Ticketed by IB, operated by BA - no free seat selection for BA Gold?
Jan 26, 2018, 10:31 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2011
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 1,076
Ticketed by IB, operated by BA - no free seat selection for BA Gold?
I booked an IB ticket where 2 out of 3 segments are operated by BA (including the first segment).
Iberia redirects me to ba.com for the check-in process - when I get to seat selection, exit rows are GBP 24, even though my BA Gold Exec number is in the booking. I called BA and they said it's clearly wrong, changed the seat to an exit row, but when I went back into the booking it changed automatically back to a non-exit row seat and the system is telling me again that an exit row seat is GBP 24.
Is this correct? If not, is the best way around it to pay and then apply for a refund?
Iberia redirects me to ba.com for the check-in process - when I get to seat selection, exit rows are GBP 24, even though my BA Gold Exec number is in the booking. I called BA and they said it's clearly wrong, changed the seat to an exit row, but when I went back into the booking it changed automatically back to a non-exit row seat and the system is telling me again that an exit row seat is GBP 24.
Is this correct? If not, is the best way around it to pay and then apply for a refund?
Jan 26, 2018, 12:27 pm
#3
Join Date: May 2007
Programs: BA GFL. AA EXP. Amex Plat. Mucci.
Posts: 187
DO NOT pay and then ask for a refund, it will likely not be forthcoming (in my previous experience). As the previous poster wrote, get the BA record locator and book the seat yourself. Your BA number may have also been recorded incorrectly by Iberia (this has happened to me) and thus the system is not recognizing you as BA GOLD.
Jan 26, 2018, 12:45 pm
#4
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,760
Could someone check whether this hack works?
Go to Manage My Bookings "for travel agent bookings made in the last 24 hours", enter the IB PNR, it may well error, but come back with a new PNR code which will work.
Go to Manage My Bookings "for travel agent bookings made in the last 24 hours", enter the IB PNR, it may well error, but come back with a new PNR code which will work.
Jan 27, 2018, 12:55 am
#5
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: BRS
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 4,991
Yes, it works... I did it for an AA ticketed booking last week.
Jan 27, 2018, 3:09 am
#6
Moderator, Iberia Airlines, Airport Lounges, and Ambassador, British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Feb 2010
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold; Flying Blue Life Platinum; LH Sen.; Hilton Diamond; Kemal Kebabs Prized Customer
Posts: 63,760
Thanks, it would be good to have experiences with Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling since all three use different GDS than BA (and I think different from each other, despite having the same owner.....). AA is on SABRE.
Jan 27, 2018, 3:14 am
#7
Ambassador, British Airways; FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Leeds, UK
Programs: BA GGL/CCR, GfL, HH Diamond
Posts: 42,918
For AA PNRs you can also use QF MMB and enter your AA PNR there. You should be able to see other associated PNRs in the seat selection section and you should see "Seat selection is only available for flights operated by Qantas. To select seats and manage your booking, visit British Airways site with your booking reference #XXXXX" where XXXXX is your BA PNR. Not sure if the same thing works if you put your IB PNR in to QF MMB.