British Airways starts charging for seat reservations

[dual]

I knew this was coming with BA making losses this year.

 

 

They have announced today that they will charge £10 per passenger for reserving seats together, window/aisle seats etc - starting from next month.

 

Its quite annoying - BA charge more than the average budget carrier anyway so all those little extras were paid up front.

 

I wonder whats next as they try and recoup their losses. :mad:

[Keith1010]

I know one USA carrier does this. I have been surprised others have not.

 

I still maintain we are all to blame for this. IMHO this is not just the flawed business models of many airlines but our expectations as fliers. We all complain how we want tickets at dirt cheap prices. I see that all the time on the Cruise Critic Boards.

 

Keith

[fbgd]

Its quite annoying - BA charge more than the average budget carrier anyway so all those little extras were paid up front.

 

They do?

 

I think you'll find BA match most of the LCCs on route where they compete directly. I went to Rome a few weeks ago and BA's economy fare was a few quid less than easyjet's, both departing LGW and arriving into FCO.

 

A few years ago I paid less for BA in Club Europe then my friend did on easyjet between London and Berlin. Admittedly his was from Luton and mine from Heathrow but we flew on the same days, similar times and booked on the same day.

 

The perception of BA amongst the general public is that they are more expensive so just assume the Easyjets of this world are cheaper.

 

I still maintain we are all to blame for this. IMHO this is not just the flawed business models of many airlines but our expectations as fliers. We all complain how we want tickets at dirt cheap prices.

 

Indeed. For BA the strategy was more around making money off the premium fares and just filling the back cabins by price matching. That strategy was fine until July 2007.

[Twickenham]

I still maintain we are all to blame for this. IMHO this is not just the flawed business models of many airlines but our expectations as fliers. We all complain how we want tickets at dirt cheap prices. I see that all the time on the Cruise Critic Boards.

 

You know, I was pondering this, and I have to agree. I remember my first TA flight in 1982 (when I was a mere child :D), our airfare was around the $500 mark.

 

The price for my TA flight last year? $598, all taxes included.

 

Granted, that was a special fare from Delta who had just started JFK-LHR flights, but even if you consider that I can easily find TA flights to LHR in the $700-800 range from YUL, that really is a very small increase in 27 years. That isn't even looking at the US air domestic market, where flights are dirt cheap compared to in Canada.

[Globaliser]

They have announced today that they will charge £10 per passenger for reserving seats together, window/aisle seats etc - starting from next month.

 

Its quite annoying - BA charge more than the average budget carrier anyway so all those little extras were paid up front.

No, BA is now offering you something that was never on offer to you before, albeit at a fee. Nothing is being taken away.

[lettienets]

No, BA is now offering you something that was never on offer to you before, albeit at a fee. Nothing is being taken away.

:confused: "that was never on offer to you before" :confused: what's that mean?

 

Here in Canada BA is always at least $50 more than Air Canada going to the same place, for example Toronto - London. You never had to pay to pick your seat and now you do, on BA.

[Globaliser]

You never had to pay to pick your seat and now you do, on BA.

Not so. Under the new policy, if you check-in online from 24 hours before departure, it will be exactly the same as it is now. You can choose your seat when you check-in, and this will not cost you anything.

 

The fee is only if you want to pre-allocate a seat at an earlier time. At present, you simply cannot do this on a BA booking at all, unless you fall within one of the relatively limited number of categories that allows you to do this.

[dual]

Nothing is being taken away.

 

yes it is, my tenner! lol

 

No but seriously, I have never ever been able to get a cheaper flight on BA - i guess it may depend on when you look and on what date you fly. Only at BA sale time can I find a cheaper flight.

[Keith1010]

yes it is, my tenner! lol

 

No but seriously, I have never ever been able to get a cheaper flight on BA - i guess it may depend on when you look and on what date you fly. Only at BA sale time can I find a cheaper flight.

 

Maybe it's me but there are certain airlines that I would pay a little more than others because I do think the quality is better. I'm not sure why each airline needs to be the lowest cost provider.

 

I guess I look at other factors when I fly that go beyond price.

 

Keith

[lettienets]

Not so. Under the new policy, if you check-in online from 24 hours before departure, it will be exactly the same as it is now. You can choose your seat when you check-in, and this will not cost you anything.

 

The fee is only if you want to pre-allocate a seat at an earlier time. At present, you simply cannot do this on a BA booking at all, unless you fall within one of the relatively limited number of categories that allows you to do this.

Ah, yes now I remember! You pick your seat free at e check-in the last 24 hours. I forgot. BA flight still costs more on the same route to London as AC. I have never found it cheaper but have chosen it for a change or because of flight time or if I am ongoing to Europe. But with AC partnering with Lufthansa I can go with them too. That is interesting you can now pay at the time of booking and pick a seat.

