British Air now charges to select seats

I used BA last November and got a whole row of seats since it was mostly empty on my flight to London. I didnt pay for extra seats, just had my coach one booked. They did have the Prepay then as well.

Id just wait. You can check the night before and see whats booked.

$700 in taxes and fees plus $30/ea for selecting a seat? Glad I do not fly BA anymore. I just booked a transpacific R/T flight on frequest flyer miles for later this year and was charged a wopping $7.50 in taxes and fees and no charge for selecting seats (HA). I will use FF miles from Alaska Airlines to book onto Air France to go from SEA to CDG for next summer and will have to look at what they charge. I wonder what you could have gotten paying tickets for on another airline to go to England this fall. You might want to compare the paying price next time to those charges and see if getting the additional FF miles makes it a wash.

It's taxes and fuel surcharges, and I think a lot of it has to do with flying into and out of Heathrow.

You can go to "manage my booking" with your confirmation number and see how the seats are filling up. Lots of people do not pay to select in advance.

You can check in online 24 hours before your flight and select seats for free then.

Susan, it used to be that BA did not even let you choose seats in advance. You had to wait until 24 hours prior. Now you can pay to book a seat in advance or take your chances. I've never liked this policy.

As a solo traveller, I've always managed to get an aisle on intra-European BA flights when I have checked in online the day before. I haven't flown BA transatlantic recently so don't know about that situation.

Just out of curiousity, how many tickets did you get. Taxes to UK are very high, but $700 seems particularly high unless you have at least 4 seats or are flying business class.

We have two tickets in economy--the actual cost was $684. We live in Atlanta so usually fly Delta so we are quite used to poor treatment. However, Dlt is not yet charging to select seats--that will come later. Don't know of any AL that would charge less for RT tics to London--we just look at it as around $400 per tic. We acquired these points on the the BA credit card application plan--100,000 points for taking the card.

The reason for the high taxes is that BA and most European carriers and probably also Delta whack you with the fuel surcharges on your free tickets. Most other American carriers don't charge you this on a free ticket - at least for now.

The way to avoid it is to use your BA miles but on a partner airline such as AA to S. America.

We bought 2 tickets with money (I.e., not points) and the taxes/fees came to $800, which was just about half of the ticket price. This was last Jan. for a May flight. They had the $30 seat charge in effect then. I do not recall it in 2009, so it was something of a surprise.

The seat selection surcharge strikes me as particularly ridiculous because--unlike baggage, food, and beverage--it doesn't cost the airline anything to issue a seat assignment. It's a pure case of 'we're doing it because we can,' rather than 'we're passing along our costs to you.'

Do they think that flights will be more enjoyable for us passengers when families get split up simply because they can't or don't want to pay extra for seating together? Personally, I'd rather not sit next to a bored and cranky kid for 11 hours whose parents are seated rows away.

BA advertises itself as the world's favourite airline. I think the world may want a re-vote on that.

We flew BA May 2009 in economy Phx-London, Rome-Phx.
This was before they started charging to select seats. BA will automatically assign two seats together if both tickets are made on the same booking. In economy, every seat is pretty much equal. I won't think that you would need to prepaid for seat assignments. You can check in 24 hours before flight. It will show where you are assigned, and if needed, you can choose different seats. We booked using miles Phx to Munich round trip, including a 10 day layover in London). We paid $370 each to fly Club World (Business class). To prepay our seats, its $90 each. (I am not going it). I had a great experience flying BA. Staff and FA were helpful and friendly.I found that they were a great airline, don't let anyone scare you. You should be prepared to be a little cramped in economy, especially when the person in front of you reclines.

We have flown BA but not recently and we liked them better than our usual airline, Delta. At that time there was no charge to select seats. My husband is tall so a dreaded middle seat would be uncomfortable for him. So we may opt to pay the $30 going over but not on the return trip home. Yes, we are flying into LHR but this is perfect as we are renting a car and heading to the Cotswolds.

Susan,

There is a chance you could get a cheaper ticket on BA or another airline then using FF points.

Just a thought for next time.

Edwin

If it doesn't matter where you sit, I wouldn't pay it. But if it does, the cost may be worth it. My partner is a nervous flyer, so we always have to sit over the wing (less feeling of turbulence). We always book flights early, and pay the fee if it's required.

I had booked a 4 leg trip in April on BA. I paid $270
for 3 people to pick seats. The trip was cancelled due to the volcano. I have re-booked for September on Virgin Atlantic. I decided that I would rather spend the money on one or two nice dinners in Paris.
I am hoping that they will not charge for seat selection. If they do, I will try and change seats with someone.
I guess this is the sign of the times.
There are no cheap airfares anymore. I was trying to book a flight around Christmas and the flights are
as expensive as September!!!

Happy Travels!