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Thread: BA to offer seat selection - at a cost of course!

  1. #21
    Florida Expert Tonish's Avatar
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    <blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by peterB
    Someone told me that if you travel with a family, you would now have to pay extra to be guaranteed to sit together. Is that true ?[/quote]I queried something similar of another airline some time ago, as I had booked late for six of us online and couldn't get us all together.

    The advice was not to prebook the seats, as the airline's overriding priority was to keep families together. This requirement would take precedent over pre-booked seats, so if we just left it to check in at departure, somebody else would get bumped.

    Don't know if this applies across the board, but most airlines tend to mirror each other and I got the distinct impression this wasn't just airline policy but was mandated by some authority.
    Tonish


  2. #22
    Gold 5 Star Member ShirleyD's Avatar
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    <blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Tonish
    <blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by peterB
    Someone told me that if you travel with a family, you would now have to pay extra to be guaranteed to sit together. Is that true ?[/quote]I queried something similar of another airline some time ago, as I had booked late for six of us online and couldn't get us all together.

    The advice was not to prebook the seats, as the airline's overriding priority was to keep families together. This requirement would take precedent over pre-booked seats, so if we just left it to check in at departure, somebody else would get bumped.

    Don't know if this applies across the board, but most airlines tend to mirror each other and I got the distinct impression this wasn't just airline policy but was mandated by some authority.[/quote]It is BAs policy to sit families with children together. You will not have to pay any extra for this.

    Before the flight opens for general check in at 24 hours before departure, the flight is looked at to alocate seats to groups and people with 'special needs' ie infants etc.
    It is very occasionally necessary to move people to do this, but any prebooked groups will be kept together.

    Always check in as soon as it opens online
    Shirley


  3. #23
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    thanks for your reply.


  4. #24
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    <blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:[i]Originally posted by ShirleyD


    It is BAs policy to sit families with children together. You will not have to pay any extra for this.

    Before the flight opens for general check in at 24 hours before departure, the flight is looked at to alocate seats to groups and people with 'special needs' ie infants etc.
    It is very occasionally necessary to move people to do this, but any prebooked groups will be kept together.

    Always check in as soon as it opens online[/quote]True, but I think that needs some qualification.

    Firstly, at present, very few passengers can pre-book seats so when BA look to pre-assign before 24 hours now, there is always plenty of availability for them to choose from. When the ability to choose is extended, assuming people take up the offer, that will change and the choice will be much less. That is going to be very much the case on the routes like Orlando because there is a very high proportion of passengers travelling in family groups and I suppose some won't take the risk and fork out the £20 to be sure. You don't "have to pay" but it will put you at a disadvantage from now on if you don't.

    The advice to check-in online as soon as possible remains valid but there is now a real risk that the choice will be severely limited at that stage. After all, if BA could guarantee family groups that they can always sit together (and I note that nowhere in this policy do they say that they either can or will do that) the new ability to pre-select for a fee would be pretty pointless, as indeed would the need to check-in online at all.

    I would expect some seats to be held back for people with special needs (and rightly so) but a family group now has a decision to make.


  5. #25
    Gold 5 Star Member ShirleyD's Avatar
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    <blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Katys Grandad
    <blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:[i]Originally posted by ShirleyD
    It is BAs policy to sit families with children together. You will not have to pay any extra for this.

    Before the flight opens for general check in at 24 hours before departure, the flight is looked at to alocate seats to groups and people with 'special needs' ie infants etc.
    It is very occasionally necessary to move people to do this, but any prebooked groups will be kept together.

    Always check in as soon as it opens online[/quote]True, but I think that needs some qualification.

    Firstly, at present, very few passengers can pre-book seats so when BA look to pre-assign before 24 hours now, there is always plenty of availability for them to choose from. When the ability to choose is extended, assuming people take up the offer, that will change and the choice will be much less. That is going to be very much the case on the routes like Orlando because there is a very high proportion of passengers travelling in family groups and I suppose some won't take the risk and fork out the £20 to be sure. You don't "have to pay" but it will put you at a disadvantage from now on if you don't.

    The advice to check-in online as soon as possible remains valid but there is now a real risk that the choice will be severely limited at that stage. After all, if BA could guarantee family groups that they can always sit together (and I note that nowhere in this policy do they say that they either can or will do that) the new ability to pre-select for a fee would be pretty pointless, as indeed would the need to check-in online at all.