[SelectSys]

I have rarely fly on BA so I don't have too much of a frame of reference but I am curious if the new policy of allowing gold and silver level frequent fliers reserve seats in advance existed previously? It was good to know that they are extending these benefits to One World members as well.

 

Also in the LCC versus Legacy price debate referenced above I had a challenge with a colleague today to find the best fare for an upcoming conference that we are both attending. The challenge was SAN-MCO-SAN. Since it was a month and stable dates I got AA for $350 and he got WN for $450.

 

It's pretty amazing that I can fly about 5000 miles for $350 and have the opportunity to get a first class upgrade. As I explained to a dead heading AA flight attendant last week, a whole lot of businesses and individuals make/save a ton of money off of cheap airfares. The only ones that loose out on the deal are the airlines themselves and some passengers to the extent they care about reduced service levels and junk fees.

[fbgd]

I have rarely fly on BA so I don't have too much of a frame of reference but I am curious if the new policy of allowing gold and silver level frequent fliers reserve seats in advance existed previously? It was good to know that they are extending these benefits to One World members as well.

 

It did, well BA Gold/Silver and oneworld Sapphires/Emeralds.

[dual]

Maybe it's me but there are certain airlines that I would pay a little more than others because I do think the quality is better. I'm not sure why each airline needs to be the lowest cost provider.

 

I guess I look at other factors when I fly that go beyond price.

 

Keith

 

I agree with you - I tend not to worry so much on short haul flights up to say a couple of hours. But on long haul in excess of 6 hours I too prefer quality and will pay more.

 

I actually flew for the first time on Ryan air in July - a well known budget airline - although they have some awful reviews - I found for the 2 hours I was in the air it was OK - didnt have any complaints. left on time, got me there on time - no frills, cheap ticket. Awful interior cabin colour though! :)

[Globaliser]

I have rarely fly on BA so I don't have too much of a frame of reference but I am curious if the new policy of allowing gold and silver level frequent fliers reserve seats in advance existed previously? It was good to know that they are extending these benefits to One World members as well.

Yes - the current policy is that BA Golds, BA Silvers, OW Emeralds and OW Sapphires get to pick their seats (including exit rows) from the time of booking. There are certain really prized seats that are held back for Golds only, but only a very small number.

 

There is one serious reduction in BA Silver/OW Sapphire benefits in the new policy: They will now have to pay £50 to pick exit row seats in the Y and W cabins. This is rightly causing a great deal of fury.

[Gardyloo]

I think the one negative change in this that will impact those who don't prepay for a seat is that cherry-picking by those who do will deplete aisle, window and other relatively more desirable seats in the main cabin so that the 24-hour people will have a much harder time of sitting together. Getting someone to move voluntarily so that a family can be seated together is going to be MUCH harder when the person has shelled out significant money to get into the seat they're occupying. I foresee a bunch of very unhappy FAs and GAs once this is implemented.

 

As one of those who can pre-select seats on BA this won't impact me (and I would never, ever, pay extra to get 62K or 64A ahead of time if I wasn't Emerald) but I think it will seriously impact BA's image, and as a revenue generator, well, we'll just have to see.

 

Judging from the reactions of BA FFers on Flyertalk - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/998333-seating-selection-option-coming-soon-pay.html - it sounds to me like there are way more thumbs down (or fingers up) from key customers than I would like to see if I were a BA revenue person.

[PennyAgain]

I have status on BA so it won't affect me, but the talk in my office is not about seat selection charges but the new baggage fees going in from 7 Oct.

 

The fee on the 2nd checked bag will hit some cruise passengers hard. I understand it is on WT and WT+ tickets for people without BA status. The overweight bag charges are high as well.

 

It is not the policy in our office to only purchase the cheapest tickets. We are entitled to business class outside of North America for international destinations, but it will affect how people book their leisure travel.

 

That is until the next airline does the same thing.

[fbgd]

The fee on the 2nd checked bag will hit some cruise passengers hard.

 

I'm still confused as to why cruise passengers need to take two pieces of luggage each!

 

Do those who have to take two pieces have really small bags or just pack excessively?

[FlyerTalker]

When the cruise is two weeks or more, and you don't want to be wearing the same clothes every 4 days or so, you pack a lot. I confess!! Also, my clothes take up more room (again, confession...there's a bunch of fabric built into each wardrobe piece - I'm a big guy.):D

[fbgd]

When the cruise is two weeks or more, and you don't want to be wearing the same clothes every 4 days or so, you pack a lot.

 

I emigrated with two suitcases and went on holiday for three months with one checked suitcase, and that trip encompassed about eight different climate types...

 

If you want to have lots of different types of clothes just suck up the bag fees.

