Seat reservations

[Homer]

Got my flights and car hire booked with Virgin via Charter travel but wondering when I would be able to (If at all) reserve my flight seats on line??

Flying mid August 2014

Anyone know if we can??

Cheers

[steph_goodrum]

90 days before is the earliest now, they have gone backwards imo in that respect. It oays to check the dates and do outbound and inbound separately so youu can get the 90 benefit of most choice of seats. When I did my Christmas ones recently I checked at about midniht as I was up and it was available. Youu go onto the Virgin website, click manage my flights (or log onto your Flying Club account) and put you booking referenc in (Charter will tell youu what it is if you aren't sure) and under your flight it will say something like "View my seat" or "seat map unavailable" depending of it you can reserve them then.

[Gerry Reed]

I agree that the new system is a pain. If you book early you should have the advantage of an early choice of seat. We have just booked our seats for the outward trip on an upcoming holiday, but will be out of internet range ( in the Australian outback !) for a few days around the time that the 90 days is up for the homeward flight. We booked the flights ages ago and feel a bit grieved that we will miss out on a good choice of seats just because we can't be on line at exactly the right time.

[Macka]

We just booked 2 seats with BA and can't reserve a seat until 24 hours before the gate opens, unless we pay £120, then we can. Shameful profiteering.

[Gerry Reed]

We just booked 2 seats with BA and can't reserve a seat until 24 hours before the gate opens, unless we pay £120, then we can. Shameful profiteering.

How can they justify that ?

[christhear]

We flew ba this summer didn't prebook seats as I think at £30 each way its a rip off. Logged in exactly 24hrs before flying and couldn't get seats anywhere near each other. In fact I was in a different section of the plane to my son and husband who were 5 rows away from each other. Its just another add on for most companies now. On the other hand, booked to fly delta this year and you choose your seats as you pay for your flight. Far more sophisticated in my opinion

[Tony G]

BA's seat booking policy is downright ugly.

I don't know if they still do it, but they used to let families travelling with infants book three days in advance, so they could book seats together. This was a good concession, but alas misses out all those with children over two - I remember a few times as a child where I was seated away from my parents when flying and I hated it.

The only other way to get an advance booking without paying is if you require special assistance of some sort.

If the prices were more reasonable, I might not mind paying but they seem to want everything their own way. Grrrr....

[Katys Grandad]

Pay £3,000 for a Club return and they ask you for £30 each seat each way on top!

I'm absolutely not defending it here but their thinking is that offering free pre-selection isn't in the interests of their top paying and frequent flyers. So a businessman/woman who needs a last minute flight and pays high full fare doesn't find that all the good seats are taken by heavily discounted ticket holders. Similarly, First Class, Gold card holders and (to a limited extent) Silver card holders can select free before the 24 hour mark. In fact, certain seats aren't available to those outside those groups at all.

I'm a Gold card holder but if I wasn't there is absolutely no way I would pay what they're asking.

[Macka]

Pay £3,000 for a Club return and they ask you for £30 each seat each way on top!

I'm absolutely not defending it here but their thinking is that offering free pre-selection isn't in the interests of their top paying and frequent flyers. So a businessman/woman who needs a last minute flight and pays high full fare doesn't find that all the good seats are taken by heavily discounted ticket holders. Similarly, First Class, Gold card holders and (to a limited extent) Silver card holders can select free before the 24 hour mark. In fact, certain seats aren't available to those outside those groups at all.

I'm a Gold card holder but if I wasn't there is absolutely no way I would pay what they're asking.

Well, I do see the logic in that, however, I paid full price for 2 WTP seats and upgraded with miles. I've spent a lot of money earning those miles and don't see why that should make me a second class citizen on board. By all means save some seats for "full fare" passengers but I don't think it's unreasonable after paying so much to expect a seat next to my wife?

[steph_goodrum]

Pay £3,000 for a Club return and they ask you for £30 each seat each way on top!

I'm absolutely not defending it here but their thinking is that offering free pre-selection isn't in the interests of their top paying and frequent flyers. So a businessman/woman who needs a last minute flight and pays high full fare doesn't find that all the good seats are taken by heavily discounted ticket holders. Similarly, First Class, Gold card holders and (to a limited extent) Silver card holders can select free before the 24 hour mark. In fact, certain seats aren't available to those outside those groups at all.

I'm a Gold card holder but if I wasn't there is absolutely no way I would pay what they're asking.

Even when you could book seats when you booked the flight up to 330 days with Virgin they would only allow a percentage to be pre allocated so could easily cover that scenario if they wished.