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British Airways/Purchasing seats procedure

Just need some feedback on British Airways fees for purchasing seats. I purchased a CODESHARE airfare-American Airlines and British Airways to London, and even though I purchased a "Main cabin" fare with American, it doesn't allow me to choose seats ahead of time for he British Airway leg. I understand I should have done my research-, and you ARE able to pick a seat 24 hours ahead of time-but has anyone had any experience with the 24 hour seat choice on British airways ? I have already decided to book a seat, and an aisle seat in a group of 4 in the middle section cost me $36.00 each way. To reserve a MIDDLE seat in the back, even costs money to reserve. The fees go up rather steeply depending on the seat and location in the cabin-$80-$90.00 each way.

I had heard with a "codeshare" fare situation , that the rules for the airline you START with on the journey stays throughout all airlines in the codeshare, but in this case this is not true for seat selection. I was able to pick on seat on the American airline flight ( first leg) without a fee, but not on the British Airways leg.
Just wondering if anyone has used the 24 check -in with success with British airways-or if they have any experience or ideas on how to work best with Codeshare journeys that include British Airways ?
Thank you !!!

Posted by
26841 posts

Not on British Airways, but on a different European carrier (either Lufthansa or KLM). I was nervous but was able to get an aisle seat, which was my only requirement.

Posted by
4025 posts

You should have a ticket number and/or purchase confirmation. Usually these will help you buy a seat reservation from the connecting airline directly. It will cost you, of course.

Posted by
11056 posts

We are frequent American flyers but fly BA when flying to London as it always has been cheaper than doing a codeshare with Ametican. I pay to choose our seats at booking on BA.

Posted by
3218 posts

We use AA miles to fly in Business class to Europe, which usually means we get stuck with British Airways. Our upcoming September trip is the first time I have paid to select seats in advance. I want to experience sitting in the upper deck of a 747.

In previous years, I would check the seat availability in advance of our check-in day - there would only be two seats left anyway. But, those seats weren't in the middle of the middle in the back. I think it's a rip-off, but you don't want to be stuck with the worst seats on the plane.

Posted by
739 posts

While I have not flown on BA , my understanding is exactly the opposite of your. As far as I understand code share works under the rules of whomever the plane belongs to. So a Delta code share with Air France if it is a delta flight uses delta rules but if it an Air France flight that you booked via Delta it uses Air France Rules. This is why you need to check out who is actually flying the plane.

For example on my last flight to Europe we had three different airlines code share the flight. But it was a Delta flight out of Delta’s gate. It had Delta Flight attendants and it behaved exactly as a Delta flight, So the Air France and I forget the third company name but they both had Delta rules for boarding and carry one and such.

On a flight a couple years ago Delta had me take a Delta flight vs an Air France home from Paris because Delta could not control my seating location but they could override seating on a Delta Flight, (I was flying with my elderly father and he has a bad knee and needs certain seating requirements)

Now I am looking at an Air France Flight to Paris that code Shares to Delta (Booking though delta) and it says I have to follow Air France policy on seats and luggage. And fees.

So as far as I know what your are encountering is typical.

Posted by
14812 posts

I am an AA/BA passenger.

You go by the rules of whose name is on the plane. Seat selection, baggage, etc.

You were probably given a record locator number. That is for the AA reservation. The number will be different for BA. Call AA and get the BA record locator. Once you have that, you can log in via the BA website (manage your booking) and choose a seat. (This also lets you see what seats are available.

I have never waited the 24 hours to get a seat. I fly over on the same flight each time. It's a 747 and I want the upper deck. I'm willing to pay extra for it. Much more peaceful than anywhere else on the plane. But that's not a choice in Main cabin.

Posted by
238 posts

My husband and I did the American/British Airways code share to London back in 2015 and encountered the same issue of not being able to reserve a seat ahead of time. We took a chance and chose not to pay for seat selection. I kept checking the BA website to see what seats were still available and was discouraged about our chances of sitting together, but interestingly, when I logged in 24 hours (to the minute!) in advance to finally choose seats there were way more open than had appeared before. We had no trouble finding seats together right where we wanted them. I suspect that BA may hold some seats back in hopes of selling them, but open them up when the 24 hour mark is reached. It is, of course, a gamble, especially as more and more people are willing to pay the extra to guarantee a seat.

Posted by
16029 posts

Mary, did you buy this ticket from American Airlines, or from a third party like Expedia? Was it the cheapest option?

As explained above, you are bound by the rules of the airline on whose plane you are flying, no matter what segment it is ( first or second).

