Cheap airline seating

degeneration

Yes, plane is 2-4-2 config.

£400 regardless of percentage of total cost is still not an insignificant amount of money. But for this instance for reasons I'm not going into, it is a higher percentage than you might think.

I don't know if you can only book seats for some of the booking, I haven't actually tried. I've messaged b.a. to get their take on this, to find out for certain. Might end up being a null issue for the reasons you've all suggested.

And bradders... Brats? They've got as much right to be in any cabin class as you have. Fortunately when it comes to my kids I couldn't give a Castlemine XXXX about other people's opinions!

Nick, yeah, I'm hoping to not book at this stage, but will keep a lookout on the availability of seats on my booking, just in case the sets of 4 go. Although there are only two sets of 4 left on the outbound flight at the moment...

Nick_C

The availability of seats in Manage My Booking is not necessarily the same as the seats on the flight which are currently empty.

https://www.expertflyer.com/mobile/seatMap.do will give you a better indication of what seats are reserved and which are simply blocked.

At T-48, it may show no seats available at all, as BA will pre allocate seats for you and these will then be blocked.

Chris_Kirkman

I shall be flying to California later in the year with my wife and adult daughter using either BA or Virgin Atlantic. I used skyscanner to search and having decided which flights will be suitable followed link through to an agent where I added baggage but not been able to determine if I will be able to choose seats so that we are all together or whether I will have to pay extra. I have seen suggestions that Virgin may charge from £30 per person per flight if particular seats are requested but don't know if that will apply.


Been reading through this thread as well as other searches online but haven't been able to get a definitive answer to my question.


Does anybody know the answer to this or had experience of seat allocation for a small group travelling together.


Thanks
Chris

Westin

@255

Both BA and VS will charge for seating in their Economy/World Traveller cabins. The exception is on Virgin if you select the enhanced Economy Delight fare package as a seat assignment is included.

BA seat assignment fees if you hold no status in the FF programme are IMO ridiculously high.

Nick_C

Chris, check out what type of aircraft is scheduled to operate each flight. A 777 with 3-4-3 seating or a787 (with 3-3-3 seating) will have very narrow seats and will feel cramped.

If I was flying to CA in Economy, I would chose a 747, A380, or A340

blindman

Chris_Kirkman wrote: »

I shall be flying to California later in the year with my wife and adult daughter using either BA or Virgin Atlantic. I used skyscanner to search and having decided which flights will be suitable followed link through to an agent :eek::eek:


where I added baggage but not been able to determine if I will be able to choose seats so that we are all together or whether I will have to pay extra. I have seen suggestions that Virgin may charge from £30 per person per flight if particular seats are requested but don't know if that will apply.


Been reading through this thread as well as other searches online but haven't been able to get a definitive answer to my question.


Does anybody know the answer to this or had experience of seat allocation for a small group travelling together.


Thanks
Chris

Why are you not booking direct with the airline?

Do NOT pay for the seats,check in ON-line 24hrs(IIRC) before and you can choose for free.

Chris_Kirkman

blindman wrote: »

Why are you not booking direct with the airline?

Do NOT pay for the seats,check in ON-line 24hrs(IIRC) before and you can choose for free.

Thanks for you reply.
From what I've seen in my search for flights there is probably little difference in price for a basic flight with hand baggage. However when checked bags are included there can be substantial savings but difficult to determine if I would then be hit with charges for 3 of us to sit together.

For the flights I'm considering:
Virgin A. direct booking - hand baggage £308 - checked bag £418
Booking via travelup.com - hand baggage £301 - checked bag £341

British A direct booking - hand baggage £333 - checked bag £423
Booking via travelup.com - hand baggage £328 - checked bag £383

This means that a flight with Virgin and checked in bag could be £77 cheaper when booked through the agent, hence my question trying to find out if I would then have to pay to choose seats.

Pollycat

Chris_Kirkman wrote: »

Thanks for you reply.
From what I've seen in my search for flights there is probably little difference in price for a basic flight with hand baggage. However when checked bags are included there can be substantial savings but difficult to determine if I would then be hit with charges for 3 of us to sit together.

For the flights I'm considering:
Virgin A. direct booking - hand baggage £308 - checked bag £418
Booking via travelup.com - hand baggage £301 - checked bag £341

British A direct booking - hand baggage £333 - checked bag £423
Booking via travelup.com - hand baggage £328 - checked bag £383

This means that a flight with Virgin and checked in bag could be £77 cheaper when booked through the agent, hence my question trying to find out if I would then have to pay to choose seats.

Are you sure that the Travelup prices are live?
A lot of OTA do not have live prices.
Any company can advertise any price but can they deliver?

ETA:
I'm unsure if you've already booked or are still looking at your options.

Chris_Kirkman

Pollycat wrote: »

Are you sure that the Travelup prices are live?
A lot of OTA do not have live prices.

Yes, I'm sure their prices are live. The price with only hand baggage is pretty much the same as direct with airline, it's when a checked bag is added that they are able to reduce the price but is that because the airline subsequently charges to select seats?

Pollycat wrote: »

Are you sure that the Travelup prices are live?
I'm unsure if you've already booked or are still looking at your options.

Still looking at options.

TwickersJohn

Ryanair is very clear this isn't officially encouraged. It says: "For reasons of weight, balance and safety, and to prevent delays during boarding, we advise all customers to sit in the seats they have been allocated. Since all of our seats are allocated, the issue of swapping seats simply doesn't arise."

More total b*ll*x from Ryanair. If this were true everyone would have to provide their body weight when checking in. They certainly don't want you to swap seats after take off for two reasons: a) you might end up some distance from luggage in the over head lockers and cause delays exiting the plane on landing and b) passenger identification in the event of an accident.



I think we have enough empirical evidence to confirm that Ryanair deliberately separate passengers on the same booking from sitting together. Recently I traveled with my wife on the same booking, we were seated three rows apart and both had an empty seat beside us.


It is also rumoured that, if two people are on the same booking and and check in during the 48 hour free seat allocation period, and one has an empty seat beside them then they cannot pay for the other person to move. i.e. Ryanair forces both passengers to move to be together.