Can I help you

Hi Tristan,
You have nothing to worry about.
First passengers are entitled to visitors from other cabins. I suggest you take 4EF or 5EF and invite your parents for a drink. Vistors must use the buddy seats an can have a drink while there. They will not be able to eat there and the time allowed should be cleared with the First purser. It's best to choose a quite time so not to disturb other passengers.
CIHY

tristan727

Many thanks for that...I'd thought I'd read, many years ago that that seat was only for other F's? Or is that only if they eat with you?

Now you see, apart from being able to have a chat, would also be nice to let my old ma have a strech or a nap....she is in her 60's. Now I'm assuming it wouldn't be ok for me to sit in eco for a few hrs whilst my mum sleeps in my F seat? If so, and please correct me if I'm wrong...how about say my wife & are in the middle section....so I sit temporarily opposite my wife in the buddy seat, and my mum is next to us in my F seat, maybe even napping for a bit after the chat lulls....surely the staff wouldn't get pedantic over who sat exactly where now, would they, in this conversation!?

Im not entirely doing all this for saintly reasons...my mum's not stopped nagging me since I booked the F's for myself!

Jenbel

I'm sure your parents trust you to be able to behave in a separate cabin from them, but if there are any problems, then the crew will let them know, since they remain responsible for your behaviour even though you are travelling in a split cabin (as per the policy G-BOAC posted).

Can I help you

Other First passengers can eat with you, guests can only stay for a drink.
CIHY

tristan727

Now now....for the record here btw, I do not take holiday's with my parents...it's their 1st grandkid's christening.

HIDDY

"My old ma have a stretch or a nap"............Then you go on to say she's in her sixties?

I imagined her being in her 80's before you said her age. She's a young thing and I bet she'd chase you round T5 and give you a damn good thrashing if she heard you calling her old.

If you think she's that old give her your seat in F you miserable young so and so.

tristan727

Would do...but how many women do you know would want to pay £6k (or, erm - 300,000 miles in my case) to sit next to their mother-in-law for 24hrs?! Because, I can assure you...my wife's quite happy travelling in F & ain't giving up her seat!

p.s. I do apologise if caused any offence anywhere regarding 60's being old...I do intend to exaggerate a tad when trying to wing things in my direction, so to speak...in fact she's only 61!

Bar Operator

Hi tristan

With regards to your mother taking a nap, it is of course up to the First purser (or the CSD) but to be honest, I can't see them being very enthusiastic about it; the point here being that your mother (or in this case, you) haven't paid for the privilege of her being able to use the seat for a sleep. Sounds niggly, but it's a point the crew will certainly have in their minds.

The other point is that the rest of the punters in First may get a bit miffed IF they notice. Sorry if that sounds a bit pedantic ....

Have a chat with the First purser, you never know. He/she may not mind and could quite happily allow it .... drinks fine .... sleeping/napping ... that's pushing your luck. But nothing to lose in asking, as many upgrade wannabes will tell you (and us).

Can I help you

I would not allow this, it's a drink and a chat only nothing more. If you wish for your mother to enjoy the comfort of the seat etc, can I suggest you swap with her and sit with your father
CIHY

timodell

First can i say, thanks for the swift and copious response! As regards pricing of the tickets, they were bought with the same number of miles, so I have not paid any less for the Club Class child seat. When I checked with BA they said that I could change seats on the plane and effectively convert the booking into 2 adults + 2 "split family" children. For some reason, this is not possible to be done formally once the booking was made, no idea why. The BA.com link does not suggest any pre-booking is needed for "split faimly" travel, implying it can be done at check-in. Does anyone know for certain if this is correct? I agree that there is a risk that children might become restless and that they will need to be split beteen the parents for part or even most of the flight, but I don't see any reason why we parents can't eat the Club meal together. I guess much will depend on how the seats are allocated which is pretty much out of our hands as we are only "blue" card holders... Any more tips much appreciated (we are flying 747 to Phoenix next August)

Shuttle-Bored

I hate to say this, but I think that the phone staff are possibly giving you an answer to get off the line. If you've booked a child ticket, irrespective of whether it cost the same amount of miles or not, it's still a child ticket. And is likely to be counted as such in the catering etc (have to admit, I've no idea what kids meal offering in Club is tho!).

My read of the Split Family website is that to make it happen needs the tickets to be booked in the appropriate cabin at the time of booking. So I don't think you can necessarily rely on that policy with what you're trying to do. Although it may not be possible on ba.com, I'm sure this is something which calling BA could have fixed during the booking process - post event however (and without the ability to retain the 50% discount on miles) you're likely to be at the mercy of the BA staff on the day (and probably need to be ready for them to say no).

TMC

The discussion regarding catering is most likely not relevant - unless you order a CHML - Child Meal, it will not be loaded - our eldest has the adult menu (when booked as a child and previously when younger than 12) whilst the youngest elects for us to pre-book a CHML.

If you haven't ordered special meals then enough adult food should be loaded anyhow - whether one of the adults wants to risk ordering a CHML in the lower cabin is another matter?!

CO FF

Let me piggy-back on this thread, rather than start a new one.

My 16-year old daughter and I are travelling together this summer. She will be on an AAward, currently ticketed in Business Class; I'll be on a revenue ticket (economy, with AA eVIP upgrades for the AA metal segments). We have one BA segment, ex-LHR, on a 4-class 772.

There has not yet been any award availability on this flight except in F; upgrading the award would cost 35k AA miles. Purchasing a Y ticket for her would cost US$500, and only get her 560 AA EQM (she's GLD, so the EQM are relevant). We have only a 2:30 connection at LHR (from AA inbound), and since I'm EXP I can access most of the lounges anyway, so the lounge access benefit is minimal. Instead, my goal is to spend the time with my daughter as much as practical, and make it enjoyable.

Does a "buddy seat" visitor have to return to steerage if the seatbelt sign comes on?

Would the cabin crew be likely to object to any of the following:

1) If we swapped for the entire flight (I sit F, she sits Y)?

2) If we swapped immediately after takeoff, and until final approach?

3) If we swap long enough for me (not her) to eat the meal service (which I would appreciate far more than my finicky 16 year old)?

4) If I was in the buddy seat most of the flight?

thanks, all.

Jenbel

Yes, if seatbelt sign comes on, buddy seat user would have to return to their seat.

Also, I think most crew (possibly not all) would get upset if someone (from a different cabin) tried to use the buddy seat for most of the flight. From crew comments on here, it's generally seen as a bit of a chat, not spending the entire time in the cabin. And certainly the other pax might object to such use as well. Don't know about 2 or 3 though.

HIDDY

I would say the one holding the ticket has to take the meal and they won't allow the swapping over of seats.
A drink only for when the visitor calls and no lingering.