Gold Benefit - seat selection for passengers on same flight different booking
Dec 17, 2022, 3:51 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2022
Posts: 501
Gold Benefit - seat selection for passengers on same flight different booking
I recently called up BA to arrange seating for a friend of mine travelling on the same flight as me but different booking. Same scenario on 2 occasions.
On the first occasion it was perfect. Called, provided my exec number, PNR and friends PNR. Chose both our seats over the phone and was confirmed (viewable in MMB and EF). Simples.
The second occasion much less simples. After providing all the details I was asked to do GDPR protection on my booking (normal) but also was asked to hand the phone over to my friend so he could pass GDPR and I could be authorised to select seats. I was also told that it would take between 24-48 hours for the seat request to be actioned. It took around 30 hours.
Wondering a few things:
1) Is it really necessary for my friend to pass GDPR to select seats? I have the name and PNR. If I had malicious intentions seating is the least of their concerns! As it happened, my friend was not with me at the time so I put on a voice and went through through the GDPR. All the details requested such as DOB and email address I got from MMB! Seems absurd that they're asking for security details that clearly the person calling already has access to!
2) as I mentioned, on the first occasion this was all sorted out immediately with no faff. So GDPR aside, why did the second occasion take a day and a half to process? When I heard this from the agent I HUACA as I didn't think it was the norm. Turns out it is and the first occasion was the exception. So I'm wondering why is there a delay when clearly agents can process it immediately (as evidenced on the first occasion) and is there a way to avoid this delay? Not very helpful for last minute when you're trying to select a good seat and by the time it's actioned someone else has already taken it.
To note: on the second occasion until it was confirmed, the seat was not blocked in any way and was open for the taking. Checked on EF and made a dummy booking. Fully available if someone got it before the request was processed.
Appreciate any thoughts
On the first occasion it was perfect. Called, provided my exec number, PNR and friends PNR. Chose both our seats over the phone and was confirmed (viewable in MMB and EF). Simples.
The second occasion much less simples. After providing all the details I was asked to do GDPR protection on my booking (normal) but also was asked to hand the phone over to my friend so he could pass GDPR and I could be authorised to select seats. I was also told that it would take between 24-48 hours for the seat request to be actioned. It took around 30 hours.
Wondering a few things:
1) Is it really necessary for my friend to pass GDPR to select seats? I have the name and PNR. If I had malicious intentions seating is the least of their concerns! As it happened, my friend was not with me at the time so I put on a voice and went through through the GDPR. All the details requested such as DOB and email address I got from MMB! Seems absurd that they're asking for security details that clearly the person calling already has access to!
2) as I mentioned, on the first occasion this was all sorted out immediately with no faff. So GDPR aside, why did the second occasion take a day and a half to process? When I heard this from the agent I HUACA as I didn't think it was the norm. Turns out it is and the first occasion was the exception. So I'm wondering why is there a delay when clearly agents can process it immediately (as evidenced on the first occasion) and is there a way to avoid this delay? Not very helpful for last minute when you're trying to select a good seat and by the time it's actioned someone else has already taken it.
To note: on the second occasion until it was confirmed, the seat was not blocked in any way and was open for the taking. Checked on EF and made a dummy booking. Fully available if someone got it before the request was processed.
Appreciate any thoughts
Dec 17, 2022, 4:19 am
#2
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Diamond, IHG Spire
Posts: 1,244
I have a feeling that the first agent haven't followed the internal procedures. Normally call centre agents can't select seats if the person on the booking has no free selection option. The normal process is that the agent takes the details and send it to back office to process. I don't know the full details of your flight and your friend status or flight details so hard to judge.
The second time I think the agent was wrong to ask your friend details as its a seat selection not a flight change however the rest of the process sounds just right.
So I would expect in the future more or less process two.
The second time I think the agent was wrong to ask your friend details as its a seat selection not a flight change however the rest of the process sounds just right.
So I would expect in the future more or less process two.
Dec 17, 2022, 4:19 am
#3
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: OSL
Programs: BA Gold | SK Gold | A3 Gold
Posts: 4,556
Can't answer for why it took so long, but had something similar recently trying to upgrade my brother with my Avios. They wouldn't touch the booking until I'd dialled him into the call and he'd given his approval - he found it hilarious that I could have "malicious intentions" by upgrading him to First!
