Originally Posted by
remdk
Ben_W you are experiencing a very common problem with seat allocation. This is a codeshare flight and you usually can only select seats if your ticket is for the operating carrier (QR in this case). In your case it is marketed as a BA flight and you cannot select seats on QR since BA is not the operating carrier.
I've experienced that problem too, and found that after a few days QR usually re-issue the ticket on QR flight-codes under a new PNR, I can then reserve my preferred-seats via the Qatar website without a problem. BA's hold-luggage allowance still applies, which seems only fair.
Since BA's card-verification system (Arcot ?) has a real problem, with credit-cards issued in the UK but for bank-customers who only have an overseas-address (and hence no UK-postcode), I am therefore forced to book the BA-fare via a UK-based OTA, but this has the extra advantage that I get charged in my card's home-currency (Sterling) and thus avoid the 3% currency-charge imposed on foreign-currency transactions by my card-issuer. On a £500-booking, that's a £15 saving, and worth having IMO !
Perhaps if QR allowed us to choose the currency we're quoted-in pre-search, rather than at the end of the booking-process and with a charge (?), they might get more bookings direct to their own website ? Just a thought, trying to be helpful !