Seat assignments on BA

As ITN readers know (July ’07, pg. 26), British Air will not give seat assignments more than 24 hours in advance of a flight — regardless of class — unless the purchasers have fully flexible tickets or are Gold or Silver Executive Club members (another exception — families with young children).

I flew from Seattle to London (Heathrow) with my friend’s elderly parents (ages 80 and 89) on July 1, 2007. We returned from Paris via London on July 16. We had tried to obtain seat assignments based upon their ages, their mobility issues and the fact that we were flying Club World (business class), but the 24-hour rule is absolutely firm. Our business-class tickets at more than $5,000 each didn’t qualify because they were bought at a “discounted” price!

When I telephoned in early May to ask for assistance, the agent I spoke to said he would “put into the system” that we needed assistance (i.e., wheelchairs) for this trip, but he was unable to reserve seats. I subsequently wrote two e-mails to British Air; the first was not answered, but Mr. John Lampl sent the following response to the second about two days before we left:

“And you can see I have found your record. I shall call the airport manager at Seattle and make every attempt that you’re seated together.

“I understand when you say that you paid $5,000 for each seat, but these are discounted business-class seats (advance purchase) and, as such, are lower in the priority for advance seating.

“Nevertheless I totally agree with the situation, and I reiterate that I shall ring SeaTac and request extra assistance. I assume both Mr. and Mrs. Pope require wheelchairs.”

When I went online to reserve seats the day before our departure, I discovered that we had already been assigned seats (this was also true on the return flight). The seats we had been given (we could have changed them) were acceptable.

We arrived in Seattle well in advance of our scheduled departure time, thus no one was available to help with wheelchairs, etc., until after we had checked in. Once we did check in, assistance was available to take us to the British Air lounge as well as to the airplane.

On our return, from Paris, we again had seat assignments when we checked in 24 hours prior to departure; however, because it was a Sunday, we were unable to confirm the “extra assistance” that we needed.

The British Air office in Paris is closed on the weekend; this help cannot be requested online, and when we tried to call the British Air office in London we were told the wait time was 30 minutes. As we were calling from a U.S. mobile phone on “roaming,” we opted not to hold.

We requested assistance once we arrived at Charles de Gaulle Airport, but when it was not forthcoming we ended up going through security on our own. Once through security, we happened to run into a wheelchair attendant, who helped us find the departure lounge (which, frankly, we could not have located or accessed on our own, as the door was locked). He returned to get us through security prior to the flight.

At the gate, we again requested assistance at both Heathrow (our transfer point) and SeaTac and were told it was “in the system.” The Heathrow transfer went smoothly as did our Seattle arrival. Although “disabled” boarding is not listed in any priority category with British Air, we did get “front of the line” service on all flights and were treated very well by everyone, from contract employees who managed the wheelchairs in all three airports to the B.A. personnel on the ground.

After the flight, I wrote Mr. Lampl and he responded, “With regard to the ‘disabled’ comment, we trust our passengers to advise us if there are any special requirements, i.e., wheelchairs, and these are easily placed in the passenger name record so airports can be prepared to accommodate the special needs.

“If the www.ba.com website cannot take such a request, certainly the B.A. call center at the toll-free number can deal with the request. There should not be a problem with requesting special needs or special meals.

“I do hope British Airways will have the privilege of flying you or your friends in the future.”

In retrospect, I still enjoy flying on British Air, and their employees are very helpful; however, their “bureaucracy” and seat assignment policies leave much to be desired.

DEE POUJADE

Portland, OR