Dec 17, 2022, 4:26 am
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2022
Posts: 501
It doesn't make sense for this to be the case. Why would it be standard procedure to ship it off to a separate team if they evidently have the ability to do it on the spot. The only thing they would need to confirm is the gold status!
Dec 17, 2022, 4:27 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2022
Posts: 501
Can't answer for why it took so long, but had something similar recently trying to upgrade my brother with my Avios. They wouldn't touch the booking until I'd dialled him into the call and he'd given his approval - he found it hilarious that I could have "malicious intentions" by upgrading him to First!
Dec 17, 2022, 4:40 am
#6
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: London, UK
Programs: BA Gold, Hilton Diamond, IHG Spire
Posts: 1,244
Simple, its money. if the passenger can't choose seats for free then have to pay and BA doesn't want to give this right normally to call centre staff. ( what I mean is that call centre staff needs the payment to process the seat request.) Hence they need to send it to back office who is going to process the request. Most call centre agent can just put the notes in the bookings and send it off. As I said I'm not sure why and what happened at the first case.
Dec 17, 2022, 5:37 am
#7
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold
Posts: 848
I think some agents can do this on the spot. 9 times out of 10 when I’ve done this it’s been sent to the back office and has taken 1-2 days to process. I think this is the normal procedure. On one occasion the agent was able to do it immediately. Perhaps some agents have this ability whilst others don’t?
Dec 17, 2022, 5:42 am
#8
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Scotland & London
Programs: BA GGL, IHG Diamond Ambassador, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Mucci des Salons Ouvrants
Posts: 3,052
I honestly lost the will to live when I tried to do this recently. It got so difficult due to “GDPR” that I gave up and gave the individual a silver card and told him to book the seat next to me!
It was suggested that third party nominee on the booking was the way to go - so give an individual more access and the ability to change my booking just to sit next to each other. That was the GGL line too!
Regards
aks120
It was suggested that third party nominee on the booking was the way to go - so give an individual more access and the ability to change my booking just to sit next to each other. That was the GGL line too!
Regards
aks120
Dec 17, 2022, 7:12 am
#9
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 2,660
I think some agents can do this on the spot. 9 times out of 10 when I’ve done this it’s been sent to the back office and has taken 1-2 days to process. I think this is the normal procedure. On one occasion the agent was able to do it immediately. Perhaps some agents have this ability whilst others don’t?
There was a trial this year where managers could do this for Golds instead of back office to speed up the process. However this trial ended and things have returned to the original process.
As for data protection to discuss or action anything on a booking yes we must speak to a named individual from that booking.
Dec 17, 2022, 7:35 am
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2022
Posts: 501
Downsides are
Person can access the whole account including Avios, not just a single booking
Doesn't work if the person isn't a member of BAEC Other than that it's the best method I've found to avoid complications for seat selection. I use it fairly regularly for family bookings
Dec 17, 2022, 7:37 am
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2022
Posts: 501
Both of my examples happened fairly recently. So unless the trial ended within the last 2/3 weeks it would not be this
Dec 17, 2022, 8:04 am
#12
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: UK
Programs: BA Executive Club - Gold
Posts: 257
I think some agents can do this on the spot. 9 times out of 10 when I’ve done this it’s been sent to the back office and has taken 1-2 days to process. I think this is the normal procedure. On one occasion the agent was able to do it immediately. Perhaps some agents have this ability whilst others don’t?
CB
Dec 17, 2022, 8:46 am
#13
Join Date: Aug 2019
Programs: BA Exec Gold
Posts: 380
I recently called up BA to arrange seating for a friend of mine travelling on the same flight as me but different booking. Same scenario on 2 occasions.
On the first occasion it was perfect. Called, provided my exec number, PNR and friends PNR. Chose both our seats over the phone and was confirmed (viewable in MMB and EF). Simples.
The second occasion much less simples. After providing all the details I was asked to do GDPR protection on my booking (normal) but also was asked to hand the phone over to my friend so he could pass GDPR and I could be authorised to select seats. I was also told that it would take between 24-48 hours for the seat request to be actioned. It took around 30 hours.
