BA greed in a time of very low demand
Dec 2, 2020, 2:37 am
#16
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: London
Posts: 489
it's strange to call BA greedy when you state that the £40 charge each leg is MORE than the cost of the ticket! Like others have said, some people are willing to pay that price, and if you have status, you'd be glad that BA are charging that much to keep the seats unbooked
Dec 2, 2020, 3:03 am
#17
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Bridport, Dorset
Programs: Mucci, BA Bronze, Hilton Gold
Posts: 2,130
Absolutely ludicrous to call this action "greedy" because it does not deliver the result you want. BA is losing millions of Pounds a day and struggling to compete against Air France and Lufthansa who are receiving bungs from their respective governments despite this being against EU law (who would have thought?)
Dec 2, 2020, 3:06 am
#18
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Bridport, Dorset
Programs: Mucci, BA Bronze, Hilton Gold
Posts: 2,130
I was just reading another thread about selecting exit row seats for free when a passenger holds status and it got me thinking about the benefit of charging for seat selection in times of low demand.
I recently had a weekend in GIB, flying at the back of the bus. I had thought about booking exit row seats for each leg but BA wanted £40+ for each leg of the journey. This was more than the actual cost of my ticket.
On both legs of the trip the plane was about 25% full and none of the exit row seats were taken. Once the doors were closed, I asked if I could move to an exit row, and both times I was allowed. Total cost to me - £0.
I appreciate there is little appetite to fly in these difficult times, but surely no-one in their right mind is going to pay the exorbitant seat selection fees on short haul, so would BA not be better off just removing seat selection fees for the foreseeable future, perhaps in the hope of stimulating a little more demand?
I recently had a weekend in GIB, flying at the back of the bus. I had thought about booking exit row seats for each leg but BA wanted £40+ for each leg of the journey. This was more than the actual cost of my ticket.
On both legs of the trip the plane was about 25% full and none of the exit row seats were taken. Once the doors were closed, I asked if I could move to an exit row, and both times I was allowed. Total cost to me - £0.
I appreciate there is little appetite to fly in these difficult times, but surely no-one in their right mind is going to pay the exorbitant seat selection fees on short haul, so would BA not be better off just removing seat selection fees for the foreseeable future, perhaps in the hope of stimulating a little more demand?
An exit row is not essential to you getting to your destination.
And I think BA probably don’t want the negativity publicity if they brought in free seat selection just now then reintroduced charges at a later date.
Dec 2, 2020, 3:56 am
#20
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold, *A Gold, Hertz President's Circle, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 529
Your view of things like seat selection normally directly correlates to if your have status or not. Golds think charging is a very good thing, as it’s a real benefit to have exit row generally available even for late booking. Those without status hate it and think it’s money grabbing by BA.
Dec 2, 2020, 3:57 am
#21
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: London
Programs: BAEC Gold, *A Gold, Hertz President's Circle, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 529
It’s also not true to say loads are universally low. Yes on some flights. But most flights I’ve been on since June have been absolutely rammed. Full or nearly full.
Dec 2, 2020, 4:49 am
#22
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Argentina
Posts: 40,211
I appreciate there is little appetite to fly in these difficult times, but surely no-one in their right mind is going to pay the exorbitant seat selection fees on short haul, so would BA not be better off just removing seat selection fees for the foreseeable future, perhaps in the hope of stimulating a little more demand?
So for the sake of peace probably best just to leave it as it is.
Dec 2, 2020, 8:12 pm
#24
fomerly known as LandingGear (not Landing Gear)
Join Date: Feb 2011
Posts: 833
I think recently they stopped charging for seat selection in CW even without status. I was left with a different feeling, that they are not greedy (though it deprived me of bragging rights that go with my Silver).
Dec 2, 2020, 9:05 pm
#25
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 3,595
I suppose when BA pitches itself as all things to all people then it's one of the fallouts that's anticipated. The proverbial tightwad becomes complacent at what they're getting at their price point and demands more for their £40ew. Or demands that £40ew becomes £38ew because that's what the competition are charging... but then fails to realise or recognise that the competition are doing exactly the same thing. The same tightwad will then probably resort to the assumption comparison - the assumption being that BA is a full service carrier and that they deserve more for their money otherwise they may as well fly on a LCC 🤷🏻♂️
Last edited by 1Aturnleft; Dec 2, 2020 at 9:12 pm
Dec 3, 2020, 2:27 am
#26
Join Date: Nov 2015
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 1,683
No idea about the charging, pay don't pay, fly another airline. In terms of Club it struck me that as suites roll out the value of particular seats diminishes greatly. It largely becomes window/interior, little else to care about. I say this as someone that's not actually flown in a club suite.
Dec 3, 2020, 3:08 am
#28
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: South East, UK
Programs: BA Gold / GfL, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,432
I appreciate there is little appetite to fly in these difficult times, but surely no-one in their right mind is going to pay the exorbitant seat selection fees on short haul, so would BA not be better off just removing seat selection fees for the foreseeable future, perhaps in the hope of stimulating a little more demand?
Your thread title seems a bit over the top. If BA forced you to pay that fee, then fair enough, but they don't. It's your choice. You choose not to pay and you still got your preferred seat. If they had allowed anyone to select seats in advance for free, there is probably a good chance that other passengers who booked earlier than you did would have selected those seats. So you wouldn't have had the option even to pay for an extra legroom seat. So maybe you or someone else would then be complaining here that you couldn't get your preferred seat. Similarly, any status passengers would feel hard done by.
It's not like BA is making huge margins right now They're losing cash every day. They are just trying to survive this crisis. Yes, there have been good times for BA in the past when I would have agreed that some BA policies smacked of greed. But I don't see any behaviour right now that I would class as greedy.
Last edited by gms; Dec 3, 2020 at 3:20 am