Not sure if this is an appropriate thread for this post, but I'll give it a go (Mods, feel free to move it if felt appropriate to do so).

I've just received an email from BA saying that my seat has changed on a LGW-MLA flight in July, from 2F (front row) to something else (320 CEO swapped to 321). I looked at what seats were now available and noticed that the whole CE cabin was empty and row 1 was blocked. I thought that as OWE I might be able to select a seat in row 1, but obviously I was mistaken. It was an award booking.

That got me thinking. The timings of the BA flight weren't ideal (20:30 arrival), so I wondered, what alternatives that get me in at a reasonable time might be available? I had a bit of a look around in Google flights and found a Ryanair flight ex BOH on a 737-8 for an all-in price (including seat 2A) for about the same as the co-payment on BA. So I'll get my avios back to use on another flight sometime.

So I booked the FR flight, cancelled the BA booking, and am now looking forward to a day or two in Bournemouth, and also visiting some friends in Poole. Thanks BA for kicking me out of the front row and helping me decide to have some time at the seaside before my flight to Malta.