MSE News: British Airways to charge for seat selection

qwerty123456

Chester85 wrote: »

Introducing charges on seats is just another move BA have made to increase money at the expense of service...

As mentioned above seat selection is not something that is free today and will be charged for tomorrow. Seat selection in advance just is NOT possible today (for the majority of people), BA are offering it as an additional service for a fee.

bagand96

BA used to be the national, government owned, airline of the UK. However they are now just another PLC, and are no more the UK flag carrier than Virgin, Thomson, bmibaby etc all of whom have the Union Jack on the sides of their aircraft.

They may be considered by many to be a "flag carrier" which at times is a reputation they love, and at other times they'd probably like to shed. But in reality our airline industry is completely deregulated, all British registered airlines are commercial operations. We don't have a "National airline" (well, there is one exception that has a very sizeable fleet with a lot of varied aircraft, but we can't buy tickets for that one!!)

Of course they are looking for extra revenue streams and trying to slash costs, but show me an airline that isn't! This charge is not uncommon in the airline industry. Its a new avenue for BA certainly, interesting to see how this and all other changes there will go down.

BA doesn't really have much of a future in shorthaul. Their biggest issue is staffing. Its part of the hangover from being the national carrier, their labour agreements are prohibitive for the airline and hail from a time when the airline industry was a very different place. This is their major problem and unfortunately means they just cannot compete in the shorthaul market. If BA has any future in shorthaul it is their shareholding in flybe, which I can see them increasing in the future.

alanrowell

Currently most people (ie without status) can't book seats more than 24 hours in advance, so this is an additional service offered by BA.

Personally for most of my BA flights, I don't give a damn as to where I sit - would people rather that the seat reservation charge was added into the price of a ticket and was compulsory

fifeken

qwerty123456 wrote: »

As mentioned above seat selection is not something that is free today and will be charged for tomorrow. Seat selection in advance just is NOT possible today (for the majority of people), BA are offering it as an additional service for a fee.

I'm not sure I agree.

I don't fly BA regularly but earlier this year I had four flights with them and on at least two I picked my seat when doing the on-line check in. I remember it as I was even allowed to pick the exit row which was a surprise. When I selected the exit row another box popped up for me to confirm I was capable of opening the door etc. if required, which is usually the reason given for not being allowed to pre-select exit rows.

PS I have no status with them.

pelirocco

Chester85 wrote: »

apparantly this move is key 'to surviving the economic downturn.'

So £20 in EuroTraveller makes them more expensive than the average rip off charter and the likes of Jet2 and FlyBe

Good old flag carriers. Sooner Heathrow Airlines gets its comeuppance the better

And thats unreasonable?

I find it worrying that people expect and sometimes get flights for next to nothing , It takes a lot of money to keep airplanes flying safely I for one I would rather pay the cost of this

withabix

I'm not defending BA here, but what's the problem??

They are introducing an option WHICH DID NOT EXIST BEFORE and are making a charge for it.

Unless you take up this new option, it won't cost you anything.

I will be waiting until T-24 to select my seats as I always have done in the past. Costs nothing.

foresterf

withabix wrote: »

I'm not defending BA here, but what's the problem??

They are introducing an option WHICH DID NOT EXIST BEFORE and are making a charge for it.

Unless you take up this new option, it won't cost you anything.

I will be waiting until T-24 to select my seats as I always have done in the past. Costs nothing.

My view too.

What's the problem?

If folk want to complain about BA they should direct it to the apparently large proportion of disaffected, unhelpful and rude staff they employ at Terminal 5.

old_motters

£20 for a pre-booked exit row seat on a Long Haul economy flight. Sounds like bargain to me.

That said, I don't like being charged to select my seat when I've already paid for the ticket. Why does the airline care where I sit on the plane, surely I should get to choose since it doesn't impact them.

inflationbusting

Bit disappointing as in the past I have managed to nab some good seats on the online check-in.

It's all supply and demand; airlines know that more people like the exit row seats because of the extra legroom. Therefore, the premise is that some people will want it so much they will be prepared to pay for it. And airlines love this, because the costs to them to sit someone in the exit row is zero. Therefore, this is money for nothing.

I don't think it'll affect the majority of people, but the measure is a bit budget-airline ish. Revenue-wise, how many people are going to pay? Realistically for short-haul, perhaps only a couple.
I would have thought BA would have been better off pushing upgrades a bit, given that the declining traffic in this area.

lily_the_pink

Although I can see the point that they are creating a "new service", my worry as a family would about our ability to get seats together (without paying of course) - BA used to have a policy about this so will be interesting to see if a) the policy has been changed or whether b) they will cover themselves a la easy jet by saying that customers can pay for the priveledge.

My son is older now (well, at least past a toddler age) so it would be more a bother to other passengers on short haul who he would strike up conversation with than ourselves if we all had to sit seperately. Long haul though this would be an issue as the additional costs would be significant and I would not be happy if he was not seated with either myself or my OH - and BA policy used to be relatively clear that this would not happen (except under extraordinary circumstances). With a child, aged 2 or 3, it really is not practical to seat the child seperate from the mother/father/other family member - they dont have to all be together but no-one is going to leave a small child on their own.

This is a safety issue as much as anything (in the case of evacuation, you really dont want stricken parents desperately going against the flow of people getting off a plane in search of their children). Hopefuly it will still be T-72 for families rather than the standard T-24 - but there still could be issues unless blocks of seats are reserved without being formally assigned upon reservation.

I do think they have shot themselves in the foot with this change, created a load of bad publicity and bad will (not to mention the PR opportunities for Ryan air and Virgin). Although it is just adding a service that was not there originally, it is also creating problems that were not there either. What will happen if someone has paid for a seat then someone with an infant needs a bassinet? Or you get an aircraft change, and the seat you selected carefully is no longer so advantageous.

By the way, the name of the Head of Customer Experience is Mark Hassell. :rotfl: