British Airways Wants to Charge for Advance Seats

It now seems as if British Airways will allow its passengers to select the seats that they want at the time of booking. However, the catch to this deal is that the flag carrier will be charging for this great privilege. This new charge will start out at just £10 per sector for Euro travelers. From there this charge is set to rise to £60 for Club World customers.

Starting from October 7, customers will be able to have the option to select their seats when they are booking their tickets. The customers that are in the World Traveler and the World Traveler Plus sectors will also have the option to pay £50 to secure exit row seats. This option will be open from ten days prior to departure.

The fees that are being charged will, of course, not apply to Premier and Gold Executive Club members who already have the ability to choose their seats for free in any cabin, and this includes exit row seats. The Silver card holders will enjoy fully flexible tickets, and the customers on corporate deals can pre-assign their seats for free.

Although this new option will give passengers greater control over their seat selection for their flights, it will be seen by many as full service airlines trying to make the switch over to the low cost formula of charging for little extras. Although these are not things that the passengers have to have, it is something that they will have to pay extra for to have the luxury of using. This is the same way that low budget airlines go about making most of their money.

The people that refuse to pay this fee will have to choose from the remaining seats 24 hours before departure. Thus, the seats that they wish for may no longer be open. The remaining seats will be given out on first come first serve terms.