LondonElite

They are redemption tickets. The 30% is based on his YQ and fees/taxes.

Cymro

In that case, can we start moaning about YQ on redemptions as well please?

TIA.

Blueboys999

I would have thought somewhere beween the 2. Bear in mind that it is a minimum 8 seats and with a connection that becomes 16.

Perhaps the OP would be good enough to post the details.

Enigma368

Well apparently it could be correct according to other posts - I apologise for saying that $1500 could not possible be correct. I stand corrected. That is just beyond silly.

If I were him I would wait until T-24. I would be astonished if he couldn't at least get 2 x 2. But if not, I am sure someone at BA would help him out so that his children were not sitting alone.

At the very most, he could pay for 2 seats on each flight (a window and an aisle), so that would mean his two daughters could sit beside each other and would not have anyone else beside either of them. At least that would be half the price.

trooper

Free seat selection would of course be nice... but....

I'm in the same boat as the OP (although a solo flyer)..booked on BA HKG-LHR-CDG as part of an AA miles redemption. ( Managed to score AY CDG-HEL-HKG on the way back to SYD so )

NO OW status... award flight.

Yet as part of the process I looked to see "what was what"....and so naturally found that seat selection on BA had a fee (and that AY operates the A350 HEL-HKG and has wifi....)...

I don't feel I did anything unusual in checking the details.

As already alluded to...I find BA's YQ FAR more objectionable than the seat selection fee.... YMMV.

orbitmic

This thread just speaks of the benefits of Flyertalk. Had the OP looked on the BA forum before rather than after making this purchase, he/she would have bumped into literally dozens (if not hundreds?) of threads on this exact same topic with the exact same comments and saved him/herself what seems like significant angst.

As for advice, since you mention that your worry is clearly about who your daughters will sit with, why don't you pay the seat assignment fee just for the two of them in a window/aisle pair of seats. That way, you can be reassured that they will only face one another and perfectly safe. Your wife and yourself can then wait till OLCI and take the best seats available then and will have saved half of the money that you mentioned that you were asked to pay.

makin'miles

OP - do you have any status with AA or any other oneworld carrier at all? Even the lowest level of oneworld status (BA Bronze, American Gold and levels in other programs equivalent to oneworld Ruby) should allow you to to select seats for free seven days prior to departure.

Also curious as to what your transatlantic route is? If its a Florida airport into Gatwick, these flights may have relatively fewer status holders onboard, which could lead to greater selection a week out, or even at online check-in exactly 24h before.

vstgn

We have a reward Booking in sep,
Cph- Jfk and seat assignment pr pax is

Cph-Lhr Economy 17$
Lhr-Jfk World traveller+ 50$~63$
Jfk-Lhr club World 89$~98$
Lhr-Cph club Europe 29$~34$

flibbly

On the BA board you'll find no shortage of people wanting to bash BA and a number (but less, and shrinking) wanting to defend them. However the one thing almost guaranteed to unite most people to stop you getting any sympathy is patently ludicrous hyperbole.

sunshinebob

Not possible.. Its all or nothing with seat selection if on one booking..

Prospero

If having a seat assignment now is important to you, then you will need to pay the seating fee. You can reduce the overall cost of this though. The seating rates vary depending on location within the cabin. Higher rates towards the front of the cabin and upper deck, lower rates towards the rear of the cabin. You cannot cherry pick by paying for seats for only one passenger in your booking - you will need to pay for all four. That’s the way BA’s paid seating works. However, paid seating need not apply to every flight in your booking - you can cherry pick your flights.

Another thing to consider is this - as you will be connecting from one BA flight to another on your outbound journey and ditto on your inbound journey, you can use OLCI to your advantage. For example, you should be able to check-in for sector 2 when OLCI opens for sector 1 - this effectively gives you a head’s start on sector 2.

So consider this:
Use paid seating for your first (TATL) sector only and use OLCI to select your seats for sector 2. On your return, use OLCI to select your seats on both sectors as soon as it opens - you get a greater choice of seats on the inbound TATL flight by virtue of the opportunity to check-in earlier than the London mob.

You can also monitor the seat maps during the weeks/months ahead. If you see the cabins filling up - be ready to pounce with your credit card in hand.

Oaxaca

Oh yes, and it's not just the customers. I can exclusively reveal that BA is planning to launch a new cabin crew group, Teen Fleet. They've spotted an opportunity to get rid of all those ridiculously expensive Mixed Fleet contracts via a lifelong intern model, starting at age 12 (yes, I know 12 isn't strictly a teen, but BA is all about broadening opportunity).

TF's parents will in fact pay BA for them to fly, and no longer will the lack of a living wage to provide things like food, housing and travel to work generate strikes at BA, since the bank of Mum and Dad will take care of this.

Customers will find paying for seat reservations the least of their worries, since the cabin crew will be found lying in their seat watching TV anyway, and they'll be busy dealing with the WhatsApp messages asking where the crew's dinner is, and whether anyone can drive the crew to their hotel at the destination, since their parents couldn't affford to come on this flight.

Onboard complaints will now be logged via a Snapchat-based app and will therefore disappear shortly after being submitted. This was the winner of BA's recent Hangar 51 innovation initiative, with the benefit of bunny ears on any photos submitted with the complaint. Gold, Silver and Bronze-tipped ears are available to those with the relevant BAEC status. Any complaints that do survive will receive the response "you don't understand us".

A BA executive, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said that roles in Teen Fleet will be available via a Kickstarter campaign with a minimum investment by parents of £25k per year. The campaign will close when the £400m Alex Cruz has promised to invest in CW has been reached. Of course, as always with crowdfunding, BA will reward its loyal investors. All investors will receive a new CW meal and BA White Company bedding set. These will be sent out in December 2020, just before they become available on routes other than LHR-JFK.

Who said BA isn't down with the kids? On the bright side, BA's 12 year old adult policy means they can select exit row seats, as long as their parents pay for them

drvannostren

I can't imagine it's $1500, but then I'm not a BA flyer either. I did just purchase my first ever BA flight and was surprised to see I couldn't even pick a general garbage seat in Y without paying. I don't care for DUB-LHR but for LHR-YYC I MIIIIIIGHT fork out the 40 bucks just to make sure i get that sweet sweet aisle.

Where can I fly this awesome airline? I'd love to fly the seedy night club. I always kinda assumed that's what Virgin J class was like.

mikeyfly

Is there a quick / easy / cheaper way than $1500 for OP to get status and then have the benefits of this as well as free seat selection for all?

TravellerFrequently

As a 13 year old, I took my 11 year old brother from TPA to AUS via ATL and back without any UM assistance in 1979.