Look, my sister-in-law is BA cabin crew. I bought a Mini here in Houston to support the British economy (and yes well it looks cool too). I do my best to ensure that my as much of my money as possible goes eastward to the UK rather than westward to China and Japan.

However, as a lowly Blue who was trying (really I was) to fly BA in addition to Continental, I have to say I don't like the message below at all. What if I can't check in online due to lack of internet connectivity? Does that mean I'll be stuck in the middle down the back by the toilets? Do I need to get out of my hammock, put down my drink and go to the lobby and convince someone to let me use their computer to check in for my flight so I won't be in hell?

Peace of mind is very important to me, and I won't have any with this. Sadly, it's one more reason for someone like me - who almost always has a choice - not to go with BA.

Dear Mrs. ElkeNorEast,

At British Airways our focus is to create a speedy and seamless journey through the airport for our customers. We therefore wanted to let you know about how we will be improving one of the key elements of your travel experience over the coming months.
From December 5, 2006, we will be making some important changes to give you a better and wider choice of seats when checking in online for your flight. We will no longer pre-assign seats for most customers at the time of booking, as often seats are taken by travellers who decide not to fly. Pre-assignment of seats will still be available for specific groups of customers, including families with young children, FIRST class travellers, Gold and Silver Executive Club members, and those travellers holding fully flexible tickets across all cabins.*
How to select the best seats
In the future, more seats will be made available for you to select when you check-in for your flight. The best way to secure the seat of your choice will be to check in online at ba.com from 24 hours before your flight departs. The earlier you check in, the greater the choice of seats you will have.
To help you select your preferred seat when using online check in we have also improved our seating maps on ba.com, which will display up to the minute seat availability, and include emergency exit rows and highlight the position of toilets, infant cots and crew galley areas.
To find the full details of our new seating policy, please visit ba.com/seating.
I hope that you find these changes helpful when you travel with us.
Warm regards,
William B. Harford Jr.
Senior Vice President Commercial, Americas