British Airways restricted business class

Can anyone tell me about their experience with BA’s restricted business class. Regent have booked us with this on our next cruise in September.

 

The e-ticket has been issued but when I log on to choose seats there is only one available. This happened to us a year or two ago in similar circumstances and it turned out the flight was overbooked and we were bumped.

 

BA will not talk to either Regent or my TA about it and they tell me because it is restricted business I can’t choose seats although they acknowledge that there is only one available. Fortunately this is for a return flight as we sail from Southampton ( I live in the UK).

 

What would happen if this was for an out going flight and we missed the ship?

 

I have several other cruises booked with business and shouldn’t have to have the stress of wondering if the flights will be honoured. BA has a record of overbooking and economy with them is as bad or worse than the budget airlines these days.

 

Compare this with Virgin Atlantic who we are booked with in February where Regent provided allocated seat numbers at the time of booking.

 

 

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This seems quite strange. Can you tell us what booking class your restricted tickets are in - normally D I or Z from memory.

 

Are you trying to pay for the seats (which is a cheek that has always upset me since they started to do it) or are you a BA Exec Club Gold or Silver member and can therefore book seats free of charge at any time?

 

Have to agree with your assessment of their economy offering unfortunately.

John182 I don’t know what the ticket class is as I don’t actually have a ticket, only a booking no. I am trying to pay to choose the seats as it’s the only way to avoid the overbooking issue. ( except you can’t if all the seats bar one are already reserved!)

 

 

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So I know that there is one (hardly ever used) fare booking type that has some special rules around a lot of things but it is HIGHLY unlikely that Regent have got this on your booking. Therefore you should be being treated in exactly the same way as for any booking in business class that is not a fully refundable no restrictions booking, which as we all know costs a fortune!

 

The rules for a restricted ticket are that you can reserve a seat free of charge 24 hours before scheduled departure time or 7 days before if you are a BA Exec Club Bronze member. If you are gold or silver you can reserve at any time.

 

If you are none of the above then you have to pay to reserve a seat earlier. BA are completely wrong in telling you that because you have a restricted ticket you cannot pay to reserve seats. I would get your TA to take this up on your behalf rather than have to do it yourself.

 

Of course the real reason may be, as you have hinted, thas the flight, at this time, is showing as fully booked. Other times I have seen this is because the aircraft type allocation is either not yet finalised or in the process of being changed because of the demand for seats but usually this results in a message saying that seats will be allocated at check in and does not allow you to proceed to try to choose a seat.

 

As an aside Regent have booked us on BA to Miami in December and when I tried to reserve seats I get the seats will be allocated at check in message. There may be something in the way Regent deals with BA playing out here or it might just be that I have to pay the final bill before BA will allow me to manage my booking.

 

Sorry I cannot be of any more help. One for your TA to earn their commission on I think.

John182 I don’t know what the ticket class is as I don’t actually have a ticket, only a booking no. I am trying to pay to choose the seats as it’s the only way to avoid the overbooking issue. ( except you can’t if all the seats bar one are already reserved!)

 

Note that selecting a seat does NOT avoid any overbooking issues. Those are never guarantees that you will have that seat, nor are they guarantees that you will not be possibly subject to an IDB or involuntary downgrade.

 

Your likelihood of an involuntary downgrade is dependent on your FF status with BA and on your fare basis, with higher priced tickets having priority for staying up front. You are likely on a bulk ticket that is at the bottom of the list.

These are the most current rules in the EU.

 

http://www.airpassengerrights.eu/en/your-rights-a-summary.html

 

Years ago BA was a great airline but in the past few years they have downgraded so many things like US carriers did. Also, American Airlines is a codeshare with BA so that is another option as they do not charge for booking seats in business class if you fly on their aircraft.

 

Flying coach on BA is now like flying Easy Jet or Ryan Air. We avoid BA at all costs.

John182 Thanks for your comments. I can confirm that the e ticket for BA is not issued until final payment. We recently had a cruise starting in New York and I risked paying the final payment early to be able to choose seats.

 

On that occasion there were some seats. I think on this occasion there is an overbooking issue as my belief was that once the ticket was issued it was no different from any other ( no change or refund excepted) BA refuse to speak to the TA and I had to go through several security checks to speak to them including passport number. ( now that’s something we all keep in our top pocket!)

