Our disgraceful National Airline

[Kenty]

Fly to Lisbon tomorrow for a few days, checked in 24hrs before and see the seats have been allocated, across the aisle 24c and 24d. Loads of seats available and went to change - £15 each! They are shameless, seating couples at the back and across the aisle virtually ensuring a £60 bonus if return.
Now our national airline not only serves appalling food as found out on a recent trip to Miami, they charge for choosing seats after check-in online! I'm sure they don't charge if you ask the check-in to change seats.
I suppose flying mostly Emirates and internal flights in Far East and Australia I have been spoilt!?
If BA want to be a foremost Airline they really have stop behaving like Ryanair and a little more like a Premier carrier!

Is BA bothered or is it all about money?

[Kenty]

Well I checked in through manage my booking and the charge to change was £15, I was under the impression it was free once you had checked in.

[Kenty]

t400ble said:

Not worth giving them a call?

Good idea, I'll give it a try, probably be a premium number LOL

[Kenty]

To recap, checked in, they wanted £15 to choose seats so stayed with allocated seats. Printed boarding passes. Went back to manage my booking as suggested and can't change seats.
Of course seats are important, we want to be as far forward as we can and sit together and I like a window seat.
Food on Miami flight was yuk, the cardboard box that breakfast came in looked more appetising than the food.
Will try and change seats when we get to Heathrow and see if there is a charge.

[Kenty]

Update, yes we are HBO but why should that make any difference? We are only going for 4 nights and £60 for a bag in the hold makes no sense, why penalise us for our convenience?
We paid plenty for the flights as LHR is much more convenient for us with free parking and taxi in from my brother in law and decent treatment from a major airline was expected not the feel of a penny pinching bucket airline.
We went to check in and changed seats without a murmur, three seats between the two of us on a half full plane.
The 'snack' was a bread roll with a bit of bacon and tiniest bit of chicken and very sweet Iced bun, but did get a free drink and we arrived 10mins early!

[Kenty]

Stephanie Plum said:

GT03ROB said:

Kenty said:

Update, yes we are HBO but why should that make any difference? We are only going for 4 nights and £60 for a bag in the hold makes no sense, why penalise us for our convenience?

So in a few weeks when I get my premium economy flight back to the UK, it will be fine for me to call BA disgraceful because they didn't put me in Club or 1st? After all they will have spare seats there so why shouldn't I be allowed to sit there.

Come on, you're not stupid, so surely you can see that you've received what you paid for & to call the supplier disgraceful for supplying what you asked & paid for is a bit off.

Lol. This x1000.

No I didn't get what I paid for IMO.
I am not stupid, I paid £125pp I didn't expect an upgrade, I didn't want extra leg room, I didn't want to pay £60 per hold bag,
I wanted something different from £25 Ryanair flights, I wanted to choose my seats, I wanted something to eat a bit better than a petrol station snack, I wanted a bag in the hold - also I hoped I got a better aircraft, better maintained, better than a bucket airline but I'm not sure I did. BA has to have a business model better than the bottom of the market, it should be bettering them, it should be giving a bit more for the. Price they charge it wasn't in evidence. When I fly long haul again it will not be at my list to use them and it should be. If you can't see that, your blinkered. It isn't good and it should be.

[Kenty]

GreatPretender said:

I think BA are at their best when you fly with them through T5 in >Club. I still maintain that their pods are a far and away nicer place to be than the equivalent Business offerings of all the other carriers, Etihad/Qatar/Malaysian included (with whom I fly quite often with).

On the other hand, BA really struggle with their long haul economy class, where you'll invariably be ignored by sour-faced, over-weight moosepigs, grapple with ancient and or broken IFE screens, and served crap food. IME, Etihad/Qatar are leagues ahead for their economy service, but I don't find their business class worth the huge price hike as a result.

In short, don't fly BA if you're poor

Good description of BA economy.
But they certainly haven't got it right with the A380 business class seating, compared to Emirates anyway. You have to step over fellow passengers, food has to passed over the outer pax and there is certainly less room. The overall configuration of A380's is far better, IMO, with the lower deck all economy and upper deck first and business- not the way BA and Singapore airlines have it.

[Kenty]

GT03ROB said:

Impasse said:

Anyone care to educate me how charging a disproportionate sum is anything more than profiteering?

If it's a disproportionate sum, don't pay it. It's only profiteering if they force you to pay it. They don't. Each seat is not equal. Some people prefer window, some aisle, can't think of anybody who prefers centre. There is therefore a different value to each seat. If the value you place on a particular seat is less than the cost to pick it don't pay. This is not about cost to the airline it's about value to the customer. They are charging you for the value they offer.

So, cynically assigning a married couple, at online check-in, to an aisle seat each at the rear of a half full plane is not profiteering then? They are clearly expecting us to be unhappy and spend £30 changing our seats. I would much prefer to be made happy with two seats together instead of being left with a negative feeling over the whole experience.