CPH-Flyer

I used my JAL emerald status to select seats on a Variety flight from Tokyo to London in business, not a booking class that allows for free seat selection. As I want to credit to another program where I am building status, would the system remove the return leg seat assignment when I ask to change my FFP number at check in to a non status one?
Or is there a way to register the status number and the accrual number separately? I know this can be done with Star Alliance, never had the need with oneworld before.

FinnishGal

We have a family trip coming up in December. The longest leg is LHR-JNB, outbound BA57 (B747) that already looks like it’s going to be totally packed and inbound BA56 (A380) on a New Years Eve, probably not a full flight.

The price for the seat selection for both flights would be 390€, over +10% on top of the ticket price. DH thinks I am crazy even for considering paying for the seats. I would be ready to pay for sitting together on good seats.

We have one 11-year old child that qualifies us for the pre-allocated seats group plus the advantage of starting from HEL, so we’ll be doing OLCI 38h before the BA57 flight. I have read from different forums that the families with children-policy is not as great as ba.com says, even small kids have been seated far from their parents so I am not counting on that.

It would be easier to decide if I had any idea how many of the seats in WT are usually taken before the OLCI starts. Any input on that? Do people generally pay for seats these days? Are there herds of Bronze card holders that grab the last good seats?

It also occurred to me that if either of us parents would gain Bronze status before the trip, we would be able to select seats for everyone 7 days before both of the flights. Would this be right even if the booking was made before gaining the status? Spending money on Tier points feels less like paying for nothing and would have other benefits as well.

SteveF

BA's policy is that children will be seated with at least one adult; the policy does not guarantee that the other adult(s) will not be seated elsewhere though.

I'm not sure what the collective noun is for Bronzes, but a herd is pretty good. And yes, I imagine there are rather a lot of them grabbing seats at T-7d. I'm afraid that the only way you can guarantee that you will all be seated together is to pay.

nux

Yes if one passenger on the booking becomes Bronze (or higher) or oneworld Ruby (or higher) then you will have seat for the entire booking and can select seats at 7 days before the flight.

I know that BA removes seat allocation if you are in Row 1 or an exit row, but otherwise your seat allocation should be safe. I would suggest leaving your JAL Emerald number in the booking, change it at the airport on the outbound, then check that your inbound seat selection doesn't change. If it does, you can change the number through Finnair.com, re-select seats, and change it back to the program/number you wish to accrue on.
What is a variety flight?

CPH-Flyer

Re Variety, not sure what happened to my auto correct. I often type from the phone and did not notice a fun little change here.
Thanks for the tip. :-)

alexwuk

Question about the companion rules for GCHs - do I have to be travelling in the same cabin as my status-less companion if we're on the same flight [we have different PNRs] in order for them to be eligible for free seating?

KARFA

Yes. If you are in different cabins then you can't request a seat for them free of charge. The rationale between linking the bookings (TCP) and allowing you to select a seat for them free of charge next to you is that a GCH can sit next to a travel companion when in the same cabin. If you are in different cabins then there is no free seat selection for the non-GCH as they couldn't sit next to you.

Prospero

The front section has received an extensive update.

teflon

^

A minor point about exit row seats: while it doesn't seem to be mentioned elsewhere on ba.com (or, indeed, in the CAA rules), the seat selector in MMB also says that pregnant passengers may not sit in an exit row.

missdimeaner

I was looking at the updated prices.....surely BA can't really be charging more for centre seats in WT+ ?

I was also wondering about bulkhead seats in WT+, specifically the 'outer' ones on a 772. They show as bassinet seats ( and are blocked at present ). MrD and I are in the seats behind these but wouldn't mind moving to the bulkhead once these are released. The main stumbling block being that we might get shifted to less desirable seats to accommodate other passengers who need a bassinet, if these are available at T-24 is there even the remotest possibility of being 'moved' ??

bioblot

I am sorry if this has been answered elsewhere but I couldn't find anything.

Basically I am wondering if I pay to choose a seat, can I later pay the difference to choose a more expensive seat?

I am blue and want a window seat in WTP on the A380, but I really want a bulkhead window seat where the bassinets are, but they aren't available for purchase until 5 days prior to departure?

Is it possible to pay to secure any window seat now, and later pay the extra to move up to a bulkhead window seat if they become available, rather than simply wait until five days out only to find all the window seats are gone.

bioblot

Yes there is always possibility that you might get shifted to make way for a last minute bassinet user. However bassinets in WT+ are far more likely to be empty than not, and a booking within the last 24 hours is going to be pretty unlikely. Depending on the loads there is a slight chance you might get shifted to CW if moving the pair of you would help accommodate two parents with a baby.

missdimeaner

Thanks for the info....
We had the bulkhead seats last time to ORD, so I'll keep my fingers crossed !

missdimeaner

Yes, you can...I have moved around the cabin after booking seats before, I just paid the difference.

Prospero

My sincere apologies. The prices on that slide were positioned out of synch after I reformatted the layout but this has now been corrected. Thanks for spotting this error.