Why did BA stop seat selection?
#31
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Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Morbihan, France
Programs: Reine des Muccis de Pucci; Foreign Elitist (according to others)
Posts: 19,160
He's constantly on the run. Mostly after me.
Remember the Martha and the Vandella song "Nowhere to run" (well yes it was years before I was born as well but that is what Capital Gold is for!). There! Sums up my life on Flyertalk. Follows me everywhere - Continental (which he has never flown in his life) American (which will never fly him in a million years) even Alitalia which everyone should fly once before it dies and then stand before me and tell me how bad other airlines are.
Still he does talk some sense. Now and then. I see he has been entrusted with someone's washing. I assume that the HIDDYs are taking washing in to pay for his lifestyle.
Now I ask you - would you let HIDDY wash your smalls even in the teeth of a storm?
Quite.
Sorry was there a thread to this thread - ah yes. Seat Selection. Now there are mysteries and there are mysteries and why this one needs to exist is - quite frankly on Long Haul - quite ridiculous. It causes more arguments then anything else/ It is clearly beyond the wits of whoever makes programming to be able to let anyone book anything other than whatever is held back for Silvers and Golds.
Families moan about this constantly and I quite agree with them.
HIDDY when you've done the ironing run and put the kettle on - there a duck.
Remember the Martha and the Vandella song "Nowhere to run" (well yes it was years before I was born as well but that is what Capital Gold is for!). There! Sums up my life on Flyertalk. Follows me everywhere - Continental (which he has never flown in his life) American (which will never fly him in a million years) even Alitalia which everyone should fly once before it dies and then stand before me and tell me how bad other airlines are.
Still he does talk some sense. Now and then. I see he has been entrusted with someone's washing. I assume that the HIDDYs are taking washing in to pay for his lifestyle.
Now I ask you - would you let HIDDY wash your smalls even in the teeth of a storm?
Quite.
Sorry was there a thread to this thread - ah yes. Seat Selection. Now there are mysteries and there are mysteries and why this one needs to exist is - quite frankly on Long Haul - quite ridiculous. It causes more arguments then anything else/ It is clearly beyond the wits of whoever makes programming to be able to let anyone book anything other than whatever is held back for Silvers and Golds.
Families moan about this constantly and I quite agree with them.
HIDDY when you've done the ironing run and put the kettle on - there a duck.
Last edited by PUCCI GALORE; Oct 11, 2008 at 10:44 am
#32
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 2,774
Whenever I have been away on commercial tickets I have had no problem popping into the Hotels business centre and printing my boarding pass. Most of the world does have access to the internet, and those areas that don't mean that most of the passengers are in the same situation and will be assigned seats at the airport. For me it has not been an issue, and I speak as someone with no status and on reduced fare tickets.
#33
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: BA Lifetime Gold, UA Gold
Posts: 2,022
Ultimately, you've never going to please all of the people all of the time. But I think BA's current system keeps those that matter to the airline happy for the most part. Sure, you might find buying a ticket v late that a lot of the really desirable max-FT-kudos seats are gone. But generally I've found even on elite-heavy routes, there's almost always a half decent selection available a few days before the flight.
#34
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#35
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: SYD, GOT
Programs: BA GGL; SK EBG; QF LTG; Hilton Diamond, A-Club Platinum, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 2,720
Remember that you do not need to print the BP at T-24. Just to logon and select.
Given the number of hotels, hostel, phones, shops (e.g. Apple stores) and the like with internet access you would have to be somewhere very out of the way or not so (e.g. Lord Howe Island) to have difficulty to find access to Ba.com.
Mark
Given the number of hotels, hostel, phones, shops (e.g. Apple stores) and the like with internet access you would have to be somewhere very out of the way or not so (e.g. Lord Howe Island) to have difficulty to find access to Ba.com.
Mark
#36
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: Glasgow, UK
Programs: BAEC Gold, Priority Club RA, Lots of other cards
Posts: 3,099
Ok folks, I have an idea, you could always have a "Fast Track Boarding Charge", you get a special not on your boarding pass and when your at the gate they will ask all the pax to come forward who have paid the extra money for "speedy boarding". Then they can all rush on the plane and grab a seat.
