Mar 22, 2018, 3:34 am
Last edit by: corporate-wage-slave
This thread examines BA's use of Amadeus' Theoretical Seating module. This kicks in at T-72 hours before departure, so this thread is primarily of interest to those travelling within the next few days.
FAQ : 'Theoretical Seating' : Blocked seats and status
Feb 21, 2018, 5:45 pm
#811
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 5
Greetings gvert, welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the BA forum. Below is what the seating plan on EF looks like. Looking at the G9 fare bucket, and given this is in February, this flight isn't looking full to my mind, though I may proven wrong. Now I'm not sure what sort of seat would suit you, but my feeling is that you should OLCI at the first opportunity but do not get your Boarding Pass or download it. Just check in and then after an hour so you may well see a completely different pattern including seats nearer row 47. Good luck, have a good flight and I hope you will tell us how it went for you.
So at OLCI there didn't came up much more options. Only at the airport and at transfer desk at Heathrow there have been a very few other options left. The Eco only had 5 empty seats in the end.
Just a quick question, how are the EF seat map and the fare buckets looking for Saturday's (24th) BA282 LAX-LHR?
Mar 6, 2018, 4:06 am
#812
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: BA Gold, Sixt Platinum
Posts: 314
Hi All,
I would like to share my experiences and also ask a quick question to the experts here:
Having been a Silver card holder for the past 8 months, I seem to have been very lucky with free adjacent seats. Even on busy routes, my success rate was probably 80% or higher in ET and WTP. Travelling in ET with my partner (Bronze) and selecting A+C or D+F has resulted in a free middle seat in 100% of the cases, which was brilliant!
Also, in CE, with the duly reminders at T-72, my row 1 success rate was very close to 100%.
Having very recently achieved Gold, my first action point was to move myself into row 1 for all my upcoming CE trips, which worked fine.
For my upcoming ET trips, I noticed no change to the seat maps on MMB. The first 2 to 4 rows of the ET cabin are not available to me (and appear "blocked" on the EF seat maps). Is this a case of having to wait for T-72? (I had hoped that the necessity for those reminders were a thing of the past after reaching Gold?).
In the meantime I'm looking forward to my first First Wing experience at LHR this week!
Thanks
I would like to share my experiences and also ask a quick question to the experts here:
Having been a Silver card holder for the past 8 months, I seem to have been very lucky with free adjacent seats. Even on busy routes, my success rate was probably 80% or higher in ET and WTP. Travelling in ET with my partner (Bronze) and selecting A+C or D+F has resulted in a free middle seat in 100% of the cases, which was brilliant!
Also, in CE, with the duly reminders at T-72, my row 1 success rate was very close to 100%.
Having very recently achieved Gold, my first action point was to move myself into row 1 for all my upcoming CE trips, which worked fine.
For my upcoming ET trips, I noticed no change to the seat maps on MMB. The first 2 to 4 rows of the ET cabin are not available to me (and appear "blocked" on the EF seat maps). Is this a case of having to wait for T-72? (I had hoped that the necessity for those reminders were a thing of the past after reaching Gold?).
In the meantime I'm looking forward to my first First Wing experience at LHR this week!
Thanks
Mar 6, 2018, 4:22 am
#813
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
This is a long-standing feature of ET seating. It's designed to act as a buffer in case the dividing line between CE and ET has to be moved. If there's nobody sitting in the first few rows of ET, this means that there's less chance that people in ET will have to be moved if the divider is moved aft.
Mar 6, 2018, 4:28 am
#814
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: A hop, skip and jump away from MAN.
Programs: BAEC Gold, ex-VS Gold, ex-UA Gold, Premier Inn Platinum-Iridium
Posts: 1,114
Congrats on making Gold, the First Wing and dedicated security is very good, especially when Heathrow is having a busy day.
I suspect this is happening to allow the CE cabin to expand and the curtain to move back without displacing more folks, and those seats would normally open up nearer the time (e.g. at T-72) when BA are more certain of the required CE cabin size for that rotation.
I don't think that's anything particularly new, I recall seeing this on flights back when I was Gold - a common one I recall was the front cabin of the 767 would initially be unavailable when booking some weeks out, then the curtain would slowly creep forward, and the seats become unblocked.
For my upcoming ET trips, I noticed no change to the seat maps on MMB. The first 2 to 4 rows of the ET cabin are not available to me (and appear "blocked" on the EF seat maps). Is this a case of having to wait for T-72? (I had hoped that the necessity for those reminders were a thing of the past after reaching Gold?).
I don't think that's anything particularly new, I recall seeing this on flights back when I was Gold - a common one I recall was the front cabin of the 767 would initially be unavailable when booking some weeks out, then the curtain would slowly creep forward, and the seats become unblocked.
Mar 6, 2018, 4:41 am
#815
Join Date: Jan 2018
Programs: BA Gold, Sixt Platinum
Posts: 314
Thanks - those explanations make a lot of sense! I'll keep checking in that case 
Decent exit row seats are available but, especially on the very short European flights, I value a seat further up front with the ability to keep a small bag with me in the seat area more than the little extra leg room.
Decent exit row seats are available but, especially on the very short European flights, I value a seat further up front with the ability to keep a small bag with me in the seat area more than the little extra leg room.
Mar 8, 2018, 2:43 am
#817
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: London
Programs: Mucci. Nothing else matters.
Posts: 38,644
Mar 8, 2018, 4:46 pm
#819
Join Date: Nov 2017
Programs: BA, Hilton
Posts: 2,091
At T-72 theoretical seating kicks in and starts blocking off seats for certain customers.
At T-72 seats which are blocked for other reasons (e.g. Row 1 to Gold only) become available to other passengers.
You seem to be asking about the second case, but in both cases, it is the time of the flight that matters. So 72 hours from scheduled departure. (And once I realised this, I would set a reminder on my phone and had a near 100% hit rate snagging row 1 as a Silver)
Mar 8, 2018, 5:11 pm
#821
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 88
Just to clarify, there are a couple of separate issues here:
At T-72 theoretical seating kicks in and starts blocking off seats for certain customers.
At T-72 seats which are blocked for other reasons (e.g. Row 1 to Gold only) become available to other passengers.
You seem to be asking about the second case, but in both cases, it is the time of the flight that matters. So 72 hours from scheduled departure. (And once I realised this, I would set a reminder on my phone and had a near 100% hit rate snagging row 1 as a Silver)
At T-72 theoretical seating kicks in and starts blocking off seats for certain customers.
At T-72 seats which are blocked for other reasons (e.g. Row 1 to Gold only) become available to other passengers.
You seem to be asking about the second case, but in both cases, it is the time of the flight that matters. So 72 hours from scheduled departure. (And once I realised this, I would set a reminder on my phone and had a near 100% hit rate snagging row 1 as a Silver)
Mar 9, 2018, 1:23 am
#823
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: ±38,000 feet
Programs: LH HON, BA GGL, AF Plat, EK Plat
Posts: 6,428
Yes, 2D/F are better, 1A/C face crew as there is no cupboard or bulkhead