Paying for seat selections from BA

[Fairygothmum]

Morning All

Just wondering if anyone pays for their seat selections in advance from BA rather than waiting for the free OLCI option? I'm in two minds what to do if I am honest.
BA's prices are a little too high for my liking, which is why I have always done the OLCI selection process instead, but at the same time I'd like to get one of the 2 seats together at the back of the plane rather than sat in a 3 or 4 configuration.

I just don't know if it's worth it if there is usually good availability when OLCI opens. I've never flown BA to Florida so I don't know what availability is 'typically' like we're flying May 2022, just the two of us.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

I don't think you will ever get a definitive answer to this or even a true break down of figures as a lot depends on the plane loading and also the time of year such as school holidays etc.

We have paid the seat fee for our flights next year. I'm certainly not happy about it but I was prepared to suck it up after Mrs Morrow insisted on it!

However apart from a March flight BA were up to 50% cheaper for fares than VA so the way I see it we are quids in.

[Dazed]

I never pay for seat selection (unless we are booking extra legroom seats) and we haven’t had any issue sitting together up until now. If there are specific seats you want though, I would book them. When we go on Xmas Eve we have 8 of us on 4 different bookings so as much as it sticks in my throat, I will pre book the seats. Our return is in Clubworld though so I won’t book those as it doesn’t matter where you sit in that cabin.

[Disneycraft]

It depends how important it is to you where you sit .I’ve just paid £240 return with virgin for 4 seats . It’s a pain but the flight to us isn’t just a bus journey,it’s part of the holiday and I want us all together

[SloanRangers]

I always end up paying to book our seats even though it’s just the two of us. I just know I’d be stressing about the seating until it’s allocated otherwise.
I use Avios to pay for the seat reservations so it doesn’t seem as painful as paying cash 🤣
I know it’s probably not the best use of Avios but we never have enough to upgrade cabin etc so its a way of making some use of them. You can also earn Avios with Nectar points so it doesn’t take long for them to add up.

[grant_w]

We used to pay for them, but didn't last time and won't this time. Most of the flight is sat with headphones on watching films so doesn't really matter where we sit or who we are sitting next to. Similarly with a window seat, DW LOVES a window, but after the take off there's not really a lot to see out of the window until you hit the Florida coast, so you are only looking at anything for about 30 minutes of the 9 hour journey, so we aren't as bothered about getting a window for Florida flights

[dan223]

One thing to bare in mind if you are traveling with anyone with a disability and therefore need choice of seat because of the disability, then you can contact the assistance team and you can book for free for your whole party.

[boo2]

I really grudge having to pay for seat selection but always end up doing it, my resolve is not strong enough😊 when I first book I’m 100% in the camp of “this is an outrage, I’m waiting till online check in” then by a few weeks in and having continually checked the seat planner I’ve relented and stumped up the cash! The only bonus this year is that 1 out of 4 of our flights as with AA and seat selection is free😊

[Fairygothmum]

Originally Posted by Mr Tom Morrow

I don't think you will ever get a definitive answer to this or even a true break down of figures as a lot depends on the plane loading and also the time of year such as school holidays etc.

We have paid the seat fee for our flights next year. I'm certainly not happy about it but I was prepared to suck it up after Mrs Morrow insisted on it!

However apart from a March flight BA were up to 50% cheaper for fares than VA so the way I see it we are quids in.

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Very wise Mr Morrow

All great points though, I think the problem is that we got our flights at such a good price (Econ outbound and PE inbound) that I almost feel like it negates our savings but maybe I am looking at that all wrong.

[Fairygothmum]

Originally Posted by Disneycraft

It depends how important it is to you where you sit .I’ve just paid £240 return with virgin for 4 seats . It’s a pain but the flight to us isn’t just a bus journey,it’s part of the holiday and I want us all together

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Yes ours in another 350 on top which is why I am debating.