Originally Posted by
susiesan
So I went to BA.com, pulled up my reservation, and my AA numbers are there. If I pay for the seats in advance and then get award seats in business class I don't get a refund for the seat payment. Also, if I completely cancel the award tickets and go another route if better flights and dates open up I also don't get a refund for seat fees. I do have biz seat awards with UA miles but the date is not ideal. If something better with UA awards opens up I'll cancel the BA tickets.
The terms for BA awards are terrible as compared to flying on AA metal. I'd fly on AA flights but the redemption amounts are 4x as much as on BA flights. I don't have enough Advantage miles to fly AA. My British friends and family are always complaining about BA, now I know why.
As a very general rule, premium economy tends to fill outside-in. As an example, here is the seat map for BA209 to MIA next Monday:
So if you were to wait until 7 days out, as an AA Gold/OW Ruby, there is a fairly decent chance the A/B or J/K seats you seek will all be occupied.
So this all boils down to which is the lesser of two evils for you: paying for (non-refundable) seat selection fees that you may lose if you decide to upgrade cabins or change to another carrier. Or wait-and-see, your alternate plans do not come to fruition and you’re left at 7 days before departure with the pick of whatever seats remain - quite likely from the middle block.