G2244

I searched a bit and didn't find much on this. As an MVP Gold, if I have revenue tickets on BA in Club World (Long Haul Business), am I supposed to be able to have the fee for seat pre-assignments waived? I am getting mixed results/info from BA and don't see the benefit specifically called out on the AS site. Currently BA wants $108 per segment which seems a bit steep to me.

Thanks in advance

eponymous_coward

No, this is not a benefit for AS elites. Pay or wait for checkin to move around.

3Cforme

Free - with a status-level-varying window - seat assignments is a feature of BA's own Exec Club FF program as well as a oneworld benefit.

obnoxoid

If it helps, I've never really had a problem securing a decent enough seat if I wait for T-24--even on the 777s with 2-4-2 seating, I've never been relegated to one of the middle two seats.

davistev

You have just identified one of the great weaknesses of the Alaska Miles program. Unfortunately, Alaska status does not equal to any perks on most airline partners, just the ability to collect miles with a status tier bonus. While there are some unique benefits (Qantas lounge access is one example), there are no standard benefits across airline partners. This is the price we pay to be able to collect miles with a variety of airlines across all three major alliances and Emirates, Fiji Airways, Hainan, Icelandair and Condor.

OneWorld (AA, BA, CX, QF, EY, JL, Latam)
Star Alliance (SQ)
SkyTeam (AM, AF, KL, KE)

I agree that it can be quite frustrating to be a status member and then realise it means nadda when we fly a partner airline. Various reasons for this but I suspect it is mostly IT related.

Rich Boykin

Yep, in same boat, but on award tickets. Booked 2 seats in J from SEA-LHR-BUD in July; got confirmation of the booking, but logging into BA's site yields them wanting a fee of > $100 to select seats in advance. I generally like to do my seatguru research and select my seats as soon as I book, but in this case I'll wait and see.

Have had similar experiences on Hainan - they didn't want $$ to pre-select seats but even using their confirmation number / e-ticket information, I have never been able to look up my booking in their system to make changes. Never had a bad experience with seating however, just less than comforting to not be able to see your booking in their system let alone select seats. I've flown them 2-3 times on award flights with no troubles though.

G2244

Thanks for the clarifications. Trying to get in the hump on the 747. I guess I will just wait it out and be Johnny on the spot at T-24.

badgersfly

My experience has been different. At t-24 check in on the many routes I've flown, I've rarely seen any window or non-middle seats open, and never 2nd level 747 seats.

travelmonkey05

I think it's British Airways where you shouldn't finish checking in... or at least don't print your boarding pass. Then you can keep going back and seeing what seats are available (a lot of people seem to shift around) but once you print your boarding pass you can't access it again.

I've had pretty good luck with seats opening up during the check-in window.

worldtraveller73

Not to mention the over the top bonuses for business class. What other program offers as much as 350% earning for BA business with a 100% MVP Gold bonus on top?? For those that fly full business class and have lounge access anyway, this is the most generous program out there.

beckoa

Even when on a F award connecting to J on BA, they want their vig for the non F assignments.

senor hamachi

Same here. We've even had trouble getting the center "honeymoon" seats at check-in when travelling as a couple. A couple of times we've even been assigned one of the "honeymoon" seats and the aisle seat next to it, with no other pairs available to switch to, which means unless your neighbor wants to switch seats, one of you gets VERY cozy with a stranger.

quemalo

Yeah, it's a big problem. I ended up crediting a bunch of flights to BA instead of AS this year just so I could hit Silver and choose seats for free in the future.

Eastbay1K

Ouch, seeing as BA will be paid for an F award. I just booked my first BA J and at $218 (for 2 segments) x 2, I'll either hope F opens up, or check in seat selection isn't horrible. Speaking of which, is it @ T-24h per segment, or from point of first departure?

drseagrass

The loss of MCE seats on American Airlines (as of 1/1/18) means there are soon to be almost no transcontinental partner flights where AS elite status helps with seats. British Airways is particularly bad, based upon my experience. One of my recent trips was an AA/BA combination, but despite having the BA booking confirmation, I was blocked from online check-on the BA site and had to wait until I checked in with AA to learn my seat assignment from London onward, which was a middle seat in the next to last row of a 787. A call to BA didn't result in any seating change, so they can be pretty much like Allegiant if you don't pay for an advance seat assignment. I'm not sure what the reason was that I couldn't do on-line check-in with BA---it may have been because I was traveling to Russia and they needed to see a valid visa in person, but no one actually looked at the visa page when I boarded the plane at LHR. On the way back from Moscow, I was able to do OLCI with BA and change another bad seat in the back of the plane to one of many plentiful aisle seats in the front of economy. With the loss of decent seating on AA, and the time and hassle required to change planes at LHR, I don't have much incentive to travel on AA and/or BA in the future to European destinations.