credit card number has changed. Cancelling the booking, getting a refund, and then re-booking with the new credit card isn't an option, by the way. Not only does my ticket have no flexibility, but BA point out that even if it did, they would only be able to return the money to the original credit card number!
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mickchick, welcome to FlyerTalk. I'll move this to our dedicated forum on British Airways, where we discuss all things particular to that carrier. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.
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I'm not sure where you live but when I called they took a different card and I quote " it doesn't matter which one I use." This was the US call center though so idk about other countries
It really is an incredibly silly story (from BA, not you!) This surely must happen often enough these days that BA need to fix it. Maybe drop ba.com helper a private message with your MIA booking refrence and see if he (Dilly is his name) can help at all? Not sure if he can, but it is worth a try.
When I checked in to return from LA, I found we were seated in separate rows.
...
During the flight, the woman I was seated next to told me that she had not booked her place. It had been allocated by the computer.
Did you check in online for your flight or at the airport a few hours prior to departure?
It is very common on BA for passengers to check in online up to 24 hours in advance at which point they can select their seats for no additional charge. Hence, seats can be available next to one another 24 hours in advance but as passengers check in online they are taken up, leading to passengers who check in later at the airport being unable to sit next to one another.
If your weak arm affects your everyday mobility such as being unable to eat without assistance, buckle your belt or needing help during an evacuation then I'd certainly class you as having a disability, and as such you should receive free seating allocation side-by-side (though you don't get to specify where). You'll normally be sat in an aisle seat near the toilets.
Also be prepared to fax some sort of proof - doctor's notes/disability payments etc...
Please PM me your details directly if you haven't sent them to Dilly already. I will do everything I can to help and I'm sorry that you have had to go to such lengths to try and get what you need, particularly as you are willing to pay for your seats.
Earlier this year I attempted to purchase an upgrade to WT+ for a flight that I had purchased some time ealrier. I did not have access to the original credit card used to book the original flight so the customer services assistant refused to complete the upgrade. But then, just last month on a different flight when the new seating policy came into affect I chose to pay to select my CW seats on a flight that I had purchased some time earlier and had no problem with customer services accepting the fee using a different card.
Which is a sad thing. How to take a customer's money isn't a topic that should require agent discretion. If there is a policy on how to pay for seat assignments, it should be followed by everyone. However, it should also be a reasonable policy that doesn't do stupid things to prevent people from paying BA money.
If your weak arm affects your everyday mobility such as being unable to eat without assistance, buckle your belt or needing help during an evacuation then I'd certainly class you as having a disability, and as such you should receive free seating allocation side-by-side (though you don't get to specify where). You'll normally be sat in an aisle seat near the toilets.
Also be prepared to fax some sort of proof - doctor's notes/disability payments etc...
I was told that you no longer need to say what your disability is, nor have to prove it. Just saying you have a disability is enough.
Personally I'm so upset about this new policy that I am avoiding flying BA and have cancelled my Chase BA frequent flyer credit card. For me to have to pay 140 pounds to arrange to sit with my wife in business class is incredibly poorly thought out and cheapens the product.
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Seat Selection
Our company sent a memo to all employees via our Travel Manager that we were NOT to fly BA any longer...that there was "No Way in the Airline Graveyard" that we would PAY $100+ on TOP of a $5000+ Business Class for the "privilege" of getting an advance seat assignment when the competition isn't charging. Too bad BA, too bad OW...Wee Willie ...... has led you down the garden path, and now you get to chase after the bottom-feeders (noticed a YUL-BCN fare for March offered for about $550CAD before taxes) rather than the premium dollar crowd.
Our company sent a memo to all employees via our Travel Manager that we were NOT to fly BA any longer...that there was "No Way in the Airline Graveyard" that we would PAY $100+ on TOP of a $5000+ Business Class for the "privilege" of getting an advance seat assignment when the competition isn't charging. Too bad BA, too bad OW...Wee Willie ...... has led you down the garden path, and now you get to chase after the bottom-feeders (noticed a YUL-BCN fare for March offered for about $550CAD before taxes) rather than the premium dollar crowd.
Hi - I suggest that your travel manager needs to do their negotiating better. A lot of corporate travel deals with BA allow seat selection without the additional fee.
This surely must happen often enough these days that BA need to fix it. Maybe drop ba.com helper a private message with your MIA booking refrence and see if he (Dilly is his name) can help at all? Not sure if he can, but it is worth a try.
