Ipswich1984

Hi

So we’ve just made a booking to fly to Orlando then travel to NYC and fly back to London from there in May/June 2021.

I just went into MMB and wanted to look at reserving seats but when I tried to do this for the London to Orlando & NYC to London it says “seat choices are only available at check in”. We’ve never had this message so is there a reason for this, I wondered if it was Covid related?

tuonopepper

Had it once or twice, could be API or indeed extra checks for C19 related docs, could be aircraft not confirmed or just an IT glitch with no apparent reason behind it... Could try phoning them.

Assume those legs are both on BA metal.....

KARFA

For a booking just made and for travel next year it’s likely just a glitch or ticketing reward at this stage. I would leave it for a few days and try again. Really isn’t anything of concern at this stage.

corporate-wage-slave

Yes, for those without status, your ticket needs to be issued before seat selection works, but you can call up to do it instead. Given the call centre workload at the moment it may be best to leave it for now, and it may resolve itself anyway. It's not as though flights are filling up. If there are AA operated sectors you may need to those flights on AA.com anyway. The seating screen on BA's MMB should give the AA locators you need tor AA, but AA is similar to BA in that you can't select seats until the ticket is issued.

Blumie

Just for clarity, though not applicable to the OP, and perhaps not applicable to any bookings through BA.com, but when booking AA flights on aa.com one can select seats at the time of booking. If you fail to do or, or want to change seats, you then need to wait until ticketing.

razorbite

I'm getting the same message for a flight to BUD in 2 days. This is for a booking that's been changed due to cancellations at least twice. Should I be concerned?

KARFA

Is it ticketed? Is there a ticket number showing for the flight when you look at it on the app?

Ipswich1984

Both of the flights are BA, the only flight which was American is the section when we fly from Orlando to NYC, strangely that flight has seats allocated without me even choosing.

I’m not too worried at the moment as there seems to be a few glitches as it can’t confirm my luggage allowance that is included although I know that is 1 suitcase per flight for each of us.

I’m not a great flyer so usually pay for seats quite early and not seen that message before but with everything didn’t want to call when they are so busy at the moment.

Thanks everyone for their help.

razorbite

No ticket# show on the outbound but there is for the return.
This flight was originally booked for 15.00 on the 3rd, this was cancelled and rebooked for the 12.45, this was cancelled and rebooked for 7.30. Should I call BA?

KARFA

yes I would do so. It looks like it hasn’t been reticketed yet.

tjcxx

When there are AA flights in the booking, there are typically more than one booking reference associated with the BA legs. The message you get sounds like you may be looking at the wrong booking reference. I usually find the additional booking references using the MMB link Made a booking within the last 24 hours with a travel agent (not with British Airways)? Otherwise you may have to phone.

corporate-wage-slave

Yes, it's been mentioned in some other threads, but there appears to be delays with ticketing at the moment, after many, many months of few reports of this happening. Clearly many FTVs need to be manually ticketed so this will be adding a lot of workload. But in this case - since you are within 2 days of departure - it is important you call to check / resolve. Just ask the agent whether your ticket has been issued since you can't see the number on the App. This is an important thing to do since resolving it at the airport is possible but messy. Conventional online bookings using straight cash or Avios shouldn't have an issue here, it's when you book over the telephone that the issue may arise, so people should check that. If you don't use the BA App, then so long as you get the e-ticket email and you don't alter the booking after that email, then that should be fine. Note the App cache may need to be refreshed, just pull the flight information panel downwards to refresh it.

razorbite

Thanks all, just off the phone to BA and the tickets were not reissued correctly but sorted now, thanks again.
PS After the first cancellation, I could rebook on line, but on subsequent cancellations , I could only rebook over the phone,is this normal procedure?

corporate-wage-slave

Yes, this is what I would expect. BA's IT has many deficiencies. The first online rebooking is often (but not always) successful, but invariably a second rebooking will fail. Ticketing is complex and stll rooted in a 1960s paper system involving coupons. The edifice has been built on too many times that at some point online effort won't work. What it also means, relating to your case, is that it needs specialist staff to "manually" complete the ticketing - it is actually done via a computer so it's not the right term. But firstly there is a backlog, and secondly the queuing system seems to have some quirks to it that some tickets - which should be at the top of the priority list - simply aren't showing a correct priority. It sounds like you were in this second category, but if the backlog wasn't there then it would have been ticketed at some point anyway.

Anyway you probably saved yourself a stressful 20 minutes at the airport by calling now.

razorbite

Thanks CW's it did save me from stress, but wouldn't it have been picked up 2 Moro morning when I go to check in online at T-24?
And also, big apology to Ipswich 1984 for hijacking your thread.