Wondering a few things:
1) Is it really necessary for my friend to pass GDPR to select seats? I have the name and PNR. If I had malicious intentions seating is the least of their concerns! As it happened, my friend was not with me at the time so I put on a voice and went through through the GDPR. All the details requested such as DOB and email address I got from MMB! Seems absurd that they're asking for security details that clearly the person calling already has access to!
2) as I mentioned, on the first occasion this was all sorted out immediately with no faff. So GDPR aside, why did the second occasion take a day and a half to process? When I heard this from the agent I HUACA as I didn't think it was the norm. Turns out it is and the first occasion was the exception. So I'm wondering why is there a delay when clearly agents can process it immediately (as evidenced on the first occasion) and is there a way to avoid this delay? Not very helpful for last minute when you're trying to select a good seat and by the time it's actioned someone else has already taken it.
To note: on the second occasion until it was confirmed, the seat was not blocked in any way and was open for the taking. Checked on EF and made a dummy booking. Fully available if someone got it before the request was processed.
Appreciate any thoughts
On the first occasion it was perfect. Called, provided my exec number, PNR and friends PNR. Chose both our seats over the phone and was confirmed (viewable in MMB and EF). Simples.
The second occasion much less simples. After providing all the details I was asked to do GDPR protection on my booking (normal) but also was asked to hand the phone over to my friend so he could pass GDPR and I could be authorised to select seats. I was also told that it would take between 24-48 hours for the seat request to be actioned. It took around 30 hours.
Wondering a few things:
1) Is it really necessary for my friend to pass GDPR to select seats? I have the name and PNR. If I had malicious intentions seating is the least of their concerns! As it happened, my friend was not with me at the time so I put on a voice and went through through the GDPR. All the details requested such as DOB and email address I got from MMB! Seems absurd that they're asking for security details that clearly the person calling already has access to!
2) as I mentioned, on the first occasion this was all sorted out immediately with no faff. So GDPR aside, why did the second occasion take a day and a half to process? When I heard this from the agent I HUACA as I didn't think it was the norm. Turns out it is and the first occasion was the exception. So I'm wondering why is there a delay when clearly agents can process it immediately (as evidenced on the first occasion) and is there a way to avoid this delay? Not very helpful for last minute when you're trying to select a good seat and by the time it's actioned someone else has already taken it.
To note: on the second occasion until it was confirmed, the seat was not blocked in any way and was open for the taking. Checked on EF and made a dummy booking. Fully available if someone got it before the request was processed.
Appreciate any thoughts
All bookings are made and paid by me on my account. I usually answer the GDPR question on the second booking by saying same answers apply and so am not usually asked the questions again, although the agent is checking this. Before calling you book your own seat on ba.com ensuring of course that the adjacent seat(s) is available so that you can simply ask for the specific seat number for your companion(s) at the time of the call.
1 in 10 agents that answer will be a manager of sorts and will book your seats there and then whilst speaking with you. This was the case on one of my two requests in the past fortnight. The vast majority of agents, about 8 from 10 will call a manager, or what some of them like to refer to as the 'seating dept' whilst you wait. This is very common with me, although it may help if you say that you're happy wait while they call through. On my other call this week an agent said that he couldn't get through to seating but that he would persevere and if I were to check MMB in around half an hour he'd have the seats booked. Half an hour later the seats were duly booked.
The final 2 agents from 10 either genuinely don't know that they can call through or very occasionally pretend that no such system is available to call so you should just say thanks, but no thanks and call again. If you allow an agent to queue your booking off there is a decent chance that they'll do it wrong by using the wrong keyword or queueing off the wrong booking. Personally, I find call centre staff super, super helpful and rarely meet with resistance when I ask them to call the seats through. I often reward a gold ticket to efficient call centre staff, for various reasons, and consider it as a top unwritten perk of the Gold Line that you can speak with UK northern call centre staff.
Dec 17, 2022, 11:28 am
#14
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 2,660
I have answered this many times before. I did such a transaction twice in the last fortnight and at least monthly in 2022.
All bookings are made and paid by me on my account. I usually answer the GDPR question on the second booking by saying same answers apply and so am not usually asked the questions again, although the agent is checking this. Before calling you book your own seat on ba.com ensuring of course that the adjacent seat(s) is available so that you can simply ask for the specific seat number for your companion(s) at the time of the call.
