[AlanOrton1]

That would be a sensible compromise.
I don’t see BA reversing their policy, I wouldn’t be overly surprised if other carriers start this at some stage, especially with others also charging for Y seat allocation.
However, keeping a good number of seats ‘held’ for status pax as well as those in ‘premium’ locations should still enable these pax to get a fair stab at a good seat.
I remember as a humble Bronze being able to snag upper deck J seats without issue on flights to and from HKG & SIN 4 years back.

[SimonS1]

I can’t help thinking part of this is down to the ‘coffin class’ layout on BA.

Window seats are fine, however the aisle seats are very exposed and you have people climbing over you to get out. Plus the centre seats are not really appealing unless you are travelling as a couple.

If CW was upgraded then it would make a difference, but dream on.

Maybe Tim’s suggestion is a good compromise. I can understand why BA would want best customers (even those booking late) to have a good seat choice, however it just seems a bit grasping when someone spends what could be thousands on flights and then gets stung for extra money to reserve seats together.

[AlanOrton1]

Slightly tongue in cheek:
BA could increase the base fares on their website by the amount it costs to reserve a seat.
Then on the booking page, once logged into their account, elite members would receive an ‘elite rate’, which would be a lower fare, the reduction being aroundthe cost of a seat reservation.

Somewhat different to this, but now fairly common, is some hotel chains (Marriott and Hyatt spring to mind) having an elite rate that is lower than the best available rate on their websites.

[MartynSinclair]

not sure if I missed it, but do BA charge for seat selection in F for non status passenger?

[JohnHarper]

One of the first things that put Mrs JH and I off BA coffin class was that 50% of the seats face backwards, something we both disliked. There is no option unless you both face backwards in the highly undesirable middle seats to sit side by side so for us it was a loser from the start.

I wonder how many people pay to get a forward facing seat and then find they are right in the aisle with someone climbing over them and food being passed over their head.

[PeterCoultas]

JH: As the football season moves towards its climax I seem to remember that in the Manchester United crash years back there was a much better survival rate for people in backward facing seats.

I personally am happy with such seast especially if they are window seats in a 1-2- I layout or a cabin where all seats have a direct aisle access

[Tim2soza]

MartynSinclair – BA do not charge for seat allocation in First. 1A / 1K is blocked for Gold members, and a Gold can’t reserve the row 1 pair if their travel companion on same ticket is not also a Gold until 24 hours out.

[AlanOrton1]

Martyn – I believe F get free seat allocation, or at least they certainly used to, as I remember using an Amex 2-4-1 before I had any form of BA status, and they allocated us seats which we could see via MMB. (They were charging for J seating then).

To each their own, but Mrs O and I have never had an issue feeling ‘separated’ in BA J with one by the window and one by the aisle. When we’ve been fortunate enough to fly F, I’ve always noticed the large number of couples that appear to choose to sit in the solo window seats, one in front of the other. Great seats as they are, we go for a middle pair, as easier to chat etc. (2 front rows of BA 747 being the exception where you can both have a window seat and as being in the nose, still converse easily). I guess not all couples are too troubled if they sit right next to each other or not!!

[SimonS1]

@Martyn – no F is always free selection. Although I vaguely recall that on the 747 at least certain seats (row 1) were blocked for Golds.

[JohnHarper]

PeterCoultas – 06/02/2016 10:28 GMT

Agreed and I think the military also have backwards facing seating for the same reasons.

That said, if I thought there was a realistic prospect fo crashing I wouldn’t get on in the first place!

[AlanOrton1]

Yes – row 1 is blocked for gold and only gold, so when booking for a gold and non gold pax on same booking you can’t snag row 1.

[RHMAngel]

Sorry all but I’m resurrecting this, in a fit of disgust as more appropriate than this thread

The race to the bottom to charge for everything has come to fruition.

A Premium Economy flight, long haul, hits £1000+ mark, pondering, why no seat selection ? and you know what, hit with a separate menu AFTER paying, that to chose seats is another £101 on top, it could be less as MIDDLE row seats were lower priced. Or the flurry of well (like short European flights) you can take your chance with the free choice 24 hours before check in.

Am I outraged is an understatement, as for the same long haul flight in summer, there was no charge for PE seat selection. The fact that there is NO discernible lowering of the overall ticket price (as indeed you see with cabin bag only fares) but instead an increase in flight ticket, and further “add on” of choosing a seat, with seats on the edges as MORE, albeit less than the bulk-head or exit rows just takes BA IMHO lower than low.

Yes, while not a GOLD member, nor in First Class, I find this very very sad state of affairs for BA.

I’m due to fly to Australia soon, and I’m reminded that both Singapore Airways and ‘possibly’ Qantas now also charge for seat selection, unless on the full fare for premium cabins.

How has the low cost airline model of charging for air, to breath, to board, for food, for seating – reached the main carriers like BA ??

How do transport carriers (trains, planes not automobiles) get away with such monopolistic robbery.

Yours, one angry dismayed frequent long haul traveller, going where possible business or on my own steam, PE at least.

(ps, no air miles wasn’t used to buy this £1000+ flight)

[capetonianm]

Unfortunately BA are in a race to the bottom, and they have some competition. They won’t include the seat charge in the base fare as it would reduce their competitiveness, particularly on screen-scrapers and OLTAs where direct comparison is possible.

It is a disgrace to charge this in premium classes, and it’s one of many reasons, some more significant than this, that I now refuse to travel BA unless there really is no viable choice. Although I fly frequently between LON and CPT, I would rather go via AMS or ZRH, my usual routing, with an airline that appreciates my custom (or at least pretends to!) than pay BA for their shoddy service on their scruffy 747-436s.

As for the rear/forward seat pairings, if you are travelling with someone you want to converse with, it’s quite a good feature, if not, then it’s ghastly, another of BA’s bad ideas.

Whilst it does make sense to prioritise passengers who have higher FF levels, BA’s approach is alienating passengers. Even my extraordinarily tolerant wife (she has to be to put up with me), and she’s not even British, is starting to see the light, or should I say the darkness that is BA.

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