BertieBadger

^ Glad you were able to get them. Apologies, I should have mentioned that I had sometimes seen them open up in the hour before T-72 exactly (never found an exact pattern/time) but all's well that end's well.

I can't help on the 1A/C vs 2D/F issue, as 90% of my ex-London flights are LHR and that config is only based at LGW as far as I know. That said I do have an ex-LGW flight with that config in Apr. I plumped for 1A/C, and I choose that as much so I could form my own opinion on it as with the increased options from LGW I could be using it more. I know you're facing the crew when they are in the jump seats but that doesn't bother me particularly, it's the poor crew who have to suffer my ugly mug I feel sorry for! (and all a bit OT for TS thread tho, more properly this should be in the A320 seating thread, so I'll say no more. I don't know if that thread has any answers on your 1 vs 2 dilemma - it's linked off the dashboard)

bubbah

Thank you, we will stick with 1A/C as it is only for 2 hours plus and hopefully first choice for breakfast!

mrliu88

Hi guys! I'm new here so I apologize if this has been raised before, but does anyone know of anything like "seats blocked by airport"? I booked two awards flights for LHR - ORD on the 747 (super J config) early next year. When I went in to reserve a seat (I don't have status and I know I have to pay to reserve seats), nothing on the upper deck is available except 1 aisle seat! I checked on expertflyer and the entire upper deck seems to be open. I was confused so I called BA, the rep told me those upper deck seats are blocked by the airport and there's no timeline on when they might be released...I don't mind being on the lower deck (as there might be a better view of the wing and engines), but the explanation just puzzled me. I wonder if anyone can shed some light on this. Thank you!

Sealink

I’ve heard of seats being held back so that airport staff can allocate them for people checking in at airport...

corporate-wage-slave

It's not to do with Theoretical Seating, that only kicks in at T-72 hours, however BA set some rules via the Amadeus Seating module, which among other things greatly restricts access to popular Upper Deck services to give status passengers the best chance of getting their favourite seat. Staff often call it "airport blocks", but it's just some complex sets of rules in Amadeus. This situation can in theory change at any time, depending on the level of bookings, but if this is a flight in 2019 then it may stay unchanged for weeks or even months.

dkc192

Not sure if this question belongs here, since we're well outside of T-72, but I can't think of any other reason this would be going on. I'm booked LHR-HAM and TXL-LHR in CE. On the LHR-HAM flight, EF showed 1AC and all of row 2 occupied and 1DF blocked before I booked; I was able to select 1F for myself (1D was available for me to choose as well). On the TXL-LHR leg, EF showed all of rows 1 and 2 blocked before I booked; I was not able to select any of those seats and instead settled for 4A.

Is there a reason I'm not getting to pick a row 1 or row 2 seat on the TXL-LHR flight? My best guess is that the system hasn't "seen" other GCHs pick a seat there, so as a partner OWE I can't do so. Once someone somehow snags a seat in those front two rows, it "opens" those seats up for those who are eligible. That said, I thought that a partner OWE should see the same seat availability as a GCH in the first place. What gives?

Yetak

We are on BA2239 LGW to LIM on 28th March in J. According to the seating plan on MMB it will be a 3 class 777 with the mini CW cabin. We are a family of 4 (kids are teenagers ) , I booked and paid for ,a little while ago 10A&B and 11A&B. Despite the downside of these seats, ( near toilets, reports of pax in WT+ coming through the cabin to use the toilets and next to a bassinet- all in all sounds ideal ) I chose them so we don't have to climb over anyone , nor does anyone have to climb over us to reach the aisle.

The cabin appears to be pretty full and I can't see any better option but would be intrigued to know if Row 1 is blocked or booked ?Appreciate if anyone can tell me.

Globaliser

All four are occupied.

Yetak

Many thanks (again ! ) Globaliser.

highexpectations

Flew LHR-GLA. Only 7 booked in CE with a capacity of 12 seats. I was sat in 1A (1C was blocked when boarding as per TS). Guy in 1F (1D also blocked thanks to TS). So all good. Gentleman in 3A comes forward towards the end of the boarding and asks to move to the front row, which was approved and subsequently sat in 1C. Do the cabin crew in BA not know anything about TS? If they'd known that BA had blocked that seat specifically because of a gold card member and that's the whole point of it, would they have been more reluctant to allow the passenger to move?

I wondered if it wasn't that widely known in BA, perhaps those BA staff who contribute here can maybe ask the company to feed this back? I don't really see the point in having TS, if the crew on the day are just going to let people move around the cabin and occupy seats that have even specifically blocked by TS.

KARFA

There was quite a long discussion recently on this very issue here Onboard etiquette: blocked seats

CKBA

I still find this a bit of a lottery. Today's TATL flight on a 787-8, Mrs CKBA (Silver) and I (Gold) had 24K (window) and 24H (aisle) (economy) in the hope that the middle seat would be blocked. At least until T-8h the seat was still blocked. The flight was not full with about 6 empty middle seats elsewhere in economy. Now you would have thought that a Silver and Gold would have some chance at a free middle seat, particularly since there were empty middle seats elsewhere, but when checking and check-in the middle seat between us had been nabbed. Anyway, this guy in the middle was only too happy to swap and have the aisle (I would add that I was the only Group 1 person boarding too). However, WHY?

Misco60

We don't really know how Theoretical Seating behaves when a cabin is close to being full, and although you say you were the only Group 1 passenger there might have been other Gold passengers with higher CIV scores who didn't board at the same time as you did.

However, if I were assigning seats in this situation I would be deliberately targeting middle seats between couples travelling on the same PNR because (a) they are gaming the system and (b) the final outcome would be that the couple would be sitting together and the passenger assigned the middle seat would end up with the aisle or window seat of their choice so everybody wins (or, at least, nobody really loses).

BAMuc

Do exit rows on shorthaul impact on Theoretical Seating? I.e., am I as likely to have a blocked middle seat in an exit row than somewhere further up (or indeed down) the plane?

Lucanesque

I can tell you my experience coming home from DUS last week. I was in an exit row, 12A, and TS had blocked out 12B with someone else sat in 12C. It was a very full flight and at some point (T-72?) the blocks were lifted and someone ended up sat next to me. My (uneducated) guess would be that if the flight isn't busy you'll end up with more change of a blocked out seat next to you (has happened to me numerous times in the past), however, whether that would apply to a "premium" row that maybe other people would want to sit in, I don't know