Paying airline for the privilege of a reserved seat?

It is call a la carte pricing. If you want it you pay for it. That is why you got the cheap ticket. You know the people who pay the $30 will get the better seats so what do you think will be left? Lots of middle seats. In the total cost of your trip, $30 is peanuts. You can more easily save $30 some where else in your travels.

BA isn't the only one on this bandwagon. Pretty soon the airlines will be charging for breathing. Seriously though the airlines are operating on a thin margin so: charging for a blanket, charging for a checked bag or food, charging for going to the bathroom (actually contemplated by Ryan Air but dumped upon public outcry), charging for early boarding...it goes on and on. Thing is everyone wants a cheap ticket but at the same time good seating accommodation and service. Good luck. The market place is driving this whole trend.

We flew BA several times last year and were always able to get decent seats by checking in online exactly 24 hours in advance.

Two friends just returned from Cuba on a charter airline that works this scam. However, no-one on their flight booked the "good" seats in advance. My friends were the last to check in (too long in duty-free!) and were given the "good" seats for free! So ...... if your nerves will stand the suspense ........ Roger

It used to be that BA didn't even let you reserve in advance. Now they allow it for a fee. As a solo traveler, I've always managed to get an aisle seat 24 hours out on BA. I have a flight next month and I went ahead and paid the $30 to reserve an aisle seat on the overnight leg. Is your daughter a child under 12? BA assigns seats 72 hours in advance to families with young children.

You can monitor how much the seats are filling up ahead of time, by going to "choose seat" and viewing the chart, without actually choosing a seat. Then you can decide, based on whether the seats are filling up, whether you want to pay or wait. Also consider whether you will be able to go on th ewebsite and check in exactly 24 hours in advance of the fllight.

I wouldn't pay extra for a guaranteed seat assignment. Even if your seat assignments change after initial purchase (which they will), chances are you will not be split up if your tickets were purchased together. Just keep an eye on it using whatever online tool BA has to manage your booking, and change your seats to something else online if what they moved you to isn't acceptable. My last transatlantic changed 3 times before we left...I made the final change when I was checking in online & it stuck. Just check on it a few times before you leave, and check-in online/print your boarding pass from home.

I think Michael must be referring to a different airline. Some airlines let you choose a seat for no fee at booking. If the equipment changes, they will often move you to a different seat. With few exceptions, BA does not assign a seat at initial purchase or allow you to choose one at initial purchase unless you pay extra. So it is not a matter of monitoring to see if they have reassigned you; if you don't pay to reserve in advance the earliest that you can get a seat assignment with no fee is 24 hours out when you check in online.

I purchased a KLM flight to Amsterdam from Vancouver last October and went back to the travel agent the other day to get seats, and the area I wanted to sit in were only available if I wanted to pay an extra, I think, $35.00. A whole area was blocked, in other words reserved for paying customers. She did say that perhaps those seats would be available when we check in in a couple of days.

Thanks all for the comments. I bit the bullet & paid the extra money & reserved all the seats, but it is costing me over $200!
Been waiting too many years for this trip to leave seats to chance & at flights of over 10 hours, guess it's less painful than the thought of being squeezed into a middle seat!

Carol: check on your reservation with BA periodically. We are flying BA in World Traveler Plus soon. (BTW, I was paying so much already that I went ahead and paid for reserved seats) After reading your post I went to BA and checked my reservation, mainly to see what seats were still available. Imagine my surprise when my itinerary ended at Heathrow! I called BA and after waiting on hold some time an agent came on and told me that the Heathrow to Dallas leg of my itinerary had been cancelled! I had to approve a change to Chicago (Ugh!). I asked the agent why wasn't I contacted about the change? The agent said I should have been contacted by email or SMS. I received neither. We have flown BA before and were very pleased, especially after they inexplicably upgraded us to Club World at not charge. But this has me a little concerned, and between now and my departure date I plan to check my itinerary periodically.

<<I had to approve a change to Chicago (Ugh!).>> Let me assure you that we are nice people in Chicago and that we have a nice airport.

And some airlines won't allow you to choose a seat when you book but will allow you to do it anytime after that online for no fee. You can change it around as many times as you like - no fee. Okay, it's been a few years since I flew on BA (and it was less than pleasurable at the time), but I guess their newer policy around seat assignments underscores what a janky and pathetic airline it has become IMO. Maybe all airlines will force you to pay for a seat assignment at some point, but for now, I'll continue to fly on those where you can still get around being nickel and dimed to death. As I said earlier, I wouldn't pay for seat assignments. Oh, and I'll agree with Tom that ORD is a great facility considering its immensity...the city is even better.

Tom - I think Sherry meant no disrespect to Chicago airport. I think she was upset because Dallas is alot closer to Mississippi.

No disrespect meant to Chicago or its people. I have had several bad experiences with connections at O'Hare and had hoped to bypass that potential problem.

Thanks Sherry for the reminder to check in with British Air. I'm sorry they cancelled your flight & not to notify you to boot! Hope it all works out for you (& us as well, for that matter!)