They want to charge me $42 each way to reserve a seat!!! United does not charge a fee. Even when booking Economy Plus on British, which is $1000 more, you still have to pay $53 to reserve a seat. Highway robbery.

We're flying in May 2014. I'm going to wait a couple more weeks to see if a sale comes up.

I know it's more expensive to fly out of the UK but this is ridiculous!

This is their policy - and it even applies to business class. The only exception is if you book air through a travel agency that is a PSA (preferred selling agent) with British Air - I believe PSA agencies can assign seats.

"I know it's more expensive to fly out of the UK but this is ridiculous"

This statement doesn't make sense.

Neither does rest of your post. Your culture involves giving away 20% in tips to the postman, the post man's cat and his brother, yet you're moaning about $42 on a flight ticket.

You really need to make it clear that the cost of a seat reservation is to reserve a particular seat. If you wait until the 24 hours prior to departure booking, it costs you nothing. I've been flying BA for years and only once have I paid to book early. I've never found it a problem to find a decent seat within the 24 hour period. Unless you want to book several seats together, it's not worth the extra cost. Just be ready to select your seat as soon as the 24 hours comes up.

It is so annoying being "nickeled and aimed" or perhaps it is "pence and pounds" but what can you do? If you care about choosing your seat, I would pay the fee. If your seat doesn't matter much to you, you can decide to wait. Personally, I like the guarantee of a seat of my choosing and think I am less likely to be bumped should the flight be oversold.

OK - they are not charging you to "book a seat" they are charging you to "reserve specific seats in advance". This is not at all the same thing.

If you don;t care what seat - wait and se what they give you. If you care that much - they why complain about a few $ more?

(Frankly I love that Jet Blue LET's you pay extra for specific seats - with more leg room, priority boarding and priority security line - which can mean waiting behind 10 people rather than behind 200 to be screened.)

So, you can afford to take a holiday and fly Economy Plus and yet you're whining about a few dollars? Poor you.

And yes, United does charge extra for certain seats, located in exit rows or near the front of the plane.

So fly United.

I think what he was talking about was the big tax that is charged if you fly to the U.S. from LHR. It's abnormally high.

If one is flying open jaw to Paris and London, they'd do best to start in London and fly home from Paris to avoid that tax.

He was talking about the additional cost of booking a desired seat prior to the 24 hour pre-flight selection.

So many complain about the additional fees and taxes BA adds to their flights, but they are up front in their pricing. None of these fees are hidden or added on to posted costs. All taxes are included in their pricing. I have sometimes found that flying BA from my departure city is no more expensive than other airlines. Just depends.

I agree with the idea that complaining about a few dollars in additional costs for a trip that will likely run into the thousands is penny-pinching to the extreme. When traveling most of us have to decide where we will pull in our budget and where we want to spend a bit extra. If BA's extra cost for prebooking seats really bothers you, then don't spend the money.

<i>I know it's more expensive to fly out of the UK</i>

Even if true, what does that have to do with BA as United, AA, etc will have the same.

<i>If one is flying open jaw to Paris and London, they'd do best to start in London and fly home from Paris to avoid that tax.</i>

No, it's best to work out what the TOTAL COST, flight times, etc is, then make a decision based on those factors otherwise you'd become the person who spent a Pound to save a Penny