seats on the upper deck
 

Have called BA about 3 times to try and get 2 upper deck seats assigned in advance. Each time they refuse but assure me it will be ok 24 hours before departure with OLCI.

Could anyone please advise how likely it is to get a pair seats on the upper deck via OLCI. I'm flying LHR - SYD on BA15 in 2 weeks.

Many thanks.

Why don't you try the new "Request Seats" function that has just appeared in the website today?

I had a similar problem on a flight to JFK last year. The first two times I asked, they said all they could do was put a request in for when they started sorting the seats out 24hrs before departure. On the third time, the chap said he'd send a request to the "seating department". 24hrs later, my seats had been changed & we got a window-aisle pair on the upper deck. When OLCI opened, managed to improve on this further & get the row immediately infront of the emergency exit.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum15/HTML/005076.html

Have tried the new seating section, not 1 seat on the upper deck avail for any of my 3 flights!

Have also had BA send a request to 'seat management' I think they called it & they refused aswell! Am only silver, so don't carry too much clout I guess.

So it looks like OLCI is my best bet. Is it likely if I log on the night before?

I've just had the identical problem on my upcoming flights to Oz as I've been allocated 19a on both flights.

What's irritating is that I've checked Sabre and Virginflyer and they show J9, C9, D9, I9 on the outbound and J9, C9, D9, I3 on the return. Now ... with a MINIMUM of 30 business class seats unsold I am struggling to believe that all of the upstairs seats have been requested.

Phoned the Silver 'Helpdesk' and was told they'd put a request in. But I'm going to rely on OLCI ...

Sure ... the site looks great ... high praise to the tech's who designed it but it's what's beneath that counts - or in this case doesn't.

I want to book a ticket now so I can see what all this is about!

I might be wrong but J9 C9 D9 I9 does not indicated that there are 36 Club Seats left it means that there are at least 9 in J but at the moment all fare types are available.



[This message has been edited by edi-traveller (edited Feb 04, 2004).]

To be more precise, BA is willing to sell 9 or more business class tickets for this flight. The cabin might actually be oversold already, even though with availabiity in D this seems unlikely.

Well I just called again to try one last time. BA won't bend the rules for me, but the guy said there are loads of seats left on the upper deck & being silver should ensure I get moved to the upper dack on the day.

So looks like OLCI is the only option

Yes, what BA are willing to sell and what seats are actually free does not seem to match up at all...

... I have been checking loads for my flights to DEN later this month: there are LOADS of seats avilable to buy in every class, but very few seats available in Business or Economy...

Seats on the way back are ok (window and aisle at the rear of the NCW cabin), but we have been assigned an aisle and middle on the way out - hopefully we can grab a window and aisle with OCLI...

So Rexee, have you snagged NCW both ways on your trip to Oz?

Boo

Its actually a written policy that only a certain percentage of seats are released for pre-assignment, irrespective of load.

"Yes, at the recommendation of several people here I decided not to risk having to sit on a wing and have used MFU" ...

... she says smiling smugly because she knew to book through BA in order to have this option available! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Edited to add:

Thanks to everyone for the other information regarding fare classes available vs. seats available.

Still got a lot to learn! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by rexee (edited Feb 04, 2004).]

I had no trouble getting seats pres assigned for the Upper Deck recently.

Originally I was given something on the main deck, though I dont really like the main deck so gave the EC a call. They were able to get me only aisle seats on the Upper Deck, not 62K which is what I was after. I was told I could put a request to get 62K though got nothing. I phoned perhaps 3 times in hope that 62K would be available nearer the time though it wasnt.

My best advice is get your a$$ to a computer 24hrs before departure and use OLCI. This is how I finally snagged 62K

<edited to say: glad to hear you got NCW both ways to Oz, rexee. I hope you have a good trip http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/thumbsup.gif

[This message has been edited by fbgdavidson (edited Feb 04, 2004).]

As a travelagent I can change in AMADEUS the seats which come back through my system. But of course only these which are available.! And row 63 - 65 is always blocked by BA ! So I would sugest try your next booking throug a TA and you can choose your seats from the availability seat map!

But TAs see the same seats that the new online change seats function shows - just been checking this between ba.com and Travelocity - so there's no added advantage on this score in booking with a TA. And as far as I can tell, normal BA res only have access to exactly the same seats as well.

But I've had pretty good results from seating when requests have gone over to them after the pre-allocation limit has been reached - even in the deepest darkest discount Y.