ralfkrippner

I agree that this is inacceptable. If they introduce new rules than those should be for bookings made after publishing these rules. Kicking people out of their reserved seats is not OK and not a good business decission IMO.

nacho

This is just like airlines de-valuate the earnings for their FFP - you credit according to the earning table when you fly, not when you book. I got hit by this when UA did the change - I have already booked my flights based on the earning table at the time of booking. There is absolutely nothing I can do, and it's very annoying too.

I guess AB is trying to do more nickle and dime. My friend used to work for a LCC in Hong Kong, when I was talking to her about people complaining about the airline. She said, 'go ahead and complain, and our tickets are so cheap that you keep coming back'. Maybe this is AB's strategy.

flolee

mhm... ok, i was not kicked out of my two first row seats as an AB Goldcard holder. however, the blocking of the seat next to me did not work, maybe this has to do with the new system?
anyway, this does truly suck and it just seems quite wrong if they do not honor the applicable policy at the time of booking.

i'm not even sure the low-cost argument counts as i don't think they are this cheap. that said, as i really hate LH/OS my choices are scarse from VIE and i do end up quite bit with HG/AB - never had any problems lately, just their "exclusive" waiting areas are a bit of a joke, esp at TXL.

LTN Phobia

I've paid for the fare that allows free basic seat selection (FlyClassic) but those that are available to FlyClassic, i.e. those behind the exit row, are all I seem to be allowed to select as an OWE (BA Gold).

Is that how it's supposed to be? I've never flown AB before so I am rather clueless as to how it should work.

headingwest

Under the new rules, yes, you are able to select seats for free from behind the exit rows only. Before the recent change, however, oneworld Emeralds and Sapphires were able to select seats from the front of the cabin (I often had row 1) and they normally blocked the next seat. In effect it was the same as Club Europe on BA but without the cooked meal.

btw, LTN Phobia, some OWEs have reported getting the gourmet meal for free, which has to be booked in advance. If you need to phone AB before the flight it might be worth politely asking if it's possible. Some agents seem to say that they're only for Topbonus members, but others allow Emeralds to book the meals.

Flier74

so......I finally got an e Mail thanking me for my comments and they will be used to offer me a "safe and punctual transport" and a promise of "doing our utmost to remain a reliable and attentive travel partner in the future"
thats all it said.....

Copy and Paste springs to mind, next step a letter by registered post me thinks.

EuropeToAsia

AB will probably soon need to be turning around 180 degrees and begging for business. Their increasing prices and continuously worsening service (which already had been one of the worst locally) are said to have seen them maintaining loads only by massively reducing capacity. With their condescending behaviour towards customers I think they are only accelerating this process as Ryanair prepares for a major onslaught on their local market to push them out.

TPJ

4 flights this week - all originally booked seat assignment kept... Maybe I am just lucky

swiss_global

No, it has nothing to do with luck. You are AB Gold (according to your FT profile) and their own AB Gold and Plats seem to keep the privileged seat assignment.

The issue is really that AB seems to limit seat selection to other OWE/OWS.

Frequent_Flyer1

Totally agree, completely ridiculous policy! Does anybody know if during web-checkin the front row seats (1-4) open up for Emeralds?

This will definitely influence me in my travel choice in the future, as on most routes LX is even slightly cheaper than AB nowadays and based on my SEN-card allows better seating.

bhomburg

I had that issue as well. Got booted out of my allocated bulkhead seats and they refused to reinstate them for free despite their policy stating otherwise at first.
This policy can be found on their website (hidden in the description of topbonus benefits - click and see the last paragraph), and should definitely be honored:

This seat allocation concept applies to all reservations from 1.12.2015. Any seat reservations made prior to this date remain unaffected and retain their validity.
Dieses Sitzplatzkonzept gilt für Reservierungen ab dem 1.12.2015. Zuvor getätigte Sitzplatzreservierungen sind von den Änderungen nicht betroffen und behalten ihre Gültigkeit.


Followed this up with a letter, basically telling them I`d drag them to court over the - substantial - fees I`d incur otherwise.
Received a response, apparently written by a human being who really read what I wrote that at least detailed the changes clearly.

Since Dec.1, 2015, there's two categories of customers that are granted varying levels of free seat allocations:

- topbonus Golds and Plats still get to reserve all categries of seats for free (just like before). This does no longer extend to OW status pax other than topbonus' own elites, as mentioned already.

- OW Emerald and Sapphire status holders are grouped with topbonus Silvers and holders of their (now greatly devalued) Service card - those only get to reserve 'Standard Seat category B' seats free of charge - this excludes the first couple of rows and the exit rows now.

However, AB gives a discount on seat selection fees for Silvers and those with the topbonus service card - EUR 10 discount on short-and medium haul flights within Europe and EUR 15 discount on longhaul flights. The person I spoke with told me that OW elites should be entitled to this discount as well, but didn't know for sure. She promised to follow up and get back to me.

Consequences: I will have to see if making an effort to qualify for AB Gold is worth it for 2016 and beyond. I frequently (have to) travel with a service dog, and the "free adjacent seat" benefit is really helpful there.
Otherwise, I`ll go out of my way to avoid them now. Adding <EUR100 in fees for seat selection to the already pricey tickets or always having to buy a second seat is crossing the line for me.

vitrysk_kille

What's new also is that FA really do not allow non-TB-status pax to occupy front rows after "boarding is completed" message. Started a few months ago and experience it almost on all flights, especially on ones with weak load...

harri

As BA Emerald (FlyClassic ticket) was only able to pre-select seats behind the exit rows, but yesterday using the app checkin rows 1-4 were available, rows 5-13 blocked (seems like it), and rows 14 onwards also available. Flying this evening HEL-TXL and me and my partner seem to be the only ones so far in the rows 1-4.

Frequent_Flyer1

Thanks for the update, based on this it seems that during check-in OW Emeralds are able to select seats in rows 1-4; hopefully this is not jut a glitch but intentional. My next upcoming AB flight is in early January, will keep you posted. Like you I have only been able to get seats after the exit rows, so far.

headingwest

Yes, this is very interesting to hear. Thanks for the updates. We'll see how it develops!