transportprof

I just booked my first Avios reward in Club Europe for a VIE-LHR flight next year. The taxes and fees for me and Mrs. Transportprof came to C$80, and then after booking, I discovered that it would cost C$40.30 per seat to select one in advance.

As a "Blue" tier member of the Executive Club, I would get to select seats for free 24 hours in advance during check-in.

I don't have a lot of need for a specific seat in Club Europe and only want to sit in the same row with Mrs. Transportprof. How (un)likely is that to occur if we do not pay the advance seat selection fee and wait until check-in to select our seats?

corporate-wage-slave

There's no point paying for seating in CE, in my opinion, unless very particular factors apply. Theoretical Seating (details of this in the Dashboard) will almost certainly keep you together, and BA tends to manipulate the curtain rows so that if there is any spare space it is in CE, squashing up ET passengers if necessary. At OLCI you will almost certainly have either an A+C or a D+F combination, and perhaps one or two other seating options available too.

Cymro

I agree with everything C-W-S said, though I would add that you can keep watching every few days/weeks (depending on the length of time until your flight) and, if it starts looking like there may only be one pair left, you can consider paying.

I say "consider" paying because the cabin can be expanded by moving the curtain back and kicking passengers out of the front row of economy!

Joshm300

transportprof

Thanks for all of the prompt and helpful replies. The spirit of FT is going strong in this corner of the knowledge network, I can see!

Our flight will be one of those afternoon "tea time" meal windows. How much selection is there on such catering? I have a poultry intolerance, so as long as there is something other than Coronation Salad left to eat, I should be ok with scones and champers.

HIDDY

In my experience they have always automatically allocated a seat for my wife next to me. No idea if that makes her happy or not.

jerub

I perceive no value in booking a specific CE seat. The cabin is so small that everyone gets approximately the same treatment and the same speed off the aircraft. I would save that $40 and put it towards something nice to do, see or eat at your destination.

Joshm300

Based on a recent experience where my parents were in row 7 (last row) due to a last minute upgrade, the most likely item to be left is the vegetarian main course (the starter and dessert are all the same), which sounds like it could be well suited to your needs!

LondonElite

I would find it difficult t imagine that there is no one willing to switch in CE, if this is necessary, to keep a couple together. There are plenty of solo travellers.

transportprof

That settles it! I'm happy to take the veggie tea set and let somebody closer to the front of CE enjoy the Coronation Salad.

CoweyB

chris1922Mk2

I have a strange situation forthcoming where we have an F redemption to BOS, which gives free seat selection at time of booking. We currently have the entire F cabin to choose from (777 if anyone is interested). However, as we're connecting in CE from a domestic, I'm being asked to pay to choose seats in CE ! A call to YouFirst confirmed this is correct. As I'm about to spend five days and nights in Boston with my wife, I've decided I can take the risk of being apart for the whole hour of our domestic connection. TBH, I pretty much expect to be sat together anyway, but can deal with it if not.
As for food, we have the CCR and on-board dining to look forward to !

Misco60

I would usually move in such a situation if asked nicely, and especially if the new seat were further forward than the old one, but having my seat just taken by someone who felt entitled to it would probably make me more inclined to stand my ground and politely insist upon keeping my chosen seat.

However, I don't like window seats in ET and CE, as I find them quite claustrophobic, and would never agree to move from my aisle seat to a window.

TWCLAM

As relative newbies to BA OH & Myself have often booked seats if we see cabins filling up( moved to BA May, Hit Bronze Sept) as we like ot know we are together for certain. As it happens neither of us are the types to not, very politely, asking if someone would consider swapping( & of course accepting if they didn't want to) but we have just preffered to know for certain as we have gotten used to BA/ the CE product. With Silver on the horizon we booked our next outbound seats but wont be for the return leg instead letting the outbound take us to Silver and then using the ability to do it free ( aware we have that on Bronze +7 days but it's a longer trip) as soon as the system updates.

The information that I've gleaned from FT has been invaluable but it's only the upcoming return flight where I've learnt that theoretical seating REALLY does exist and works. Our flight is LGW-RAK & back. When booked about 8 months ago we got a POUG OB only. Last week we were lucky enough to get another POUG for the return ( alternatives were either £453 or £753 for us both randomly switching between those two prices over the months). When booking the CE was 4 rows CE both ways. It's now 7 OB & 8 RTN and there is what I presume to be a party booking on the flight (( has a split line between 6 seats/ 3 rows which ive guessed means it's a group?)) and the CE cabin was doubled leaving a couple of free pairs A-C's / D-F's. No aircraft change so ET has definitely been shrunk to ensure CE has spare room for pairs.

It's been our reticence to not want to chance it previously but I have learnt there are several ppl on the BA section of FT who will say only what they know to be categoric fact and if they say it you can pretty much bank that info/ intel ( i'll save their blushes by not naming but several of them have commented above). For us it's been fine as seat bookings have gone on our BA Premier Plus Amex cards so we've made plenty back for the spend but if you'd rather save the money i'd say you're fine if told your route isn't a high capacity one and you'll be fine.

orbitmic