 

 

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Well it looks like you have exhausted all the options for now. Nil desperandum if the flight is overbooked. Normally if it is overbooked this early they will put a larger aircraft on the route. That has happened to me several times in the past.

 

I am surprised at their reluctance to engage with you or the TA. Looks like their standards are slipping in all areas now. If they had not got me by the 'golden handcuffs' of their life time tier points gold card I would not look at them much tbh.

 

I hope it is resolved for you quickly. Good luck and have a lovely cruise.

Can't you pay Regent a fee to pick your flights? Then you can pick your airline and flight and get a seat.

swansong, I hope that you get some responses from people in the U.K. that have been booked on BA as their rules for booking seats, etc. is different in the U.S. We used to fly BA all the time but stopped using them because Heathrow lost our luggage twice (now using Lufthansa which Regent is also contracted with).

 

Regent always books "restricted business class" for those of us flying out of North America. Seats are booked and we are able to change them online so, again, our experience is different than yours.

 

You could have your TA ask Regent if you could deviate to another airline - it is worth asking although there may not be many flight choices this soon to when you will be flying.

 

Truly hope that things are sorted out quickly for you. For others reading this thread, consider deviating your flights as the availability of Regent contracted flights is much greater at 270 days before the cruise instead at the 75 day mark which is typically when Regent assigns flights.

What's your routing?

 

If this is Club World, then there's a hard limit on seats, and BA do overbook. However, they overbook on the basis of past performance and most often there winds up being no issue by the time the doors are closed. Because of BA's practice of charging for pre-assigned seating, I would be surprised to see a Club World cabin booked out at this early date, but on some heavy routes it can happen.

 

On the other hand if you're in Club Europe, then the capacity in business class is variable--BA can, and often do, add rows to business class on European and domestic flights (check the number of irate threads on flyertalk from BAEC members who've been shunted from their first row seat back to row 28 when BA has moved the curtain).

Can anyone tell me about their experience with BA’s restricted business class. Regent have booked us with this on our next cruise in September.

The e-ticket has been issued but when I log on to choose seats there is only one available. This happened to us a year or two ago in similar circumstances and it turned out the flight was overbooked and we were bumped.

BA will not talk to either Regent or my TA about it and they tell me because it is restricted business I can’t choose seats although they acknowledge that there is only one available. Fortunately this is for a return flight as we sail from Southampton ( I live in the UK).

What would happen if this was for an out going flight and we missed the ship?

I have several other cruises booked with business and shouldn’t have to have the stress of wondering if the flights will be honoured. BA has a record of overbooking and economy with them is as bad or worse than the budget airlines these days.

Compare this with Virgin Atlantic who we are booked with in February where Regent provided allocated seat numbers at the time of booking.

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1. "restricted business" has no practical difference for the passenger in the service etc that should be expected from BA.

2. As your contract for the "package" (i.e. cruise plus flights) is with Regent rather than with BA, you and/or your TA should address the issue you are having with Regent UK's flight department.

3. Am I right in assuming that the flight is within Europe? from Barcelona? If so then the size of the Business section on the aircraft is flexible. Seat pitch & width is the same as Economy; BA just keep the centre seats clear. i.e. if Economy seating is 3+3 then Business seating will be 2+2. So it may be that further Business seating will be made available on your flight by re-allocating Economy seats

4. If on the day you are bumped then I have no doubt you will complain loudly to Regent ............. but you should also claim the EU statutory compensation direct from BA (This can be done on-line on their website)

 

I am sure Regent will get things sorted out for you. Have a great cruise :)

 

Can't you pay Regent a fee to pick your flights? Then you can pick your airline and flight and get a seat.

Different air arrangements with Regent in the UK so the US "deviation fee" to choose your flights does not apply in the same way with UK bookings.

Pay extra and avoid BA at all costs.

Pay extra and avoid BA at all costs.

 

Careful what you wish for. From Barcelona that could mean Iberia. Or Vueling.

Thank you Flossie, yes the flight is from Barcelona. I agree that Regent should be explaining the situation but as I said neither they nor the TA would speak to BA as they said BA would not speak to them. Let’s hope that more seats are allocated nearer the time.

 

It’s tempting in the future to sort our own flights out but then there is a risk in case of delays or incidents where we would be on our own in terms of reorganising.

