Look, my sister-in-law is BA cabin crew. I bought a Mini here in Houston to support the British economy (and yes well it looks cool too). I do my best to ensure that my as much of my money as possible goes eastward to the UK rather than westward to China and Japan.

However, as a lowly Blue who was trying (really I was) to fly BA in addition to Continental, I have to say I don't like the message below at all. What if I can't check in online due to lack of internet connectivity? Does that mean I'll be stuck in the middle down the back by the toilets? Do I need to get out of my hammock, put down my drink and go to the lobby and convince someone to let me use their computer to check in for my flight so I won't be in hell?

Peace of mind is very important to me, and I won't have any with this. Sadly, it's one more reason for someone like me - who almost always has a choice - not to go with BA.

Dear Mrs. ElkeNorEast,

At British Airways our focus is to create a speedy and seamless journey through the airport for our customers. We therefore wanted to let you know about how we will be improving one of the key elements of your travel experience over the coming months.
From December 5, 2006, we will be making some important changes to give you a better and wider choice of seats when checking in online for your flight. We will no longer pre-assign seats for most customers at the time of booking, as often seats are taken by travellers who decide not to fly. Pre-assignment of seats will still be available for specific groups of customers, including families with young children, FIRST class travellers, Gold and Silver Executive Club members, and those travellers holding fully flexible tickets across all cabins.*
How to select the best seats
In the future, more seats will be made available for you to select when you check-in for your flight. The best way to secure the seat of your choice will be to check in online at ba.com from 24 hours before your flight departs. The earlier you check in, the greater the choice of seats you will have.
To help you select your preferred seat when using online check in we have also improved our seating maps on ba.com, which will display up to the minute seat availability, and include emergency exit rows and highlight the position of toilets, infant cots and crew galley areas.
To find the full details of our new seating policy, please visit ba.com/seating.
I hope that you find these changes helpful when you travel with us.
Warm regards,
William B. Harford Jr.
Senior Vice President Commercial, Americas

The search button really DOES work now!

I have to agree with this - sorry BA

I am Blue, not through choice - simply because my work no longer means travelling a great deal overseas, and my current financial situation does not allow me to fly as much as I'd like.

I can understand the need for keeping back better seats for Premiums, Golds and Silvers but Blue seem to have been completely shoved onto the trash heap!

What happens if you don't have access to computer at -24 for OLCI - lots of people don't, especially the elderly who don't understand computers. Maybe you're on vacation and can't access a computer to OLCI - you end up stuck with c..p seating!

I thought Blue was supposed to give you at least some privileges over those that weren't BAEC members at all, but clearly not.

I'm going to post to this thread if only to annoy our new thread police .

This is a great way to compare how BA sells this as an 'enhancement'. OK so maybe I haven't ever checked in online while other than Gold, but I understood that ALL seats come available at OLCI so how they can call this a greater selection I don't know. I guess presumably its a 'greater selection' at OLCI because they have removed any possibility of pre-assignment so statistically, across all flights, more seats will be free at -24 hrs than before, Not so on the PHL flight I'll bet, everyone's a Gold on that.

I think they've thrown Blues and Silvers both.

Can non EC members do OLCI?

yes they can.

So apart from miles, does Blue get you anything any more? Its hardly worth it given the qualification requirements.

nothing whatsoever, apart from the ability to earn miles. It used to be we got an extra 12 hours of OLCI, but that vanished ages back.

The "more seas available" bit comes from the fact that ALL seats (except those pre-assigned for First / Club/ Fully Flexible Tickets / Golds/ Silvers / Wheelchair / UM's) will be available to you 24 hours before travel. No longer will we be holding any "buffer" seats at the airport for split families etc.

Obviously, the main objective is to put a stop, once and for all, to all the bickering and abuse we have to put up with at check in concerning seat assignments! Once the Boarding Pass has been issued, no further seat changes will be allowed. Just look at the threads by OLCI people concerning "BA Seat Shifters" - that will no longer happen except if operational circumstances dictate!

Of course, the real reason for this change is to devolve more of the airline's operational functions to computers so that staff numbers at the airports can be decreased yet further. If you observe closely, you will notice the airline is becoming more and more rigid in its enforcement of rules and less and less forgiving to customers who have made a simple mistake. Unfortunately, computers are not geared up to recognise human failings or to empathise with you!

The proof of the pudding is, though, that arrogant as British Airways might be, it was the first "heritage" carrier to pull through after 09/11 and the best performing "heritage" carrier worldwide currently - despite all the adverse publicity heaped upon it almost monthly! Our First and Club cabins are full - so full, in fact, that we are embarking on re-fitting our fleet with more Club accommodation - so Willie and the team must be doing something right!

Personally, I suspect it won't be long before other airlines follow BA's lead on this seating policy!

What qualification requirements ? As per the Ultimate BA Guide sticky for this forum, you can just sign up.

I got that email yesterday, too. I think it is a load of garbage. I don't see how that in any way 'enhances' the BA experience. If you book a ticket months in advance, with seats still open, you should be able to secure your seats at that time. It's called first come, first served.

While as long as I'm in a window for a short flight, or the aisle for a long flight, it really doesn't matter too much. But I would like to not be in the back of the airplane if I can help it. While this won't scare me off of BA, it does annoy the c--p out of me. Since I don't see myself making Silver this year, I guess I have to play the 'find the computer' game.

I don't see why they are throwing out silvers, because they are clearly identified as among the privileged classes.


The way I interpreted this E-mail, silvers and golds and expensive ticket holders have access to seats when they book their flight. Because non-status and even non-BAEC have no access at that time, they get the first shot at the good seats. So, it is first-come, first-served, but only if you demonstrate you are a good customer through status or an expensive ticket. Then, at OLCI, it becomes a free-for-all for everyone. Now, the savvy frequent flyer (who is not silver or gold) will get on line at 23:59 hours before their flight and get whatever has not been snagged by silvers and golds. This leaves the once-a-year flyer who doesn't know better, getting the worst seats.

So, it is an enhancement for silvers and golds, unless they are booking within 24 hours. For the savvy frequent flyer it is a toss-up. Sometimes they will win because more seats are available, other times, not. The worst off are those non-status without internet access at 23:59. They will end up in bad seats regardless of their savviness.

Are you sure you didn't buy a German mini?

But this thread specifically addresses the fact that Blues no longer can pre-assign seats, whereas the thread you reference is more generally about the new policy in its entirety.

I think it's not so good either. A loyal Bluemember who travels regularly in economy, while not as valuable obviously as the regular in First and Club, will get shafted compared to a one-time flyer on full-fare Y, for example. This hardly will inspire loyalty. BA will now be comparable to the ranks of low-cost outfits, which seems to be happening more and more...

Precisely. ^


Oh and the Blue BAEC members are going to jumping with glee to find out they're stuck in the middle of the back row, whilst those who are not BAEC members have the bulkhead - I don't think so somehow