AntonyMercer - 08/05/2008 20:23
Booked in December to travel in Club Europe with BA from Heathrow to Malaga to celebrate our first anniversary, and found out when trying to check-in online 23 hours and 59 minutes before the flight. that we were 4 rows apart. Me in 1E, my partner in 5E. What fabulous value at nearly £400 per ticket. The reason according to BA is Club is occupied by Gold and Silver members of BA who have booked their seats. As a lowly Blue member booking a restricted Business Class seat meant that I could only select my seat at check-in. The problem was that there were only 2 seats available - me and my partner's. This was meant to be a first anniversary celebration. Needless to say, my partner is not happy thinking I contrived this. Can anyonew help me. BA have told me that the situation is the same when we fly back on 16th May. Can't wait!!
GDStraveller - 09/05/2008 00:50
Hmm, it's not ideal having spent all that money I sympathise - but you will find the crew onboard will try their best to switch people around to accomodate you - (not 100% guaranteed, but in my experience always been okay on the day )- mention at check-in again, and at the boarding gate and door as you board - you need to ask for the Cabin Service Director - Good Luck!
VintageKrug - 09/05/2008 07:58
How annoying for you.
I totally sympathise and even as a Gold member I find this rather perverted seating policy which has been in action for about 18 months utterly unhelpful; it does mean I can get the seats I want well in advance, but those travelling with me struggle.
This policy does nothing to encourage people such as youself who are looking for a premium experience, and are paying a good whack to achieve that.
£400 a ticket is a lot for restricted CE, it can be had on certain routes exLGW for as little as £190 (GVA Geneva, BUB Dublin and AMS Amsterdam being excellent cheapo destinations for the Club Europe experience, and of course you can save another £15 per ticket if you have the 200 BA shares which entitle you to 10% off all exUK fares, excl. taxes).
The advice above is absolutely spot on; do check in at a desk again and see if they can move you round, and again at the gate, and once again with the Purser once on board (look for the name label) and see what can be done. Make sure you tell them it's your anniversary, but don't pull a DYKWIA, as that can be counterproductive.
If all else fails, if there are seats together in EuroTraveller ask for an involuntary downgrade, citing you seating fiasco, and demand the difference in fare from BA.
At all times, try to remain calm (I am sure you would) and recognise that unless someone is willing to move you might be out of luck. So plan to be seperated, which will help manage your expectations (and blood pressure!).
Sadly, both are middle seats so not hugely desirable, but 1E is still a bulkhead seat so that would be attractive to most swappers. The good news is that you are likley to have two singles either side of you, with some potential for movement.
Remember some seats are booked on flexible CE (less though on this primarily leisure destination) so some people might not pitch up, giving some room for maneoevre.
Do remember to request a glass of champagne from the waiters in the BA Terraces Lounge as that might help calm you both pre-flight, and you can download a £5 voucher from the BAA website www.baa.co.uk towards some smart Duty Free champagne once you arrive in Spain, and do ask for some fizz on board (sometimes people seem shy to do this for some reason).
I hope very much this doesn’t ruin your vacation; certainly a succinct letter to BA after the trip should result in some miles as an ex gratia gift but ultimately the bottom line is that airlines do not have a duty to sit you next to each other, notwithstanding the annoyance this will cause you both.
FrequentTraveller - 09/05/2008 09:01
I sympathise too, how annoying. Even as a BA Silver card holder I hate this seating policy as well.
If the economy seating is not 100% full, by at least five seats, then they could take the initiative and save the day by pushing the cabin divider curtain back an extra row? Thus creating an extra row of seats for the Club Europe cabin.
This may already be too late for your outbound flight, as economy passengers checked in on-line may well have already been assigned seats in the first economy row. They will be just as unhappy to have their seat changed after check-in. Although it would not be too late for your return flight, again assuming economy has at least five empty seats.
Do mention the problem to the BA staff at the boarding gate. When the flight is closed, any seats allocated to no show passengers will become available. If you have had a friendly word with the gate staff then they will usually be helpful if seats become free.
CaptainChris - 10/05/2008 18:53
Cabin crew on your flight will definetaly help you and seat you together.
davidhall1 - 12/05/2008 10:58
In future try and book your seats when you make your booking, you should find that doing this, that you should find seats available next door to each other
VintageKrug - 12/05/2008 16:39
Though the above is good advice, that is the very problem with BA's seating policy; unless you are an elite member of the BA Exec Club (Silver, Gold) you cannot pre-allocate your seat, leading to justified gripes such as this one.
