There are some things I am concerned about, being able to select 1AC is not one of them. I now have no issues for seat selection on longhaul services ( e.g. can get 1A/1K on my 1st sectors if I want them ) plus this problem may only be temporary. 1AC is a bit nicer than 3AC, but 2AC is no different at all ( so losing that is minor ).

For a OW Sapphire member, this change is greatly positive since instead of about the 1st 6 rows of CE being blocked off, now only 1AC/2AC are restricted

As an OW Emerald, I see it as a minor loss but for a OW Sapphire, a great improvement and so I don't see that the sky is falling in


Dave

Not sure what flights you are looking at, but many flights (B737/A320) with CE only have 3-4 rows!

Anyhow, glad that your happy with the downgrade, although I suspect many of the rest of us are not.

In fact the BA board is such up in arms about the changes that the thread has quickly become one of the most ever read threads on the BA board in a matter of a week! Whilst they are obviously not complaining about the loss of OW Emerald benefits, their complaints will also affect us.

I do have to question why you seem happy that OW Emerald, OW Sapphires all seem to have the same access as BA Blue. Personally I think that if you bother to fly the alliance as much as some of us do, you should have better access to seating than a BA Blue, especially considering it is a defined benefit of the OW alliance.

Depends on the route, Dave. The forward bookings I've looked at show at least the first 3 rows on the A/C side blocked. Carte blanche on the D/E/F side, but then don't fancy sitting next to a stranger if I've paid for a premium seat.

And as for smaller CE configs, I'm sure the only reason why the first row of Y is set aside for elite status pax is so that they can kick the back of the last row of C :D

Here Here....

Well I have been booted out of all my CE flights and moved to the EF side form having AC reserved. I'm Sapphire and my partner Emerald... So I'm not too happy with the changes.

Haven't noticed anything good opening up in J long haul either.... don;t really care about F as I don't fly it that often.

All in all I'm not that happy with the changes.

The ones I have booked at the moment have about 10 rows. I was in 1A, when this all changed I was auto moved to 1F and I then just moved it to 3C.

Dave

Same here Dave - This happened on about 3 of my flights.

For my Y flights I have been able to get row 9 on the 320 and 8 on the 319

Under the old scheme, Emeralds had access to some seats in CE that Sapphires et al never did. There is nothing in the OW scheme that says that Emeralds should get better seating than Sapphire ( QF doesn't offer better seating to Emeralds over Sapphire )

You are being very disingenuous about non status members. Except for those who are travelling using a corporate deal with BA, non status members can only pre-select seats when travelling in First, J/C/W or Y classes. It makes perfect sense to me for BA to offer this benefit to this set of passengers.



Most people will not be able to pre-select a seat until check in opens (e.g. a non status person on a DONE4 has no pre-seating access) . To me , this comes overall as a benefit for status passengers and full fare passengers to me.

Dave

Have you actually read and understood this thread? :confused:

Emeralds and Sapphires now have NO better access to seats than a non-status member. This thread is also not discussing the difference of Sapphire vs an Emerald seating. This thread is discussing the removal of this benefit completely.

Could I suggest in future you post something of value to the debate as I think thus far you seem to be missing the point of this thread. :)

A no status member has NO pre seating facility (except for those in 1st, J/C/W/Y and those with corporate deals )

How can you argue that Emeralds and Sapphires have no better access to seats than someone who cannot access them at all

A non status member travelling on a DONE4 cannot pre select any seat , whilst you can choose from nearly all seats

Dave

They DO have the ability to select a seat at time of booking (although this is not using BA.con).

When can we get a head banging on wall smiley? :(

Come on guy this is becoming a little personal....

Assuming they finish sorting out any seating map issues, then a non status member will have no access to pre-select whilst Sapphire/Emeralds can according to the policy. This policy is a definite plus to me as a person with status. All I may have lost is access to a cpl of AC seats in CE, but that really has zero concern to me. With many people no longer being able to select seats at all under the policy, it seems overall positive

They could definately have made a better job at implementing this policy

Dave

Exactly what I posted above - except that we are both QF WPs (OWE status). I don't like row 1 as I don't like looking at a bulkhead and having less leg stretch out room. The second row is my preference (and what I had previously selected).

BA can't use the line "you should be a BA EC gold member" as they booted out all Oz based EC members over to the QF program. Therefore QF WPs should have the same status options as their cousins in the BA program.

I contacted OW recently concerning BA's policy change and got the following response. Looks like its just taking BA a little while to get the system all worked out.