 

We still remember a similar situation flying back from Lisbon some years ago when at least 10 of us from the cruise were bumped. We ended up in economy ( things were better then with economy BA) but only because BA bribed others to give up their seats. The stress of waiting at the gate until everyone had boarded to find out if we were flying was not the way we wanted to finish a great cruise. Obviously we took the issue up with Regent and they refunded the business class premium but disclaimed any responsibility as they are entitled to do as we weren’t delayed.

 

 

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On that occasion there were some seats. I think on this occasion there is an overbooking issue

 

You know, there are people here on CC who have access to airline inventories and could tell you if the flight is showing inventory. But then, since you don't bother to tell us cities, dates, times and flight numbers, everything is a guess at best.

 

my belief was that once the ticket was issued it was no different from any other ( no change or refund excepted)

Absolutely incorrect. Even after issued, a bulk ticket has different underlying fare rules that govern the ticket. These can be, and are, different between fare codes - so saying they are no different is a gross assumption. By your own statement above, you have no idea what the booking code is, so how can you make this statement?

Normally if it is overbooked this early they will put a larger aircraft on the route. That has happened to me several times in the past.

 

Three comments.

 

First, how did you know that you were overbooked? Did you have access to inventory?

 

Second, how did you know that the aircraft change was due to overbooking? And not due to some other factor?

 

Third, the assignment of aircraft to a routing is not just made on the basis of one day's bookings. There is an intricate ballet of coordinating aircraft, staffing and maintenance that operates over long time frames and is not conducive to ad hoc changes for a particular date.

BA’s “business class” on European routes is an overpriced disgrace anyway. As stated above, it’s a cramped, 3+3 configured economy seat in a tatty old aircraft with the “luxury” of the middle seat converted into a tray table. On a short flight you may as well fly economy and save a lot of money.

As sometimes happens the thread gets a bit out of hand. I originally asked if anyone had had a similar experience. I don’t know anything about inventory or ticket class, I only know that when I logged in to choose seats there is only one seat remaining to be reserved. On past experience it indicates to me that there is the possibility of overbooking.

 

No one has yet indicated they have had a similar experience but thank you for the input and constructive comments.

 

 

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Swansong,

 

 

You are correct, nobody directly answered your question. But I think if you give Flyertalker the information he/she references you will get a plethora of insight on the status of the flight you are having issues with. I come from a family of very frequent flyers and we all pretty much knew our way around the information sources available (paid and unpaid) on the web but Flyertalker seems to have somewhat unique sources of information and/or a particular insight on gleaning detailed information based on other posts. You might want to give it a try if you desire additional information even thought Flyertalker may not have had the same particular experience with BA. Just a suggestion.

 

 

Regards,

John

Suffice to say that looking at seat maps is probably the least accurate way to try to judge the number of seats sold/available for a flight. Remember that airline tickets are not like theater tickets where you buy a specific seat for a specific performance.

 

Since the OP has had the opportunity to provide even the simplest details, such as the cities involved, I'll give up on any more detailed answer than his limited original question.

 

"No, I have not had that experience".

swansong, I hope that you get some responses from people in the U.K. that have been booked on BA as their rules for booking seats, etc. is different in the U.S. We used to fly BA all the time but stopped using them because Heathrow lost our luggage twice (now using Lufthansa which Regent is also contracted with).

 

Regent always books "restricted business class" for those of us flying out of North America. Seats are booked and we are able to change them online so, again, our experience is different than yours.

 

You could have your TA ask Regent if you could deviate to another airline - it is worth asking although there may not be many flight choices this soon to when you will be flying.

 

Truly hope that things are sorted out quickly for you. For others reading this thread, consider deviating your flights as the availability of Regent contracted flights is much greater at 270 days before the cruise instead at the 75 day mark which is typically when Regent assigns flights.

 

Same experience with us. Always a restricted fare. We deviated for a December trip to Capetown from the US on BA with absolutely no problem getting seat assignments while confirming flights with the Regent rep 270 days out ( and the ability to change online if we want).

Pay extra and avoid BA at all costs.

 

Absolutely, avoid BA at all costs either biz or first..terrible. Look at the reviews online.

Ditto. Pay for the deviation to avoid BA at all costs.

Or of course do not pay the very high costs of a 6 star luxury line who cannot guarantee your travel arrangements for a cruise that you paid thousands of pounds for.