Jimmie76

I have had occasions in the past where I was writing the T&C's of competitions, which was fun! I was always tempted to put deep into the long list something about

I gave a copy of the new rules to someone to check and they obviously only glanced at them because they said a few minutes later "That looks fine to me."

Now I was being transparent at all times (although I never actually published the rules with that one in) and would have loved to have been the one contacting the winners to inform them they had won. and had they found a suitable costume to wear.

I can just imagine someone checking in online (never mind getting on board a plane) and discovering that the seat they thought they had cleverly paid to obtain months in advance, was actually a row in front of theirs.

Swanhunter

That is a very fair point.

Wherryman

I am in much the same position as rjn21. I have two redemption seats in CW on a 3-class 777 from Gatwick next year, but no status. Previously I have been happy (well, resigned) to take place in the T-24 lottery, and have often secured good seats. When I heard of the new seating policy I felt cheated - instead of an even playing field at T-24, any passenger who wanted to spend money in the next 9 months could deprive me of the best seats. So, with a feeling of being blackmailed, I rang this morning to try and reserve seats. The seat map on KVS/Amadeus was wide open (apart from the 2 bassinet seats). I was astonished to find that there were a large number of 'restricted' seats that I could not buy. In fact, of the 10 window/aisle pairs on the plane only 1 was available for non-status passengers, and that was not one of the 4 desirable pairs. So I declined.

I am also concerned about the current practice by BA of overselling the rear of the plane followed by a large number of op-ups. If a status passenger in the back of the plane is op-uped, when does this happen? At T-24 - 1 second, into the best seats? Do I expect to check the seat maps in the days up to my trip and see the cabin still half empty, only to check in at T-24 and find there are just 2 undesirable seats left?

The BA gloss on this new seating policy may be that it is giving non-status passengers a better chance of good seats. I think it is doing precisely the opposite.

Permit me a small

BLG

Someone more knowledgeable than I will have to assess your concern on how op-ups will effect things and at precisely what moment, but you may well be right -- BA seems to have have achieved the remarkable result of making things worse for both elites and non-elites with the same policy! And it all seems to be based on the premise that you can extract extra revenue for the worst seats from the least informed buyers. Just not a pretty picture.

sunrisegirl

I've commented a number of times on other threads re. the seating policy so I'll not add to anything I've already said.

As for op-ups, the vast majority are done at the airport and take place after someone has checked into the booked cabin. Most, but not all, will be informed at the gate. They will be assigned a seat in the upgraded cabin from what is available at time of flight closure. Less often, for a number of reasons, a passenger will be upgraded before the flight and they will be told on check-in when they drop off their bags. Sometimes their seats will have been pre-assigned by Flight Control, other times the check in agent can assign them.

You'll have the full range of seats available at T-24. However, depending on route and time of year, LGW flights can still have a good number of premium card holders who'll be able to assign seats, and that's not changed from the previous policy.

Greg66

Hmm. Perhaps not "really" bad, but on a 747 the middle two, downstairs, back row, that have a view of a wall are a pair I'd consider bad on a day flight.

sarahuk

It may seem OTT to you but to some people its important enough to be able to sit together. Im one of those people who have just paid 260 for my husband and I to be able to sit together in Club to LAX in December.
I am partially deaf and a nervous flyer so its important for me to sit by him. Im not asking for any fancy seats or upper deck, just 2 seats together. Several people on thisforum have stated that BA automatically seat people on the same booking together, well let me tell you this is NOT true. In the last 4 weeks we have done 8 flights in CE and at T24 when we checked in , every time our seats were aisle ones and never together despite the cabin being nearly empty OLCI. Yes I know we were able to change the seats but what if the flight had been full we may not have been lucky.
I rung the exec club and asked why we were always split up and she said they did it by our preferances on our exec profile which is odd because we both have window seat as our preferances.
Anyway we have just paid the money for peace of mind although i think its wrong of BA to force us to do this but I guess times are hard

DYKWIA

This has not been my experience recently. I'm constantly getting upgrades from WT to WT+ (or even J in one case). These are normally when I get to the airport (which is usually a few hours before the flight closes).

And this is also happening when WT is not full, ie. my original seat is still empty.

Maybe I just have VIP mistakenly on my profile or something

Cheers,
Rick

Gardyloo

I thought this was an interesting data point - a post from Cruise Critic - http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showp...61&postcount=7
(Emphasis mine.)

Maybe, maybe not, but if I were a marketing person for BA I'd be a little concerned with comments like this.

elitetraveler

I believe Carnival Corp (Princess) all travel on ADs (Agent Discounts) and since a nice chunk of those benefits are tied to their production and their significant presence (P&0) in London, I hope their execs have alternate carriers they can use for their business travel.

Sungirl

Booked WT+ , 4 seats for June 2010 from YYZ- JNB return. Tried unsuccessfully to pay for advance seat selection. Apparently JNB is an excluded city, altho on the BA site South Africa is not listed as an excluded country. Agent was not helpful and supervisor simply would not take the call(according to the agent).

I was willing to pay as we do not like the 4 in the middle if on a 747. I will try thro TA , but any ideas anyone?

James S

I've deliberately chosen them when upstairs was not available! Private with screens up, great for chatting with a friend and drinking on a day flight, with easy access to the aisle for frequent toilet visits.

Not so good if travelling alone, but I wouldn't pay, what £60, to avoid those seats.

babats

Almost 7000 on day 1 purchased their seat

UncleDude

But HenkyBaby Post #57 has just indicated they have managed to get Upper Deck seats for LHR-SYD. In which case BA may have allocation control. Thereby giving Elite Travelers only on heavy FF Elites Routes Priority for UD, thereby keeping them happy.

Meanwhile Casual BA fliers have to be happy paying for Lower Deck with perhaps 2 seats together and with the possibility of a change at T24 online check-in. Result you please the vast majority. Sorry in this instance you do not fall into The Majority, but of course you can enjoy a pre-booked sloopy UD seat in Qantas.

Raffles

This was so unnecessary. There is zero, I repeat zero, chance of you not being able to get 2 seats together if you check in as soon as OLCI opens. If, by some amazing act it was not the case, the crew on the day would have no difficulty finding a couple of adjacent solo travellers who had not paid for a reservation to switch seats with you, given your condition (and I think even for a normal couple you'd find people willing to move given the flight length.)

In any event, my understanding is that deaf or otherwise disabled passengers do not need to pay for advance seat selection, as per the T&C's - BA will allocate you seats for nothing.

You mentioned that you recent CE legs had been aisle and aisle. Have you both checked your online profile? If both of you have selected a preference for an aisle seat, this may be why the BA computer is giving you both an aisle.