Based on that email reply, it seems that the current problems are transient and that the policy will bring rows 1 and 2 back in CE for OW Emeralds once they have sorted out this fiasco of an implementation.

Dave

Or, it being BA (cf. interline baggage transfers through LHR) maybe not.

FWIW, I received the following e-mail from OW:

Sounds like something at least is happening behind the scenes.

BA Shorthaul economy
 

I have bookings on BA in Eurotraveller, and despite having my OneWorld Emerald FF number in the booking I get the message "Seat choice available at check in". The is in contrary to the stated policy "Gold and Silver Executive Club members, oneworld equivalents, can choose their seat at the time of booking and change at any time until they have checked in."

The BA Executive Club desk said that the system does not recognize my FF number as elite.

I could not make out from previous posts whether anyone else had had success with seat allocation for BA European economy class bookings?

I can select seats, but only aft of the exit rows. :td:

Which system did you make your booking on? My travel agent made my booking, and I had to enter my own FF number using MMB on ba.com.

Maybe you made your booking on aa.com, and it transferred your status across?

Yep, I did book on aa.com.

If BA keeps screwing up every day, how long can it be called transient?

I only have some J short hauls , however I have had no issues with seat assignment other than not being able to get row 1 or 2 which is hardly a major issue; row 3 is just as good as row 2

Dave

To be honest, If I don;t have 1 A/C then 2/3 are the same in my eyes - actually I would prefer 3 I think as you can see more of whats going on :D

True enough; the only negative I have had is not being able to get row 1 ( though that may change as they iron it out ) so I am having a hard time getting worked up over the change

Dave

I'm booked into Y and on the A320 I can select any seat beginning from row 5 (except emrg exit), that means all seats in Y.
On the 744 38J I can select all seats beginning from row 25 (except emrg exits), also all seats in Y.
I booked my flight on BA.com and filled in my FF#, but somehow the status didn't transfer. I called them and asked about reserving a seat and they said that they could not do that for me, so I said that I read on their homepage that OW Sapphire should be able to reserve a seat. The agent said that my status was not registered, she removed the FF# and added it again, and now she could view the seat map but not select any seat.
The next morning I tried MMB and could select seats.
So my advice is: Make sure that your status is reflected in your booking, if it isn't, give the systems some time to update and then try to reserve a seat again.

It's easy to tell whether your status is recognised under MMB as if you click on the "at the airport" tab, it will tell you what lounge you have access to.

That's a great tip. Thanks.

However, even though it tells me I have access to the FIRST lounge at LHR, it will not let me select a seat in ET forward of row 12 on a A321.

One other note BA do not include OW elite members in their pre flight editing! so look forward to lots of hassle checking in!
QF and CX do for all OW's^
I have also had lots of times when I've known the flight to be over sold and upgrades are on the cards, where as a OW Emerald you would expect a chance even BA Blues get the seat! It is policy BA first regardless of status then OW:td:

Hmm... I wonder if we can get OW to deal with the BA lounge Dragons in MIA.

That's exactly what I have been jumping up and down about for the last two weeks!

Time to join my crusade! ;)

Count me in!

BA is probably trying to decide between giving OW members "the finger" using the left hand or the right hand.

BA has two left hands.

No advance seating and no mention of a lounge for me. :td:

My guess is that unless you book through aa.com, the BA system does not know your elite status (the same problem that BA lounge dragons have trying to verify status?).

How did you add the frequent flyer number? Give them a call an remove n readd the number and the status should be obtained

Dave

My very limited experience with BA with op-ups is the opposite (Emeralds after BA Gold but before BA Silver). I've seen it happen this way and not as BA Blue before Emeralds, however this has been claimed fairly frequently on FT (generally by BAEC members, I suppose this myth helps to cushion the shortcomings of that program). Perhaps it happens during last-minute op-ups when closing a flight, but definitely not as standard BA procedure.

The experiences I am aware of also fit this general model in that they have upgraded other OW status members. Regardless, in regards to the complaint about it, there is nothing stated anywhere that says that people with OW status will be upgraded ahead of others. If they chose to upgrade people based on hair colour there would be no grounds for complaint

Dave

But grounds for voting with your feet and flying LH instead. With the messes at LHR these months, one after another, transiting FRA and MUC instead is looking a lot more attractive (and now LH is bidding to create a new hub at BCN, which will probably be accepted). LH has its own set of problems, but has steadily improved each year for the past 5 years and since the LX acquisition is becoming quite a competitor to BA.

Looks like shorthaul seat assignments may have been sorted out. As a OW Emerald , I was able to re-select 1A ( after ticking the box agreeing that I was suitable for an exit row )

Dave