krispy84

Exactly, as it should be 👍.

FT Glossary:

Scam/Fraud = Something I don’t like or something my usual airlines don’t do and I’m surprised/upset about.

I’m actually quite fed up at the number of scam/fraud threads we seem to get here. Next time I fly DL, I might start a thread, screaming “scam”, because I didn’t get lounge access and a meal on my 1.5 hour US domestic flight. Except I won’t, because I know exactly what product I’m getting and won’t b***h if I’m stupid enough not to do my research beforehand.

‘drops mike, walks off’

golfmad

Great response and deserves more of a mention than just my 'like'. Well said.

corporate-wage-slave

Meanwhile, over on the flight in question, I notice it is actually filling up quite well, so it's not impossible that Flub will be needed. It's not oversold since we now have a G1 in there, but a few staff standbys, late purchases and irrops off other airlines may push things over nicely.

Avios availability is showing up for WT = 6 seats (not surprising), WTP = 2 seats (more surprising, there are only 2 empty WTP seats going). Nowt in CW.

ppp909

Exactly. This is why it isn't a scam. If, for example the AA fare is £2000 and the BA fare, £1500, including your seat selection, do you still think BA is ripping you off?

Simply add the seat selection cost when you are comparing fares, just like adding ground transportation costs when considering another airport.

Of course, it does skew things when comparing prices on Google flights etc. but those also don't account for the relative merits of each airline in general.

Bellerina

Agree with this. I have definitely found BA flights in CW cheaper than other Business seats on other airlines for my European travels. And if one is not picky about seats, it allows them to get a better price.

snaxmuppet

I fail to see how BA charging for seat selection could be considered a scam. A scam, as I understand it, is a deception or a fraud. There is no deception there. BA make it quite clear what the charges are and what you are being charged for and, moreover, they also make it clear that there is no guarantee they will be able to honour your assignment and will refund you if they cannot.

Where is the scam in that?

Having said that, I find the fact that they can charge you thousands for a CW seat but don't offer free seat selection from time of booking. It smacks of penny-pinching to me.

golfmad

In the cold light of day I don't think anyone would reasonably class this as a scam. Instead, it was just some added hyperbole in the thread title to catch attention, postulate fake news and add some meat to the rant. I was half expecting to read "I'm never flying BA again" but, oh, wait, the OP has already posted that on FT some time back. As you can see, I'm not adopting the @corporate-wage-slave de-escalation strategies today.

Dave Noble

Seems a very bad example given that AA and BA have a joint venture and have the same fares - so more like example the AA fare is £2000 and the BA fare, £2000, excluding seat selection

jeremyBA

For my flight AA was the same price so taking them over BA when we are traveling as a family was a no brainer. I still get tier points and miles

if we travel as a couple I won’t bother booking seats and just to it as check in. The seat fees are silly but it does not bother me as AA also have the better product !

Scam is a nice word that rolls of the toung and indeed it is just penny pinching in reality.

But ... can you imagine what The Sun and Mirror would say if Ryanair charged £100 + for a seat allocation !

i am just booking Lufthansa now to Singapore ( 2 for 1 offer you can’t beat it. Every other row is just 1 seat not 2 and they want £165 for it. I won’t be doing that either ( aside from the fact I am traveling as a couple )

I am sure ba feel they do well out of charging, but avoiding it by flying other carriers is pretty simple. I could easily get silver / gold if I did all my flying on ba but then I would not be taking 2 people to Singapore in j for £2150 with Lufthansa or 2 first to India with Swiss for £3k and those beat status any day ( to me !)

HilFly

Maybe it becomes a scam when BA charge a seat reservation fee, passengers pay it because sitting together in certain seats is important to them, and then BA move them to different, separate seats, then it's up to the passenger to try and get their money back.

When there are aircraft changes, BA could try to keep passengers in comparable seats, or failing that, proactively refund their seat selection fees, and notify the passengers of their actions.

golfmad

Mildly irritating perhaps but hardly a dishonest scheme or fraud.

UKtravelbear

So how did you sort it?

What was the result?

1Aturnleft

It's not about being smarmy when you don't like or agree with what other people are telling you.

Also if you are able to dish it out then you should also be prepared to take it back.

Ancient Observer

I dislike intensely this awful BA habit of charging for seats. Especially in J. However, that in itself is not a scam. They don't clearly tell you that you pay extra for seat selection when you buy the ticket.

What might be seen as a scam is charging for the seats, moving the customers, for whatever reason, and then forcing the customers to fight BA's awful Customer Service and awful phone queues to get some sort of resolution.

DG55

Anyone know why it’s being subbed for the 773?