    I would expect some seats to be held back for people with special needs (and rightly so) but a family group now has a decision to make.
    [/quote]It will be interesting to see how many take up the option. I guess those that want to sit somewhere in particular like at the front will go for it. The Orlando flight has always had a lot of families without too may issues, maybe this is why this service is being offered by phone, so they don't get left with lots of odd seats. Only time will tell
    Shirley


  6. #26
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    We fly in November with BA for the first time. I will not be spending £160 just reserve seats for us. If we get split up the cabin crew will have to look after my kids for 9 hours.
    Neil & Cathy

    http://www.orlandovillas.com/villas/1401.aspx


  7. #27
    Florida Expert Sniff's Avatar
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    <blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by ShirleyD
    <blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Katys Grandad
    <blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:[i]Originally posted by ShirleyD
    It is BAs policy to sit families with children together. You will not have to pay any extra for this.

    Before the flight opens for general check in at 24 hours before departure, the flight is looked at to alocate seats to groups and people with 'special needs' ie infants etc.
    It is very occasionally necessary to move people to do this, but any prebooked groups will be kept together.

    Always check in as soon as it opens online[/quote]True, but I think that needs some qualification.

    Firstly, at present, very few passengers can pre-book seats so when BA look to pre-assign before 24 hours now, there is always plenty of availability for them to choose from. When the ability to choose is extended, assuming people take up the offer, that will change and the choice will be much less. That is going to be very much the case on the routes like Orlando because there is a very high proportion of passengers travelling in family groups and I suppose some won't take the risk and fork out the £20 to be sure. You don't "have to pay" but it will put you at a disadvantage from now on if you don't.

    The advice to check-in online as soon as possible remains valid but there is now a real risk that the choice will be severely limited at that stage. After all, if BA could guarantee family groups that they can always sit together (and I note that nowhere in this policy do they say that they either can or will do that) the new ability to pre-select for a fee would be pretty pointless, as indeed would the need to check-in online at all.

    I would expect some seats to be held back for people with special needs (and rightly so) but a family group now has a decision to make.
    [/quote]It will be interesting to see how many take up the option. I guess those that want to sit somewhere in particular like at the front will go for it. The Orlando flight has always had a lot of families without too may issues, maybe this is why this service is being offered by phone, so they don't get left with lots of odd seats. Only time will tell
    [/quote]
    All airlines attempt to keep people who have booked on the same PNR together when doing seat allocation - regardless of whether there are children involved or not. But none of them will guarantee this.

    That's why I hate the concept of charging for seat allocation. It's something the airlines must do anyway, so charging customers for it is cheeky at best. It'll be interesting to see if BA will refund any of these charges if you don't end up getting the seat you requested.

    As an individual (or couple) your best bet is still to join the airline's frequent-flyer program and register your seat preferences (aisle, window etc...most airlines allow this) as these are allocated before anything else. However this is unlikely to work for larger groups.
    Keith


  8. #28
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    Although the charging structure remains, BA have now added a seat map to their website so at least it's now possible to select particular seats rather than have them chosen for you.

    You can't view the seat map unless you have a booking on that flight but there is now the opportunity to look to see if you want to take your chances at 24 hours online check-in or cough up your £20 per seat.


  9. #29
    Gold 5 Star Member SDJ's Avatar
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    I was told recently by Virgin that any airline is legally obliged to allow a child of 12 (or it may be 14) to sit with a a parent. My daughter in law travelled in October with 2 children - aged 7 and 10. The 10 year old was given a seat on the aisle in the middle, and DIL and 7 year old were middle and aisle on the left side of the plane. As the rows are staggered it meant the 10 year old was almost behind her mother. DIL complained and eventually got 3 seats together. We phoned Virgin to make sure this would not happen on the return trip and were told it would not as the children were legally obliged to be next to their parent. When she checked in, all was okay with 3 seats together. We were ready for the big argument at the check in but obviously did not need to say anything!!


  10. #30
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    <blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by SDJ
    I was told recently by Virgin that any airline is legally obliged to allow a child of 12 (or it may be 14) to sit with a a parent. [/quote]I'm sure that any airline would make every effort to see that happened but it doesn't guarantee that a family group of, say, 2 adults & 3 children will be allocated seats together. Mind you, I'm still not completely convinced that even when you decide to pay your £20 each to select seats, you'll always end up in them.


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