BA seat selection- is it a must if we want to sit together?

[dreamisawish]

Booked direct through BA last week. The flight was on sale so we got a good deal- or so I thought at the time. Obviously my friend and I would like to sit together, this is her first long haul flight so I did already expect that we would pay to select seats- but I did not expect the price to select seats to be quite this high!

£43 is the cheapest seats on the way out, and £35 on the way back- each! That’s an additional £78 each to select seats. Really this whole thing has changed my opinion on BA, the fact that different seats have different prices - some as much as £81!- really drives it home how much they milk you for more money.

The only saving grace is if you leave it to 24 hrs before departure you can then select from the seats that are left for free.

I have gone back to check a few times and the flight does seem to be filling up a bit on pre-selected seats (plus the seat prices have gone up) but does anyone who flies BA regularly (or at all!) know what our odds are of getting two seats next to each other when online check in opens 24 hrs before departure?

TIA!

[Peko]

Which cabin are you flying in? The chances in economy of two seats together at check-in are reasonably good (as long as you aren’t too fussy about where they are in the cabin).

It’s more of a risk in higher cabins, since they have less seats and usually more people who are entitled to free advance seat selection.

[chrisxal]

We fly twice a year with BA and have done for many years, we had never paid for seats, I do OLCI 24 hrs before we fly and if I don't like the seats we have been allocated then I just move us, I don't like to be near the back of the plane.

[Guest]

You would be very unlucky not to be sat together as a two. You might not get much choice in where you sit but you'll almost certainly be together.

As the group size increases the chances get smaller (but we've never had an issue in groups of 3 or 4 - just less choice)

If you'd cry and fret the whole way if you sat apart i would pay, if you think you could manage in the unlikely event you are split then I'd save the £300 and spend it on something else.

If the worst happens and you are split the $400 it is equivalent to can buy a lot of wine or spa treatments to soften the disappointment

[Lell]

My husband and I often travel with BA and always get seats together without paying. We are normally lucky enough to get the rows of 2 at the back of the plane. I definitely wouldn't pay when its just the 2 of us whereas I always paid when our son and daughter travelled with us.