Reserving BA Biz Class Seat
 

New to the BA game. Booked an AA award tix from LAX-LHR-CDG for next year. the LHR-CDG leg is on BA. BA won't let me reserve my seat now for free (lowest cost to reserve now is $28). BA says i can pick it 24 hours before flight for free, but I worry if I'm not quick enough, all the biz class seats will be spoken for and I'm stuck. Any helpful hacks or am I gonna have to wait? Thanks!

The biz seats on the BA flights within Europe are the same as economy. The only difference is they leave the middle seats empty so I don't think it makes much difference what you get. On the other hand, if you are worried about it, which it sounds like you are based on your post, $28 isn't that much in the overall scheme of an international trip to Europe.

In addition to the above, BA’s business cabin (Club Europe) is flexible. They are able to increase the size of the cabin to meet demand.

OP you are over thinking this. There are very few reports of people being bumped out of CE to suggest this is an issue.

Check in at exactly 24 hours before departure, and you even have a reasonable chance of getting a seat in the front/bulkhead row (which some find more spacious, and are often blocked for passengers with status).

If I didn't have BA status, I *might* think about paying for seat selection on long-haul, as some seats really are better than others, but I wouldn't bother with a short-haul flight. Seats are almost all the same, and a LHR-CDG segment is very short regardless.

Hi there, wigtv2000 - as others have mentioned, the moving curtain means there's virtually no chance of you not being allocated a seat in the 'Club Europe' cabin as booked.

As a newcomer (from your remarks) to BA, you should prepare yourself to be thoroughly underwhelmed by this first experience of their shorthaul business class. With seat pitch (and seat itself) same as economy, you have to hope that the person in front doesn't recline their seat. You'll be given something to eat & drink, but little point paying to select a specific seat.

The LHR-CDG sector was clearly booked as part of your main transatlantic trip ; but when booking intra-europe shorthauls as a standalone, the sweet spot for many savvy BA regulars is to go for an exit row in economy class ('euro traveller' in BA speak) where you'll enjoy more leg-room than in business.

All that said, for such a very short hop there's really little to worry about.

Oh and welcome to the Forum^ You may well receive an 'official' welcome shortly (and probably with a more positive spin on BA's business class shorthaul than my own ......)

If you’re worried about legroom row one offers more space. I am 6’6” and found it to be okay for short flights. As other posters have said after that it’s the same as economy. So unless you need the additional space of row 1 save your money.

Welcome to Flyertalk, welcome to the BA forum wigtv2000, and it's good to see you here. I hope you find this forum interesting and enjoyable - the lounge mice thread gives a measure of the discourse here - and that we will see plenty more of you here. And I hope you have a great time in the City of Light.

At online check in stage, 24 hours before departure of flight1, you should be able to seat selection for all flights. In the case of Club Europe you won't have a problem in terms of getting your preference of window or aisle, they will just push back the curtain to allow it to happen. You also have an advantage in that those on shorter journeys - probably almost everyone - will only be able to check in well after you. So you get first dibs on seats.

One point where BA is different to AA and other airlines: don't print or App your boarding pass until you are OK with the seat. If you can get row 1 that for most FTers is the best option, otherwise all the other seats are fairly identical. If you are in a seat you are not 100% happy with, select the best seat you can, leave it a few hours and other options may come up. Then print/App the boarding pass when you have what you want.

In CE (and to some extent ET) I cannot see a good reason to pay for seat selection, except in very specific circumstances (e.g. multiple passengers over split bookings).

Warm ears! And good morning to you S2L!

And indeed to you too, Sir ! Many thanks ;)

Is row 1 available for purchase for non-status passengers? I know they can get it at the last minute but I didn't think it was available to buy.