voyager61

We have booked tickets for next June on British Airways from Seattle using FF miles for two and purchasing a third. The flight is to London connecting to Rome, and we are on BA all the way. They have told us that we can only get seat assignments 24 hours ahead of time through on-line check-in. This is new for us and a bit nerve-wracking. Does anyone have experience with this system? Any problems we should be aware of??? Thanks!

Gardyloo

That's correct, and yes, a lot of people have trouble with it, including getting seats that are separated, etc.

Short of becoming a BA elite frequent flyer, or obtain Oneworld elite status, or buying a refundable ticket, your pretty much stuck.

Gardyloo

...obtain<b>ing</b>; you<b>'re</b>... sheesh.

dfr4848

That's right. It stinks IMO, but they set the rules. Our daughter is flying on them this Sat from IAH-LHR-ATH. No check-in/seat selection until 24 hrs in advance.

Paulchili

Boy, you hit a nerve with me. It is my favorite pet peeve.
I fly frequently for AA miles and thus often have to use BA internationally. Even being AA Gold (over 1 mil miles) and flying business class with BA I still cannot choose seats until 24 hours before. These are flights over 11 hours each, so seat selection is important.
What upsets me is that they are OneWorld partners but do not play by the same rules - you can get seat assignments on ALL other OW partners (JL,CX,IB,AA,etc)

travelgourmet

Well, I have always had status or a corporate contract that let's me choose seats in advance on BA, but I will offer that most of the others on the flight will be in the same boat. BA makes it pretty much impossible to obtain elite status flying in coach, so just how many elites would you expect to be sitting in the back? Indeed, in my experience, there are usually plenty of seats available at the 24-hour mark.

I wouldn't worry. Just check in as early as possible and cross your fingers. There isn't a whole lot you can do, so why bother thinking too much about it?

Paulchili

&quot;I wouldn't worry.....&quot;

Easy for you to say travelgourmet,as you always had the luxury of seat selection ahead of time.
I have read horror stories on this board about families not being seated together on BA. One cannot always get to a computer exactly 24 hours before the flight for any number of reasons...

travelgourmet

Paulchili: And the alternative is? The OP has already booked the tickets, and paid for one. Unless they want to eat the costs, what can they do? At this point, there is nothing that can be done, so there is no point in worrying about it. Short of getting the appropriate status (AA Plat or above, or BA Silver, for example), the only thing that can reasonably be done is to check in at the T-24 window.

Does it stink? Sure, but that is the way it goes. The European carriers simply do not care about your seat assignments. It is strictly an American thing to view them as sacrosanct. Even those that let you choose routinely change seats at the last minute.

Paulchili

I suppose you are right - nothing can be done now by the OP.
But it still stinks!
BTW, OP must have BA FF miles to be able to fly Seattle to LHR on BA.

travelgourmet

<i>BTW, OP must have BA FF miles to be able to fly Seattle to LHR on BA.</i>

Or Alaska miles...

Odin

It's not a case of European airlines not caring about ASA, it's more to do with people not showing up for their flight reservation which has ASA and airlines have to reorganise seating which causes issues at departure time or people to turn up late at the airport and find seats reallocated. There are no rights to booking a specific seat on any airline.

Booking BA business class or some full economy without FF miles allows seat selection at time of booking on longhaul and some shorthaul flights.

travelgourmet

<i>It's not a case of European airlines not caring about ASA</i>

Really? The fact that virtually none of the European carriers offer ASA for intra-European flights doesn't say anything to you? I think it is pretty clear where the Euro carriers stand on the issue. FWIW, I agree with their stand.

<i>Booking BA business class... allows seat selection at time of booking on longhaul...</i>

This is not true. Only full-fare business class seats are eligible for ASA on BA. Most business class fares require that you have elite status or a corporate contract that allows for ASA.

rhy

My family just took a trip on BA to Paris. I too was worried about the seat assignments, but I checked in online 24 hours in advance and was able to change my seats with no problem, even though the both flights, to and from the US, were full. They had assigned us the center 4 seats, and I changed to 2 windows and 2 aisles.

alanRow

How many people outside the US really care about being able to select a seat &quot;only&quot; 24 hours in advance?

If you book it several months in advance all that's likely to happen is that it'll get changed so you end up getting upset

Paulchili

Quote:
&quot;If you book it several months in advance all that's likely to happen is that it'll get changed so you end up getting upset&quot;

Maybe your airline (BA?) has a habit of doing that. Not our airlines. I have never had a seat assignment changed on AA, unless they changed the equipment (in that case I was notified of the change and re-chose my seats).
I pick a seat for a reason and it remains mine 95% of the time.
Different airline culture, I guess.
We are accustomed to choosing our seats, you may not be.

CptDondo

Fer crying out loud, it's a seat, not a marriage! An airplane is a big bus; it's a means to get there. All the seats are equally uncomfortable.

I've flown long distance as a family with 2 small kids a lot. Lots of times we get seat assignments that are separated. We can usually work out something once we're on board; only once have I had a problem and that was with US citizen who wanted $$$ to change seats. A short talk with the cabin crew got him straightened out (and nearly tossed off the plane, but that's another story.)

Not many people want to sit between family members and if you ask politely most people are more than willing to accomodate you.

Paulchili

Whatever floats your boat..
To me an 11+ hour flight is almost as long as a marriage and I like having a say as to where I would like to sit for those 11+ hours (especially as I had paid A LOT OF MONEY for those seats).
Obviously it does not matter to you - that's makes it easy for you.
I am really happy for you.

Paulchili

Author: alanRow
Date: 09/03/2008, 07:30 am
How many people outside the US really care about being able to select a seat &quot;only&quot; 24 hours in advance?

Most people outside of US are probably driving or taking a train to their destinations; percentage-wise very few of them fly (except overseas). The flights within Europe are one to two hours long, so you don't care where you sit.
In US on the other hand, flying is far more common (at least it used to be) and the flights are longer. We are accustomed to getting a seat assignment and like it that way.
In this day and age of computers, why can't you choose a seat at the same time as you book a flight (in the same computer system). In fact you can, except on BA.
Is that really that complicated?
They take and keep your full legal name, your credit card number,etc, etc. Is there no more room left for seat assignment on that booking?

CptDondo

Honestly? Where I sit doesn't really matter to me. All the seats are going to leave and arrive pretty much at the same time. There is some minor inconvenience, perhaps, in having this seat or that seat, but really, is it worth getting upset about? You live longer if you bend like a blade of grass....

I have much more important things to worry about.... On my last trip, I arrived, family in tow, only to be told that our connecting flight had been cancelled and that we could fly out in 2 days. That's something to worry about, not where you sit.

As it turned out, one of the desk angels finagled a non-stop flight on another airline. We didn't care where we sat, just that we were on a plane headed more-or-less in the right direction. And yes, it was a long flight - PDX-AMS.

voyager61

Yikes...hit a nerve I guess. We definitely prefer seat assignments, but we like to sit together as a family...makes 11 hours go by a lot faster. Not having assignments is not the end of the world...it's just another uncertainty one would prefer to avoid. Thanks for confirming that it's BA policy pretty much all-around for coach seats.