Prebooking seats

opinions4u

jpsartre wrote: »

They only charge if you want to pick your seat prior to online check-in. I pick my seat free of charge every time I fly with as do most people I'm sure.

BA don't give you a choice with online checking, do they?

nickcc

jpsartre wrote: »

They only charge if you want to pick your seat prior to online check-in. I pick my seat free of charge every time I fly with as do most people I'm sure.

You must have superhuman responses then as most of the seats, if not pre booked, on the 777 I flew on had already gone and just left the odd ones and two seats available. I suppose if the aircraft is not full, outside the school holidays, then seats will still be available but at peak times you pays your money and takes your chances or pay to book your seats. BA were still cheaper, even after all the extras, than Thompson from BHX.

Gloomendoom

nickcc wrote: »

You must have superhuman responses then as most of the seats, if not pre booked, on the 777 I flew on had already gone and just left the odd ones and two seats available

I have noticed the same thing, sometimes even when booking ten months in advance. I assumed that the seats shown as occupied were block booked in advance by travel agencies?

ferf1223

Gloomendoom wrote: »

I have noticed the same thing, sometimes even when booking ten months in advance. I assumed that the seats shown as occupied were block booked in advance by travel agencies?

I thought they only released a certain percentage of the seats for pre-booking by whatever means, with the remainder being held back for allocation at the airport (plus some of the 'premium' seats will be blocked out and can't be viewed unless someone has status with the airline)...it could be that has changed, time and technology has moved on...but that's how I always thought it worked.

So far we only fly airlines that allow us to select seats at the time of booking (AA and Virgin mostly)...if our chosen airlines ever changed that for long-haul we would probably pay to select our seats...short-haul I couldn't really care less but long-haul would be worth it to me for the peace of mind and selecting seats we were most happy with.

Doshwaster

ferf1223 wrote: »

So far we only fly airlines that allow us to select seats at the time of booking (AA and Virgin mostly)...if our chosen airlines ever changed that for long-haul we would probably pay to select our seats...short-haul I couldn't really care less but long-haul would be worth it to me for the peace of mind and selecting seats we were most happy with.

And that's precisely why BA do offer the option to pay for seats. They have worked out there are sufficient numbers of people who are willing to spend the money.

I don't know about AA, but Virgin do charge extra for bulkhead seats but normal seats (for now) are free.

Bob_the_Saver

Oh dear, from the responses not too many Gold card holders here today then.

jpsartre

nickcc wrote: »

You must have superhuman responses then as most of the seats, if not pre booked, on the 777 I flew on had already gone and just left the odd ones and two seats available.

I fly with BA on a regular basis and I've never not had a large selection of seats to pick from in economy. Indeed I'm flying with them tomorrow afternoon and as of now (about an hour until online check-in opens) there are well over half the seats left to choose from. I agree that it can be a problem in premium cabins though due to the limited number of seats. And granted, I tend to try and check in as soon as the option is there.

nickcc

jpsartre wrote: »

I fly with BA on a regular basis and I've never not had a large selection of seats to pick from in economy. Indeed I'm flying with them tomorrow afternoon and as of now (about an hour until online check-in opens) there are well over half the seats left to choose from. I agree that it can be a problem in premium cabins though due to the limited number of seats. And granted, I tend to try and check in as soon as the option is there.

Perhaps it was down to the School Summer Holidays and a popular destination but I can assure you that what I stated was correct. I also checked in as soon as the online check in opened.

Doshwaster

Bob_the_Saver wrote: »

Oh dear, from the responses not too many Gold card holders here today then.

Not me, I'm just a mid ranking Silver card holder. I'm sick of these pesky GCH's getting all of the best seats.

nickcc wrote: »

Perhaps it was down to the School Summer Holidays and a popular destination but I can assure you that what I stated was correct. I also checked in as soon as the online check in opened.

I suppose it also depends on how many seats you want together. You should be fine with two but could struggle getting 3 or 4 next to each other.

nickcc

Doshwaster wrote: »

Not me, I'm just a mid ranking Silver card holder. I'm sick of these pesky GCH's getting all of the best seats.



I suppose it also depends on how many seats you want together. You should be fine with two but could struggle getting 3 or 4 next to each other.

We had 2 x 2 and 3 x 1 some at the front of economy and the others at the rear. For a return flight for the 7 of us at a cost of nearly £6000 I would have expected seats that were closer together especially as 3 of the passengers were between 12 and 14 paying full fare, but it seems that children turn into adults sooner as far as the airlines are concerned.