just_starting

Hi all,

About to fly to Helsinki on BA798 tomorrow as a Silver, hand baggage only fare.

For weeks I've had 6C showing in my BA app, with EF saying 6B is blocked. This would be usual behaviour as my preference is aisle and as I usually get a free middle seat.

Now at T-24, when I started the check-in process, my seat changed to 9F with 6ABC available to purchase. What is going on here? I would understand if someone (GCH?) picked 6C and I had to be moved, but that was clearly not the case.

Is my best option to not request the boarding pass and instead ask for an aisle seat at the airport?

Cheers!

corporate-wage-slave

There are several components here. Firstly HBO seating does not respect seating preference. I've had that from the horse's mouth. Secondly the App shows an indication of where you are allocated, but at the Theoretical Seating stage this is likely to be churned over, particularly if you are not Gold. See the TS thread in the Dashboard if you want to plod through the details of this, though when it comes to cracking the code, the precise algorithm has so far avoid the best endeavours of FlyTalkers reverse engineering crew. With any luck it will form the basis of GCHQ's next Christmas Quiz.

However what then happens is that whatever seat is allocated by TS is then fixed. If you want to change it you need to pay or upgrade your ticket to one that supports free seat changes. If you try to get the check-in agents to change it they are supposed to charge you just as much as OLCI. However if you ask after check-in is closed (45 minutes before departure) then FLY doesn't support any further charging, so with the right personality or if you are very goodlooking, you may be able to negotiate a free seat change, though of course the seat you want may have gone by that stage. If HEL still has Self Service machines (it would be good for someone to clarify) then the computer on the whole is too concerned about your personality (etc) so will allow free seat movements ahead of check-in closure. HEL gets a bit complicated since you need to get airside due to potentially slow security, and the lounge agents don't have FLY access, at that point only the gate agent can help.

As for what you should do now, if you can be in HEL an hour before departure, then you could just check-in but don't print/App the boarding pass. This means that you keep 9F rather than getting 22B. Then if you find a machine you can move, if not you can download the boarding pass. Then at the gate perhaps ask if your preferred seat is going.

chris1979

No wonder I've been able to change sears on HBO fares.....

kauppias

I have had THE WORST. Luck with ba HBO fares! As a GCH and OW OWE with AA I have allways been given either middle or window even when my preference is aisle and plenty of aisles are available!

I find this quite annoying to the point I have booked zero ba shorthaul flights this year. I still collect baec points just not on ba flights.
I can understand the no choice malarky but to not honor seat preferences WHEN plenty of them are available is just harsh IN MY opinion...

LTN Phobia

Assuming you're not restricted by the corporate policy, you could always book a non-HBO fare, or pay for a better seat assignment to resolve the issue rather than leaving it to the seating devil to decide your seat for you.

just_starting

Funny enough - a friend travelling with me (no status) has now been given my old seat 6C, and 6B is showing blocked again.

So I (Silver, aisle preference) am now in 9F with someone in the middle seat, while my friend (Blue, no preference) got my old seat with a blocked middle seat.

Are they doing this on purpose? I will try my best at Heathrow later...

obduro

Were they travelling HBO too?

obduro

You get what you pay for with HBO unfortunately, it's the steerage class of BA tickets...

kauppias

Very true, but why pay more when other airlibes offer more for less problem solved by booking NON ba flights

I know its not the popular answer here on the baec forum but it works

One can happily accrue baEC status without stepping on aboard a ba plane

Honestly this seating this seems more petty as they ARE putting me in seats they know I hate even on flights that are very empty...


Indeed I have learned this and now get what I pay for a
Elswhere no biggie. I was just commenting on the fact they seem to care less about elites preferences when giving seat assingments, just creating badwill. If a plane has available seats in ones preferred seats at check in they could just use those for elites but obviously they dont want to do so.

just_starting

Nope - Avios booking. So a Blue Rewards one-way booking seems to be more important than a Silver cash return booking...

antichef

You have had the booking for weeks, so intro of CE will also have affected seating plans. Has your friend booked CE with avios?

I thought with HBO you were bottom of the pecking order anyway?

Skipcool3

Avios bookings allow seat choice (if available) and include baggage....

FrancisA

If you book HBO, you are not regarded as an elite and your preferences are irrelevant. The choice is fairly clear - pay for what you actually want, go elsewhere I (if the mythical grass really is greener) or settle for the level of service you are willing to pay for.


None of this is remotely opaque and has been discussed to death on here.

FrancisA

This is one of the great myths of the BAEC board. GCH do not get the opportunity to kick less mortals out of seats. I have been gold for 13 years and I have never had the chance to do that on line, on the phone, in the lounge or at the gate.

BA réserve certain seats for golds (and even these get released at a certain point). Golds do not have carte blanche to unseat lower status oassengers.

Sorry to go on, but if nonsense like this isn't challenged, it quickly becomes accepted wisdom.

corporate-wage-slave

This is a misinterpretation, given that the App was not showing your seat, it was simply showing a notional allocation which was then theoretically seated. You got TS'd to row 9, if you wanted to improve on that then pay the extra few quid or buy the appropriate ticket, since the ticket you bought has no seating privileges at all. Nor does your friend's ticket (and it's very much open to question if that is the better seat, if A320, due to the airvent issue), but s/he was TS'd ahead of you. On the other hand, had you bought the same Avios ticket, you would have had the trump card here, and given plenty of seating options. Instead you have a ticket which expressly does not have this advantage, in return for a lower fare.