[Toto2Kansas]

When the cruise is two weeks or more, and you don't want to be wearing the same clothes every 4 days or so, you pack a lot. I confess!! Also, my clothes take up more room (again, confession...there's a bunch of fabric built into each wardrobe piece - I'm a big guy.):D

 

And when one suitcase alone is for snorkel and beach gear alone, there isn't much of a choice.

Three week cruise coming up and I really tried to do with only two or three bags, didn't happen, we will need four. With formal clothes, regular clothes, daytime clothes, and as mentioned, the stuff for the beach and snorkeling (water shoes, snorkel vests, fins, masks, snorkels, etc), it is very easy to pack three or four checked bags.

Thankfully, I only have one flight this time I have to pay the baggage fee, which will be great, especially since I have 5 different flights on this trip/cruise. It is well worth the extra $100 I will have to pay to carry along what both of us will need on this trip.

[jetwet1]

I emigrated with two suitcases and went on holiday for three months with one checked suitcase, and that trip encompassed about eight different climate types...

 

If you want to have lots of different types of clothes just suck up the bag fees.

 

 

Well got you beat on that, I emigrated with a back pack, I used to cruise with a back pack, now I am married and it's 3-4 suitcases + the kitchen sink...

 

While I am mainly a VS flyer every now and again I take a trip on BA, well with these new rules/fee's in place, I just won't even look at them. Sorry but if I am spending $6000 on two tickets to London, I would like the chance to request a seat with out spending another $120 to do so, while I don't really mind being nickle and dimed on a cheap trans- con ticket, but on a premium ticket it's not going to happen.

[FlyerTalker]

If you want to have lots of different types of clothes just suck up the bag fees.

No bag fees for me...as long as big luggage allowances remain for top-tier elites (though I'm not with BA or oneWorld).

[dual]

Im still a bit confused about the new baggage policy on BA in effect from 7th Oct.

 

Some of my group say it will effect us - we booked our airfares back in March 09 travelling on 21st November so as we are travelling after 7th oct we can only take 1 case each. Im reading it as if you actually book from 7th Oct the new policy will effect the traveller - can anyone confirm??

 

Either way my cruise is a week so I only need 1 suitcase - but as im in the US I would like to do a bit of shopping on my return so I may need that extra case for the extras.

[Globaliser]

I think the one negative change in this that will impact those who don't prepay for a seat is that cherry-picking by those who do will deplete aisle, window and other relatively more desirable seats in the main cabin so that the 24-hour people will have a much harder time of sitting together. Getting someone to move voluntarily so that a family can be seated together is going to be MUCH harder when the person has shelled out significant money to get into the seat they're occupying. I foresee a bunch of very unhappy FAs and GAs once this is implemented.

At worst, no more so than on any airline that generally allows passengers to pre-allocate seats when booking! But this is one of the reasons why BA has the current policy - it reduces the number of families and groups who are split up by existing bookings cherry-picking the best seats. Moreover, the earliest bookings get the best seats, which favours those who pay least over those who pay most.

As one of those who can pre-select seats on BA this won't impact me ...

Unfortunately, it will. At the moment, you and I can have our pick of pretty much all of the seats. But once non-status pasengers start to pre-allocate seats, we will see our choice diminish. And the best seats will inevitably go first, probably to non-status passengers.

 

On other airlines (notably Qantas), I already suffer this. The last trip that I did on QF, I couldn't get a pre-allocated seat anywhere in the cabin by the time I booked, and I had to take pot luck at check-in. That's not how it should be for your premium passengers.

Judging from the reactions of BA FFers on Flyertalk - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/998333-seating-selection-option-coming-soon-pay.html - it sounds to me like there are way more thumbs down (or fingers up) from key customers than I would like to see if I were a BA revenue person.

However, on any objective basis I wouldn't put more store by FlyerTalk reaction alone. There are some very skewed views there. For example, FlyerTalkers almost universally hate BA's Sleeper Service. But BA knows that the real paying punters generally love it.

[Globaliser]

The overweight bag charges are high as well.

What makes you say that? BA's charge for a bag that's more than 23 kg but less than 32 kg is £25 (or $45) per bag. How could that be described as "high"?

That is until the next airline does the same thing.

It's already happening. After BA's announcement, both AA and UA have reduced their baggage allowances to one bag.

Some of my group say it will effect us - we booked our airfares back in March 09 travelling on 21st November so as we are travelling after 7th oct we can only take 1 case each. Im reading it as if you actually book from 7th Oct the new policy will effect the traveller - can anyone confirm?

If you've booked before 7 October you should be fine. It's possible that it depends on date of ticket issue, but that's not the way the BA website describes it. But if you booked back in March 2009, your tickets should have been issued by now, anyway. Have they?