Seat reservation fees increase
Jun 6, 2019, 7:00 am
#151
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
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Very expensive fares in each cabin (WT, ET, CE, CW, and I think WT+ too, plus all seats in F, ) actually come with free seat selection on BA.
Jun 6, 2019, 7:04 am
#152
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Vale of Glamorgan
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Now B6 have been making noises about flying to BOS from London. They also fly to ACK (Nantucket - my onward connection) and buying one ticket to the Island would be very attractive. That way if getting off ACK is difficult* B6 still have to get me back to London. I don't have to buy another TATL ticket if I miss the flight from BOS. Now B6 have foot coffins but when DL and BA also have them B6 looks attractive because of the ticketing.
Jun 6, 2019, 7:26 am
#153
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Jun 6, 2019, 8:42 am
#154
Join Date: Jul 2014
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This seems to be misunderstood / forgotten / ignored by many posters in BA seat-charging threads.
Jun 6, 2019, 9:06 am
#155
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One poster in response to my earlier post, said that he found it rational to pay for seat, because it allows him to reserve the seat he wants. I indicated that this is in no way rational to me – not after paying $9,000 for a return ticket in business class. For me, the rational thing would be to be able to reserve the seat I want from those that are available without paying an additional fee. I then used the lounge example intending to state: Currently BA offers access to the lounges with no additional payment because it is part of the product offering; but what if tomorrow it decides that only first class passengers would have unrestricted free access, all others must pay for guaranteed access or get in line and hope that there will be room for you.
If so, what I don't understand is why you do not equally criticise airlines in the US for providing lounge access to first class passengers only on additional payment. Even if you regard US domestic first class as a form of regional business class perhaps broadly comparable to European regional business class, lounge access with a business class ticket would seem to be as generally expected as free seat pre-allocation in business class. So, by your own reasoning, is it OK or not OK for US airlines to adopt the approach that they do?
Jun 6, 2019, 9:09 am
#156
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In contrast, you can book five tickets on five different airlines pretty much as easily as you can book five tickets on the same airline. You can do it from the same seat, through the same computer.
So if someone moans about "having" to travel only on one airline, it's almost certain that the choice isn't being made on the grounds that it's too much hassle to buy different tickets from different airlines.
Jun 6, 2019, 10:18 am
#157
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As for those who say BA have a LHR monopoly therefore can fleece their customers all they want. Sorry for being blunt but that argument belongs in cloud cuckoo land.
Jun 6, 2019, 11:56 am
#158
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I think most people certainly (and rightly) consider it as premium travel. I fully agree with you that it bears no resemblance to real First Class, but it is certainly in the same category as business class (and many here keep arguing it is much better than intra-European C because of the different sitting).
In the particular context of this thread, it is very fortunate that it is not comparable to F because my (and the previous poster) point was really a comparison to C, as BA F would not have seat fees in the first place.
In the particular context of this thread, it is very fortunate that it is not comparable to F because my (and the previous poster) point was really a comparison to C, as BA F would not have seat fees in the first place.
Last edited by orbitmic; Jun 7, 2019 at 12:43 am
Jun 6, 2019, 8:33 pm
#159
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Found this blog post that details all seat charges. Seat maps with $$$ charges.
Learnt quite a bit from it. Good resource ...points out the fees can top out at $ 600 for a couple.
Learnt quite a bit from it. Good resource ...points out the fees can top out at $ 600 for a couple.
Last edited by Prospero; Jun 7, 2019 at 1:08 am Reason: To comply with rule 7
Jun 6, 2019, 10:48 pm
#160
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The two routes the blog chooses to illustrate BA's "price gouging", LHR-JFK and LHR-LAX, are routes on which it faces a great deal of competition. If passengers don't want to pay the seat selection fees then they can choose another airline on which they get free seat selection but end up paying more overall.
No-one likes paying to select a seat but that's BA's business model. It clearly works for them, and it definitely works for BA's higher-status passengers. There's no point continuing to rage about it.
Last edited by Misco60; Jun 6, 2019 at 11:03 pm
Jun 7, 2019, 12:01 am
#161
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'Almost booked' the screen appears before you pay.
Jun 7, 2019, 1:21 am
#162
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It's hardly the most impartial of articles, is it?
The two routes the blog chooses to illustrate BA's "price gouging", LHR-JFK and LHR-LAX, are routes on which it faces a great deal of competition. If passengers don't want to pay the seat selection fees then they can choose another airline on which they get free seat selection but end up paying more overall.
..................................
The two routes the blog chooses to illustrate BA's "price gouging", LHR-JFK and LHR-LAX, are routes on which it faces a great deal of competition. If passengers don't want to pay the seat selection fees then they can choose another airline on which they get free seat selection but end up paying more overall.
..................................
Are you saying for sure that if passengers were to choose another carrier (perhaps the likes of Virgin, Air NZ, or AA) for, say, a LHR-LAX trip, they would - after seat selection - always “end up paying more overall” than with BA ...... ??
Jun 7, 2019, 1:24 am
#163
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Is this necessarily the case ... ?
Are you saying for sure that if passengers were to choose another carrier (perhaps the likes of Virgin, Air NZ, or AA) for, say, a LHR-LAX trip, they would - after seat selection - always “end up paying more overall” than with BA ...... ??
Jun 7, 2019, 1:46 am
#164
Join Date: Oct 2015
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What I was trying to say was that, as with low-cost airlines, you need to consider the total cost of a flight, including all optional extras, when choosing an airline, and that it can be the case that BA is cheaper overall than its competitors on a particular route even after seat selection fees are included.
Jun 7, 2019, 1:57 am
#165
Join Date: Nov 2012
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It really is very simple and I think we can park the BA is terrible/ I worship BA folk argument. Unlike virtually any other Business seat I’ve flown the BA offering varies greatly according to aircraft/deck/aisle/window and so on. They charge because they can and because some of us, me included, sometimes pay the pricey fee to secure for example UD on the 747. I do feel that the fee is excessive though and I do understand the argument that seat selection ought to be included, but BA sees an opportunity for extra revenue and charges, not sure I buy the argument that they love Golds so much they reward them with free seats, if they felt they could get away with charging everyone they would.
Roll on the new seating as I for one can’t see a great difference between seats in the new configuration and I’d have thought a nice little earner would likely wither on the vine
Roll on the new seating as I for one can’t see a great difference between seats in the new configuration and I’d have thought a nice little earner would likely wither on the vine