You need to find out if you are in Basic Economy or Standard Economy on the BA flight. Same cabin, but different rules.

https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/travel-classes/economy/our-long-haul-fares

Basic is " hand baggage only" ( no free checked bags) and you are assigned a seat when you check in, without the opportunity to select it yourself. But you can still pay to choose ahead of time.

If your ticket is in Basic Economy for a long-haul flight, I suggest you pay to get what you want.

If your ticket is in Standard Economy, you could wait until check-in and see what they have allocated for you. If you do not like it, you can change seats for free at that time, but you are limited to what is available.

Posted by
38 posts

Thanks to all of you who have commented here. Very appreciative. My son is also taking this flight and is waiting to possibly purchase a reserved seat. I am almost certain it will be a British Airway plane. I have my BA reservation code already, and will keep checking to see availability- so far, there is a ton. Thanks again....

Posted by
3200 posts

I always fly BA. For years my husband and I would wait for the 24 hour check in to choose our seats. We were always sitting together when assigned by BA. Sometimes we chose other seats and sometimes not. There were always other options, but we didn't necessarily need to take those options.

Posted by
5697 posts

Is the BA segment a long one ?? We will be flying Basuc Economy on Lufthansa Paris>Munich (2 hours) and then on United Munich>SFO. Paid to get United seats for the 10+ hour flight but for two hours we have no problem waiting to get whatever is available 24 hours prior.

Posted by
25 posts

Last fall, I booked three seats on open-jaw, codeshare flights to Italy in May on BA/AA; the booking required me to call BA directly, rather than book online (it was a quick booking window found through a google flight alert I set up.) All four legs of our flights are flying on AA aircraft, but our seats on just the international legs were assigned by BA at the time of booking. After logging into BA’s site, I was directed to AA’s website if I wanted to change our assigned international seats and/or to select our domestic flight seats – all which required an additional fee. I paid a small sum for advance seats on the domestic legs and kept the assigned international ones. (After reading comments from others, maybe next time I’ll chance it and wait for the 24-hour period.) It was a good airfare price, so I can't complain too much.

As Lola mentioned above, these rules apply to Basic Economy seats, which I felt the BA booking agent kind of glossed over when I asked about it; he just assured me that we’d be seated together (after confirming we only had carry-on bags) so I incorrectly assumed we had standard economy seats. With the newer seating fares, compounded by the codeshare airlines rules, etc. I'll be better prepared next time.

Posted by
2788 posts

Rather than pay to pick out any seats for our upcoming BA flight from SEA to London, we choose to pay for their Economy Extra or whatever they call it and that allowed us to pick out our seats month ago. We fly from SEA to Europe every year and choose to pay extra for whichever airlines we are flying for their economy extra seating for this 9 1/2 hour flight for this guy over 6'. We are fortunate to be able to afford that luxury.

Posted by
2168 posts

We flew BA last summer with another couple. We’ve always paid for BA seat selection on the long leg of the flight, but they chose not to. They still had seats together with the 24 hour window. This year we’re paying for the seats outbound on the long leg and taking our chances on the return and waiting for the 24 hr. window.

Posted by
1500 posts

We also had that situation. Round trip from SFO to Rome, outgoing on AA where we picked our seats but did not pay extra to BA on the return flights. When we checked in 24 hours in advance, they had seated us together in our preferred seats and a decent row so we didn't bother to look for better seats. But we were worried until we checked in. The problem is that you don't know until you check in so you need to decide if you want to take the chance that they will seat your family together or pay extra. Other people's experiences are just that and while helpful may not predict what your experience will be. Good luck!

Posted by
531 posts

If you have Avios you can purchase your seats using those.

Posted by
5240 posts

What is your reason for wanting to select a seat? If it's because you want to ensure that you're seated next to your patner then invariably BA will ensure that's the case, it's only Ryanair that actively separates people in order to increase revenue from seat selection fees.

The only way to achieve free seat selection with BA without waiting for online check in is to be Silver status with their Executive Club or buy first class tickets. I'm afraid it's all part of the degeneration of British Airways inspired by that fool, Alex Cruz, who has come in to the organisation with his obsession of bringing with him his experience of low cost airlines and applying their practices.

I try to avoid BA despite being an Executive Club member and owning one of their credit cards however they fly the largest range of routes from the UK, fly from the more convenient airports to me and usually offer the best combination of price, flight time, location and convenience. My next six upcoming flights are all with BA which demonstrates the monopoly they have on flights from the UK