nobbyclark

Numpty on last night's flight from CPH-LHR insisted that I was in 'his' seat. Turns out he was reading his iPhone boarding pass upside down and was looking for row 6, not 9.

Deckard

Used to get that all the time in the '80s flying back from New York in a bulkhead Y seat. "Excuse me you're in my seat". "Not according to my boarding pass". "But I fly this route several times a month and I always sit there so you have to move".

Yeah right.

cosmo74

I just do not see the benefit of this to passengers. Even if you can't get to a computer to do OLCI, you can still check in at the airport and ask the agent in front of you to try and move you from the middle seat at the back of the plane which has currently been allocated to you. This just smacks of BA moving ever closer to Easyjet and looking to make more money from passengers being panicked into paying to pre-select seats (which, lets face it, will then leave less seats for the status pax to choose from).

I can just see the marketeers at Virgin rubbing their hands with glee as they plan their next ad campaign. "Unlike some other airlines, we let you select your seat when you book, and it's even free. We won't leave a computer to pick you a middle seat 15 rows away from the friends you are travelling with who booked separately".

Epic fail from BA on this one. All we can hope is that everyone offered the chance to participate during the trial turns it down.

Deckard

Interestingly the VS FB page is always FULL of people complaining that the seats they'd selected months in advance had been changed - generally splitting up families per the VS "as long as you've got one parent next to you" rule. I guess if people pay for the seats BA is, at least, disincentivised from moving people.

randomflyer

Silly me, but this was my first thought upon reading this thread.

As someone who pays for the seat when I book as sequential transactions, guess I'll have my seat.

But if someone is in that netherworld of no status and gets burned once or twice at T-24 OLCI, they might start stumping up for their seat to pay for it at the same time they book the ticket--and that could significantly reduce choice for status holders who book their tickets later.

Wouldn't it? Right now a lot of punters without status may just be willing to take pot lock at T-24. But if that becomes the no-man's wasteland then I see status holders potentially getting hurt here if more and more paid seats start happening when the non-status person buys the ticket.

It's got to reduce choice at T-24 on some flights to only the absolute worst seats left. Will the traveler be able to then change it once they are "checked in" under this new policy? Or change it ONLY by paying the seat selection fee (for non status holders that is.)

You have to ask yourself, who gains by this new policy? Is doing OLCI so onerous to us that we have to have that automated for us way in advance, as some massive time saver? And do status holders really want to be locked in like that so far in advance through OLCI?

Or is BA just eeling around trying to create a situation that will force more paid seat selections for their bottom line?

Hm. I smell a revenue rat.

cosmo74

Would be interesting to hear from anyone who's actually participated in the trial (and who hadn't pre-selected seats). What was your view on this? The way I see it the winners and losers will be:


Winners
- BA (through increased revenues from advance seat selection payment when people realise they will have no control over where they sit and from people no doubt having to phone a premium rate line to try and change their seat)
- The odd person who is normally unable to do on-line check in and is randomly allocated a great seat

Losers
- BA status customers who will be faced with less seat choice ahead of check-in due to people panicking and paying for advance seat selection
- Every single passenger who would otherwise have used OLCI and had some control over where they sit, from whom that has now been taken away.
- Every passenger who will now have to spend a fortune phoning a premium rate number, quite possibly from overseas, if they want to change their seat allocation.
- Cabin crew who will no doubt face numerous requests from people looking to change their seats when onboard.

Deckard

OK reporting back... was taking a training course on the Wednesday when the mail containing my boarding pass popped into my inbox - so that was handy not having to stop to do it. I got the seat I'd booked. Turned up at the airport yesterday with my boarding pass in my Passbook and hand luggage only. Went straight to Fast Track where predictably I was knocked back to conformance to get my passport validated. This is a tad annoying. After that it was plain sailing all the way. Total time from pickup at home to sitting down in GF 35 minutes. Helps that I live less than 15 miles away I guess.

DomesticusTaxmius

I just signed up to this today. Am a little sceptical as my new wife and I are on honeymoon. We are flying back from MRU in CW but did not pay to pre-allocate seats. It is currently showing almost all seats apart from 4 are assigned. And there are no 'pair' seats showing, only one set of 'opposites' and two individual ones. Do this many people really pre-pay? It astounds me how BA can try to get away with this when airlines like Emirates offer a much easier, cheaper and better service.

I do not, however, trust BA's software a great deal as on the way out the website seemed to show lots of availability in CW and we were planning on buying an upgrade at the airport. Got there early but told the profile was full. Even having spoken to the BAEC en route saying loads of availability and best to upgrade at LGW.

Our actual flight is next Friday so will report back with if we were sat together. It will be her first time in CW so I would like us to be together.

windowontheAside

I hope you are enjoying your honeymoon, and if the worst happens I suspect that a quick word with the CC might ensure you find someone accommodating enough to allow you to sit together.

I'm not sure about your basis for mistrusting the software. Lots of availability in CW doesn't guarantee airport upgrades will be offered. If that were the case, lots of people would chance buying cheaper fares and upgrading on routes known to be quiet.

I've often been told there were no AUPs available and then seen quite a few empty seats up front. It's just the way they choose to manage revenue.

Hands Mensing

Only if you are within 90 days of flying ...

DomesticusTaxmius

Ok, reporting back after the flight on Friday. Automatic check in was pretty good actually. Boarding passes emailed through, but we could not use the app at MRU.

Despite the seat availability showing no seats together during the period before OLCI opens, we were automatically assigned seats together. Therefore, I probably would use this service if it gets rolled out fully and based on this I would be unlikely to ever pay to select a seat before OLCI.

cosmo74

With Ryanair's announcement that they are going to introduce allocated seating, there will now be pretty much no difference in seating policy between BA, Easyjet and Ryanair if BA introduce this automated check-in (for non-status passengers at least). It will be a case with all that you either pay in advance to reserve a seat, or take your chances with the computer. With short-haul flights I don't really think it matters much, but long haul is a different story, and your choice of seat really can make a difference to your flight.

I see that a couple of people have said that the system worked fine, but I still don't see how saving me 1 minute of my time by emailing my boarding pass directly rather than me pressing a few buttons to go online and generate it myself is really going to be of benefit when it takes away all control I have in selecting my seat.

Jagboi

I received a notice from BA about this for my flight this coming Saturday. It carried through my seat selection from MMB, so I'll see how well the process works.

missdimeaner

Have just been offered ACI for flight to JFK next week, as I have already paid for seat selection, and never print my BP's until at the airport I think I'll give this a miss.

I would be interested to hear of first hand experiences.

csutter

... or the accountants at Virgin rubbing their hands with glee and chanting "let's do this too!": http://www.headforpoints.com/2013/12...-reservations/

Anybody else got any first hand experiences recently? I'm off to VIE this week but apparently on the wrong rotation, having pre-reserved seats it would have been interesting to benchmark if it felt beneficial to me...