Think this is probably worthy of its own thread.

On the one hand, it’s pretty bad form to whack premium passengers with another €70-€90 charge per leg to select a seat (particularly as the inflight service on KLM has been so degraded anyway - although that’s a topic for another thread).

On the other, as a status holder with BA, I value the wider seat availability at the time of booking which these policies provide - especially when booking relatively late.

Slightly off topic, but the less said about Lufthansa’s ridiculous Allegris concept, the better. They seem to have about as many variations of one seat as they do airline brands. Thank goodness AF/KL have opted for the tried and tested 1-2-1 reverse herringbone layout instead of trying something which is too clever by half.