(Note: Unless like BGY its a bush trip out then you pay to get on the bus first)
You can always pay extra for a pre-assigned seat if you want, then no issues at all, unless folk take all the pre-assigned seats.
Or lets just have everyone sit anywhere they want.......
(Note: Unless like BGY its a bush trip out then you pay to get on the bus first)
You can always pay extra for a pre-assigned seat if you want, then no issues at all, unless folk take all the pre-assigned seats.
Or lets just have everyone sit anywhere they want.......
#37
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Ireland
Programs: No longer bothered chasing FF status.
Posts: 2,345
Originally Posted by Echo J
But how much money did the silver card holder give to BA to get that shiny piece of plastic in the first place?
Originally Posted by Gaz
......anyone who holds a Silver or Gold card has had to spent a bit of toot, at some point, to get that card in the first place………..<snip>……..But I think BA's current system keeps those that matter to the airline happy for the most part.......
However as our travel patterns don't coincide & line up with my BAEC year end, I’ve not been able to keep my Silver status. Falling short on only a couple of TP's last renewal. So now I can’t pre-assign our seats & our 12K spend is going to VS instead.
Originally Posted by Koru Flyer
…… Given the number of hotels, hostel, phones, shops (e.g. Apple stores) and the like with internet access you would have to be somewhere very out of the way or not so (e.g. Lord Howe Island) to have difficulty to find access to Ba.com……
But there’s enough of stress & worry involved with air travel these days, without “having” to be somewhere in order to OLCI at the dot of –T23h to get your seat assignments. When just about every other carrier I can think of, offers this at the time of booking. It's hassle I don't need
However as Gaz said….
” Ultimately, you've never going to please all of the people all of the time.”
Which is very true ^
Unfortunately this policy has driven us away from BA, who we always really enjoyed travelling with & onto other carriers.
But TBH, we're enjoying our time on those other carriers just as much & in some cases much more, than we did on BA. Which for us is a good thing. While I realise that our spend was a mere drop in the ocean to BA, they have however, lost us as customers.
But I’m quite sure they’re not exactly losing sleep in BA headquarters over that one
So, so be it ^
Last edited by kered; Oct 11, 2008 at 11:44 am
#38
Join Date: Jan 2007
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I think it's also fair to assume that a year ago BA figured high spending business travellers buying premium tickets were the key group they were focusing on, almost to the exclusion of all others. Since a big percentage of those worked in financial services and related industries BA may be rethinking their prime targets at this very moment.
#39
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Dave
#40
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Mostly AUS or rural England
Programs: BAEC redundant Bronze, AAdvantage Lifetime PLT, CO, WN, B6
Posts: 6,526
Sorry, I didn't mean to imply this was a new revelation. It certainly goes back to Marshall & King, because I remember King saying in an inteview that if BA could fill the front of the plane with paying passengers it could pretty much forget about the back. My point was the events of the last month or so may have shaken their conviction about filling the front.
#41
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: msp
Programs: AA PLT 3MM, DL PM 2MM
Posts: 1,142
Why don't they consider borrowing an idea from cruise ships where you can guarantee yourself a level of cabin but not actually choose one. If any upgrades are going - your given priority.
i.e.
Gold / Silver - can choose their own seat as per current practice and also given priority if upgrades are required.
Blue - allow you to either choose your seat or not to choose your seat. If you choose your seat - you will be after gold, silvers and other blues (who chose to "gamble") and any other passengers should upgrades be needed.
i.e.
Gold / Silver - can choose their own seat as per current practice and also given priority if upgrades are required.
Blue - allow you to either choose your seat or not to choose your seat. If you choose your seat - you will be after gold, silvers and other blues (who chose to "gamble") and any other passengers should upgrades be needed.
#42
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#43
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: msp
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#44
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Isle of Skye, Scotland
Programs: BA gold
Posts: 3,902
I quite like BA system of T-24 hrs seat selection. On other airlines, I go to the seat selection months before the flight (eg, Singapore Airlines) and already there's a heavily fragmented seat map with all the good seats gone. On the day of flying, a good deal of those seats became available due to no-shows. With the T-24 seat allocation, the majority those no-shows will not have bothered.
#45
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Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: SE1, London
Posts: 23,406
That is exactly one of the problems with BA's policy.