Wkmg

Hi. I just snagged some Club World reward flights from London to to Cape Town for me and my other half. We’re flying out from Gatwick on the 11th of March and returning to Heathrow on the 27th of March. I think the flight out is on a 777-200 and the return is on a 747. Normally we wouldn’t be too upset if we couldn’t sit together but it is going to be our honey moon so we would like to be next to each other if possible. How likely do you think we are going to be split up? I looked and it’s about £500 to sit next to each other both ways. If there’s a high chance we’ll be split up I’ll pay it as the flights were only £1120 return for both of us (plus a lot of avios). If it’s unlikely we’ll be split up I’ll roll the dice. Thanks.

p.s. I’m executive club Blue so no free option other than 24 hours before.

clubman

Welcome to FT and the BA board Wkmg

While Understand you wanting to be sat together the chances are you won't be split, and unless there are very specific seats you're after I wouldn't bother paying, especially so far out. I would argue on the 747 it would be worth it to get a couple of seats on the UpperDeck (If the 744s are still around by then) but certainly not on the 777.

Is club on the way out showing the new Suites or old CW?

windowontheAside

I wouldn't pay either. For a honeymooning couple the centre pairs would be a great choice and they are the least popular with many travellers due to the level of intimacy with your neighbour. So I'd say a very good chance of getting seats together and in the extremely unlikely event that doesn't work out, I'm pretty sure it'd be pretty straightforward to swap around on board.

corporate-wage-slave

Welcome to Flyertalk and welcome to the BA forum Wkmg, and best wishes for your future lives together.

It is unlikely you will be split. If you want the very detailed explanation of this, have a look at the Forum's Dashboard, notably the Theoretical Seating thread. It's now very rare indeed for couples to be separated.

If you have preferences for window or aisle seats, there should be some choice at OLCI check-in too, that would be the case in about 80% of services even popular ones to South Africa.

Have a look also at the seating threads for 777s and 747s, and have a look at the couple seats in the middle of the aircraft. Particularly on night flights these are popular with couples but very unpopular with single travellers, so they are relatively easy to get. I was on a 747 a few days ago where a young couple were upgraded from World Traveller (economy) to Club World middle seats and it was as if they had won the National Lottery, going by all the selfies they were taking, it was a fantastic mini suite from their point of view. On the other hand the 747 upper deck seats - if they survive the current crisis - is a fast diminishing experience, and perhaps worth paying for as a one-off.

fransknorge

I would not book seats for those flights. The economic situation and the unpredictability means there is a high chance that the plane type change, several times, meaning your paid seats will not hold. Notwithstanding that we really do not know what the industry will look like in one year. If I were you I would hold booking seats until you have a much clearer visibility, so January 2021.

FlyerTalker39574

If you are both likely to sleep well on the night flights, then does it matter less that you aren’t seated near each other. £500 goes a long way in Cape Town and could add more to the honey moon. Have a great trip.

Keiran Newberry

Sorry to jump in on this thread, but I've paid for seats for a trip a similar distance out (in WT+) to get window seats in the pair (and to avoid being a pair in the middle two of the four across) and flight is booked for a 744

If there's an aircraft change, what happens to the seats I've booked? Inbound it's a 789 so not so worried about that being swapped.

Wkmg

I’m pretty sure it’s an old suite on the way out as it’s a Gatwick flight.

Is upper deck significantly better on the 747? I might just oh the extra if it’s that much better.

My other question was, is there ever any chance of upgrading a club reward flight to 1st class nearer the time with either Avios or cash? I know the flight from Gatwick doesn’t have 1st but the return to Heathrow does.

Skipcool3

No plans for any further refurbishment of the Gatwick fleet so little chance of suites unless a Heathrow aircraft is visiting....
whether the 747 fleet survives corvid 19 remains to be seen.....

wilsnunn

I agree with the mentions above of the middle seats, unless you really want a window/aisle seat then the middle seats are fantastic for couples. When Mrs Wilsnunn and I did our first Club World flight together we started off in a window/aisle pair as she was worried about facing backwards but then moved into the middle seat pairs. All our flights together in the Club World cabin have been in the middle pairs ever since.

​​​I have no experience of CW on the upper deck of a 747 but have always wanted to give it a try, I hope that I get the chance before they are retired.

There are a few mechanisms to upgrade:

1) With Avios, if seats become available then you can call up (or maybe do it online). A good way to track this is to set an alert on seatspy.com or rewardflightfinder.com
2) Fare difference cash upgrade; likely expensive as it will be the difference between the current fare and the fare that you paid originally
3) POUG; an online cash upgrade offer at a special price, see here for more details: Pro-active Online Upgrade (POUG) tracking and discussion | 2020 thread
3) AUP; an in person cash upgrade offer at a special price at the airport, see here for more details: Airport Upgrades (AUP) promotion 2020 thread

Edit: I just realised that your seats are reward seats, that means that option 2 is not an option for you in this case.

Ancient Observer

We wouldn't pay in J. So far, we have been fortunate in BA J. Hit the website at 23.59 before and you should be fine.
In Y, we would pay, for my legroom!!

BertieBadger

The computer will allocate seats on the new aircraft, but it's not terribly smart. If the same seat number exists in the same cabin, it will typically keep the same seat, but it has no knowledge of it being 'good' or not, so you could e.g. move to the back of the cabin having previously been at the front and so on. In my experience it seems to generally try to keep window or centre, but even then it will often be limited by the number of available seats if e.g. the cabin size decreases.

Regardless, if BA change aircraft, you are entitled to a refund of your seating fees. You don't need to accept BA's definition of the seat being equivalent, if you're not completely satisfied with your new one and they changed it, a refund is due. If you need to claim, you can do that here: https://www.britishairways.com/trave...ing_claim_form

Standard advice when a paid seat change happens is that if you are reasonably happy with the new seats, then wait till after you have flown - you have up to 30 days after your final flight in the booking. If you claim a refund before you fly, you risk losing the new seats, which may be better than what is left at checkin. Of course, if you hate a newly allocated seat for any reason and know you won't want it, you could just get the refund immediately.

RGS5526

If the OP is planning flying with BA before next March, it might not cost much more to get the TP to qualify for Bronze, and get free seat selection 7 days out.
Even if they had only 140 TP in their collection year when they flew out to CPT, the 160 TP earned on the flight would push them just to the qualifying level, and the system would have time to get them up to Bronze in time to select seats a few days before their return.

Is it possible to earn 140 TP for less than £500?

wilsnunn

This would work, but as the OP is flying on a reward booking, they would need to earn 300TPs before their trip. Not impossible but maybe a bit tight for £500.

Keiran Newberry

Thanks. There's two of us travelling, so I've booked window and aisle, in WT+ on a super J 744 - 35A+B. Gone for one row from the back of the cabin as seat guru suggests the last row is missing a window. Will the system be clever enough to rebook us window and aisle? And if I'm not satisfied with the rebooked seats, can I change them? Or will I have to pay for new seats and claim a refund on the old ones?

Thanks again