Originally Posted by The Saint
I don't understand what you are describing.
Is it that a flight is showing F6 A0 etc, and a request to BA to release an A seat has been refused?
Or is it that the flight shows F6 A3, and yet BA will not allow a booking into A class with an AONE* ticket?
If it's the former, then I cannot see cause for complaint. If there are no A class seats available, you can request one, but it is a request. If it is not released, too bad. AA does exactly the same on the transcons and I would expect QF does the same on LAX/SFO-SYD/MEL.
If it's the latter, then I think you have legitimate cause for complaint, although you should be aware of the phenomenon of differential availability by region. Sometimes, what can be seen as available differs by territory. If that happens, you can either waitlist, or get on the phone to BA reservations in other countries.
Thanks for the reply. I understand that F6 A0 means that no A-class seats are available at the moment and the request will be denied, but agree that it's not unusual to see postings here from folks who are confused about that.
At the moment I'm more interested in understanding the BA seat-allocation process than actually complaining about it - my ox isn't being gored at the moment. But I do end up asking for a modicum of A-class seats on BA; in the past, any time the availability was there, the seats were forthcoming with a smile, whether my request was for LHR-SYD or a less ambitious LHR-CAI. The discussions I've been following suggest that may be changing, and I imagine my future plans would go more easily if I understood the new rules.
(Perhaps related to the same change at BA, if indeed there has been one, are a few postings commenting that intra-Europe D seats were also hard to get. I've only seen that mentioned once or twice, and don't know the details of the complaints. )
I didn't understand the comment about "regional availability". If BA shows A6 on a CAI-LHR service, does the computer actually know that someone in Dubai, or Cairo, or London is trying to book one of those seats, and accepts or denies the request accordingly?
Again, any guidance would be appreciated - I know that a lot of the members here understand the inner workings of the company pretty well, and their input would be much appreciated.