1 in 10 agents that answer will be a manager of sorts and will book your seats there and then whilst speaking with you. This was the case on one of my two requests in the past fortnight. The vast majority of agents, about 8 from 10 will call a manager, or what some of them like to refer to as the 'seating dept' whilst you wait. This is very common with me, although it may help if you say that you're happy wait while they call through. On my other call this week an agent said that he couldn't get through to seating but that he would persevere and if I were to check MMB in around half an hour he'd have the seats booked. Half an hour later the seats were duly booked.
The final 2 agents from 10 either genuinely don't know that they can call through or very occasionally pretend that no such system is available to call so you should just say thanks, but no thanks and call again. If you allow an agent to queue your booking off there is a decent chance that they'll do it wrong by using the wrong keyword or queueing off the wrong booking. Personally, I find call centre staff super, super helpful and rarely meet with resistance when I ask them to call the seats through. I often reward a gold ticket to efficient call centre staff, for various reasons, and consider it as a top unwritten perk of the Gold Line that you can speak with UK northern call centre staff.
All bookings are made and paid by me on my account. I usually answer the GDPR question on the second booking by saying same answers apply and so am not usually asked the questions again, although the agent is checking this. Before calling you book your own seat on ba.com ensuring of course that the adjacent seat(s) is available so that you can simply ask for the specific seat number for your companion(s) at the time of the call.
1 in 10 agents that answer will be a manager of sorts and will book your seats there and then whilst speaking with you. This was the case on one of my two requests in the past fortnight. The vast majority of agents, about 8 from 10 will call a manager, or what some of them like to refer to as the 'seating dept' whilst you wait. This is very common with me, although it may help if you say that you're happy wait while they call through. On my other call this week an agent said that he couldn't get through to seating but that he would persevere and if I were to check MMB in around half an hour he'd have the seats booked. Half an hour later the seats were duly booked.
The final 2 agents from 10 either genuinely don't know that they can call through or very occasionally pretend that no such system is available to call so you should just say thanks, but no thanks and call again. If you allow an agent to queue your booking off there is a decent chance that they'll do it wrong by using the wrong keyword or queueing off the wrong booking. Personally, I find call centre staff super, super helpful and rarely meet with resistance when I ask them to call the seats through. I often reward a gold ticket to efficient call centre staff, for various reasons, and consider it as a top unwritten perk of the Gold Line that you can speak with UK northern call centre staff.
Managers can put in seats but the official process for Gold seating is to queue.I believe the reason is so it can be tracked/audited.
In my experience a fair number of managers in the UK contact centres will add seats. However I would say that Capita or India would queue bookings. And there a lot of new starters in all contact centres.
If we queue a booking the process is to queue the bookings add notes to both but the booking that is queued is the Gold cardholder booking. The automatic queue ‘checks’ statis so if someone sends the non Gold booking it is rejected.
Dec 17, 2022, 12:37 pm
#15
Join Date: Aug 2019
Programs: BA Exec Gold
Posts: 380
Managers can put in seats but the official process for Gold seating is to queue.I believe the reason is so it can be tracked/audited.
In my experience a fair number of managers in the UK contact centres will add seats. However I would say that Capita or India would queue bookings. And there a lot of new starters in all contact centres.
If we queue a booking the process is to queue the bookings add notes to both but the booking that is queued is the Gold cardholder booking. The automatic queue ‘checks’ statis so if someone sends the non Gold booking it is rejected.
In my experience a fair number of managers in the UK contact centres will add seats. However I would say that Capita or India would queue bookings. And there a lot of new starters in all contact centres.
If we queue a booking the process is to queue the bookings add notes to both but the booking that is queued is the Gold cardholder booking. The automatic queue ‘checks’ statis so if someone sends the non Gold booking it is rejected.
What is Capita please? Also, I agree that India would queue bookings but I have never been answered by India on the Gold Line. As mentioned, northern call centre agents bend over backwards in my experience to the extent that you feel like a friend of theirs and virtually always call through the seats. This is exactly the service that makes, to me, BA feel like a small and personal company that I enjoy dealing with.