althom1122

Whoa, I was surprised to see this policy. If you want to select your seat in advance, it's $30 on British Air. Is this something new the airlines are going to, or is it just BA? This is for economy, not an upgrade. In effect, I think what they're doing is charging extra for an aisle or window seat because anyone willing to pay the extra will certainly not be choosing the middle. Oh, and it's $30 for each leg of the flight, not $30 for the entire trip. Am I alone in thinking this is unreasonable?
If I wait until I check in, I can get a "free" seat, er, I mean no extra above the $1300 I already paid them.

bluzmama

I wasn't happy about the charge but with a 10 hr. flight I definitely wanted to have an aisle seat and I paid for the privilege.

rkkwan

Just consider this a throw back to the old days when you could only get seat assignments when you get to the airport to check-in. Past > Present when it comes to flying, right?

althom1122

Seems to me to be another case of nickel-and-diming customers. I do agree an aisle seat is more desirable, but $30 seems to me to be a bit much - perhaps because until now it's been free. All you had to do was plan/book early. Not so anymore. Sigh.

rkkwan

Aisle seat is still free; who knows how many people are actually paying the $30?

althom1122

True. I'm hoping so anyway. I'll check in 24 hours in advance (too cheap to pay the $30) and hope for the best!

LAleslie

Yipes! This is why some of the legacy airlines are finally showing profits now, by tacking on these extra charges. To me it's unreasonable, but what choice do we have, esp. on a long flight? I don't want to be stuck in a middle seat.

Marija

BA charges $90 for a discounted business class advance seat assignment for international flights.

althom1122

The BA flight was the cheapest I could find that had a reasonably good itinerary/times. I'm wishing now that I'd paid a bit more for Continental (from BWI to NY and then direct to Delhi vs. the BA flight which goes from BWI to London and then on to Delhi).
I do think that charging to select seat assignments is kind of tacky, but ok. It's a choice.

WillJame

This policy seems a bit of a scare tactic to me. You pay up to avoid sitting in the centre of the last row.
Air Canada does the same thing, but I don't buy in. What I've found is that AC allows you to do your own seat selection online 24 hours before the flight departs. That's what I've been doing, and never yet had a problem getting an excellent seat, even on a flight that turns out to be pretty well full on boarding. Althom's plan to do the same thing seems wise to me. Good luck!

520

We're flying AA to London and then BA Business to Delhi and are booking our seats on line 24 hours in advance to avoid the $90 fee per seat. As of now, the upper deck is completely booked except for four seats in the last row--but the main deck is almost completely empty. I agree with althom that it's tacky and nickle diming. IF everyone would refuse to pay the fee, perhaps the airlines would stop charging them.

Smeagol

They have though been doing it for a while!! Actually quite a lot of airlines do it over here (but usually limited to the cheaper brands) normal charge is about £7 per sector. Just booked my flights from UK to France for 4 of us because we wanted to sit together added an extra £56 that's before the HOLD baggage charge!!!
soon we will have to pay extra for our portion of the fuel!!!

merckxxx

I booked a 22 hour (total) flight to Singapore and seat selection was available at no extra charge. But what surprised me was that nearly 5 months in advance of the actual flights, nearly every seat was booked on large 777s. Imagine being sold out of your product/service and paid 5 months in advance. If I had been able to do that in my business - and not even have any leftover, unsold products, I would have been able to buy my own jet. I don't see the justification for seat charges.

rkkwan

520 - BA won't abandon the fee if just one passenger decide to pay $30 while the others don't. They're still earning $30 more. What the passengers need to do is <b>not fly BA</b> if they want to make a point.

merckxxx - Seatmaps don't necessary represent actual loads of the flight.

520

yes, I'm sure a worldwide boycott would have quite an impact--but is truly unlikely. We have our miles on AA/One World and, so far, we've done very well with them, which is, I guess a cop-out.

I wasn't thinking of one passenger not paying the advance seat fee ($30 or $90) but of many resolving to do the 24-hour advance choice. I realize it, too, is highly unlikely,although from the responses on the board, others are willing to risk poorer seat choices rather than pay the fee. Jet Blue (and I think American) charge for extra leg room seats--and I've been on quite a few flights where those seats have remained empty--or have been assigned free at the gate.

Theaters in NY now charge for "premium seats" which is the main block of center aisle orchestera seats--and the tariff often starts at $225 per seat. Hutzpah!

rkkwan

I am not talking about boycotts. I don't believe in them. But simply, if BA and another other airline offer about the same fare to the same place, fly the other airline which offers free assignments then.

But of course, you want oneworld miles and you have to decide which is more important. There are many many considerations when choosing an airline - miles, elite benefits, seats, food, connections, seat assignments - in addition to fare.

One have choices. BA has this quirks, other airlines have their problems. If one doesn't like a particularly thing, fly another.

LAleslie

merck, rkkwan's right, many of those seats were likely sold to wholesalers, who buy in bulk, and they become available again closer to the flight date when the wholesalers don't sell them.