FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Airport control on ticket several days before flight
Old Sep 25, 2020, 3:04 am
  #1  
itfcfan
 
Join Date: May 2012
Location: London, UK
Programs: A3 Gold
Posts: 158
Airport control on ticket several days before flight

Hi all,

I'm due to fly IST-LHR with my wife on Sunday (27th Sept). I tried to make seat reservations online but got an error indicating the ticket was under airport control. I've gone through several rounds with the call centre and they are unable to make any changes, saying because the ticket is under airport control I will only be able to check-in at the airport (not online) once the flight opens and will be able to select a seat then. Given the flight is almost sold out and only 4 seats are showing as available (and only 2 together) it seems very unlikely I'll be seated with my wife. We're more keen than normal to be seated together due to the covid-19 situation. I fly quite frequently (mainly on airlines other than BA) - I've been unable to check-in online before but this is the first time I can recall being unable to select a seat (on an airline that normally allows this) before a flight. Is this normal with BA?

From what I've been told by BA call centre it seems unlikely anything more can be done, but if anyone knows otherwise, please let me know.

For future reference, what factors can result in a ticket going under "airport control" well in advance of the flight? The call centre told me for "security reasons" a small % of tickets are given this status - is this true? Risk factors I can think of for this flight are this is a one-way booking. The flight was bought online through a 3rd party agent, paid by card and is billed in HKD. I'd like to avoid this situation in the future so any tips on what can trigger this state would be useful!

Thanks in advance for any experience / advice.

John
itfcfan is offline