sheppy26

Good idea - I have updated the title

V10

If it does turn out to be the case, it'll be bad news with the 29" seat pitch coming in ET on the A319s.

I will also say I expect that this will happen.

Paralytic

One data point. When booking as a gold, it is also asking to pay for seats at the time of booking, but free when selecting the same seat after the flight has been booked.

I suspect this is a misunderstanding that has started a rumour.

paul4040

But it might be reasonable to suspect that the "seat selection" area of the site is being tinkered with in some way by someone - otherwsie why would there be glitches?

(I am totally ignorant about websites and code etc!)

SteveF

Let's not get carried away. What may have started out as just a misunderstanding or the over imaginative mind of a telephone agent first became a rumour and then, in just 14 posts, a fact.

Edit: 19 posts by the time I'd finished typing two lines, which will be >100 by the morning, possibly getting worked up over nothing. Just imagine what will happen if it turns out to be true .

V10

Given how flaky the site is at the best of times, I don't think they'd be tinkering with it unless they had a pressing reason for doing so (bug fixes not being included in the list of pressing reasons).

BerksFlyer

Having recently had one of my best business class experiences on my first trans atlantic with Delta, taking away silver benefits would persuade me to shop elsewhere. Being left with middle seats in CW would make me go to some effort to avoid BA.
On short haul, with the reduction in seat pitch if I cannot choose exit seats for free why pay more to go with BA when you get a similar product as an LCC? This weekend I went to OSL and having used Norwegian before they would become a better option for my regular trips. LGW is just as easy for me after work and the only price to pay is the loss of lounge, which will be more than made up for by the lower cost.
If this happens it will seriously drive away customers who BA should be trying get more out of.
Some of the recent changes really do baffle me!!

Paralytic

We've all experienced BA's lack of rigorous change management to its website, so you could well be right. This really would be a horrible change.

crazy8534

I suppose one question is if they remove free seat selection for silver then what happens to seat selection for bronze at T-7d? That is pretty much the only benefit of bronze that is worth anything. Personally I change most of my domestic reservations at T-72h to move to front row and almost always have a decent choice so in that sense bronze=silver on domestics and probably ET would be too. As to 747 UD, I would think that is a real blow for silvers to lose, but then the clear gold water at the moment consists of basically nothing except galleries F (speaking as someone who will be gold in the near future).

My gut feeling is that if call centre workers had really been told this for sure then it would be leaking from multiple sources already. Do I remember correctly that the silver line is not actually a dedicated line and so they could be confused with other changes for other tiers? Don't know, wishful thinking perhaps.

Judgement reserved.

worjackie14

Unless I've missed an email/brief somewhere along the line I've not been made aware of it.





[views are my own and do not represent British Airways]

Paren

This is what I was thinking.

I usually travel in CW so the 7 day seat selection is about the only benefit I get since I get lounge/fast track/priority boarding etc with the ticket.

If this is taken away, then it doesn't make any difference if I'm Blue or not even a member at all.

Heck, I even got free seat selection when I booked a DXB>DOH flight with QR and I have zero status with them.

Anonba

I havent heard any mention of this. I would have been bery surprised if executive club in manchester had been given communication via email/brief that newcastle hadnt. Im saying this because an earlier comment referred to an exec club BA agent mentioning these changes.



******* all views expressed are my own amd do not represent those of either BA or IAG********

T8191

Watching with interest ... Silver seat selection on booking is my primary reason for wanting to retain Silver, as a modest leisure flyer.

Remove that, and to a large extent my BA loyalty goes out of the window.

(removes dust and cobwebs from VS Red Card)

Calchas

Perhaps the official account would comment and pour some cold water on these rumours?

Maluku_Flyer

Have hotline staffers ever been the first to know of a change like this?