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We are due to fly on a long haul leisure route 777-200, in Premium, in less than T-72. We have One World Ruby status.
On the BA seat map, middle four seats of the front show shows as available. When I tried to book these, it told me I couldn’t as I didn’t have a child under two.
I used the RJ website and it has let me reserve those seats. How likely are we to be moved? Is it safer just to stick with our previous non-bassinet row seats?
It’s a very long standing bug in the BA system that even when it is correctly showing you bassinet seats as available you still can’t actually choose them. Once you’ve selected them via other means, you will only get moved if someone with an infant books a ticket at the last minute, or theoretically if someone with an infant has already booked but for some strange reason not chosen a seat for free earlier. Always possible, but pretty unlikely.
I didn’t know this was a bug, I thought they were deliberately kept back until someone with an infant booked, or T-24!
I probably wouldn’t risk it as you’ll get whatever’s left if someone with an infant does end up booking, and not necessarily even together, given the small size of PE cabins.
Also, on a (not BA) flight 12 months ago, the people in the bassinet seats across the aisle from us had to contend with a pushy family trying to commandeer the whole middle row (they all gave in and moved, which I don’t think I would have done!)
Well yes that’s the other risk. If not choosing all of the middle four you may find a noisy baby alongside you. The outside pairs are a much safer bet in that respect.
In my experience of numerous PE flights and coveting the bulkhead window seat over the years, it’s pretty rare for people with babies to be appearing a day or two before the flight. They tend to plan well in advance.
Ha – in this case the pushy family appeared from further back in the cabin (it was QR economy) and started making a huge song and dance about how they “needed” the bassinet row for their baby and toddler. They’d clearly planned in advance that they weren’t going to pay to reserve these seats but bully the rightful occupiers into giving them up! Fortunately I had had the prescience to bag the exit row pair (easily as good as BA PE), so children wouldn’t have been allowed in those anyway.
PE on BA – you’re probably a bit safer as fewer seats means less chance of being usurped by a baby!
I’ve only done this once on BA with the RJ trick as indicated. It worked fine. The thing to remember is that the bassinet is for babies up to a year old, and families travelling with infants get free seat selection at the time of booking, so if travelling on your flight they would have snapped it up already. It’d be rare (although certainly not unlikely!) to have a family book a long-haul trip at T-72.
You can re-confirm at the airport, but for the moment I wouldn’t worry. Once you have your boarding pass, it’ll be in black and white!
Once you have your boarding pass, it’ll be in black and white!
But still not guaranteed. While very unlikely as I’ve already said, should a group with a baby not have chosen a seat they will get priority and you would get moved (and existing boarding pass cancelled).
Last year on a return from Cancun, following an aircraft change I correctly spotted that two occupants of a bassinet pair had ended up in the second row. It turned out they were on the same outbound flight, so a polite discussion revealed that their baby was still in the bassinet, but the parents were the row behind!
That would otherwise have been a very late reshuffle at the airport.
I am happy to be corrected here, but I am under the impression that they can’t exactly kick you out of the bassinet seat if you’ve successfully selected it. They can of course talk to you and ask if you’re happy to move, or as you’ve done just swap seats once inside the aircraft. The whole point of releasing the seats to everyone at T-72 is to recognise that fact, right? Otherwise they’d keep them blocked until T-4 or whatever the airport check-in time was.
This *can* happen if there’s an aircraft change and the system kicks you out automatically (at which point you’ll have to repeat the process of seat selection).
Again, happy to be corrected, but that’s my understanding of how it’s worked for BA so far…
Seats get changed between check in and boarding all the time for various reasons. While not common in the wider scheme of things, it’s a perfectly routine activity for airport staff and not a request.
Should you get moved in such circumstances your boarding pass will be cancelled and it won’t get you on the plane.
Once you’ve actually boarded then the cabin crew may have reason to request a move, which is not the same.
Thanks. Interesting to hear all of this.
Would it not be fairly commonplace for people booked into a bassinet but then moved/split up in premium economy to kick up a fuss? I know I would be quite annoyed to go from having a ‘good’ seat to not so good seats.
Personally I wouldn’t object, because I understand how the system works and accept the risk. Others might, but it wouldn’t get them anywhere.
I’ve never actually been moved out of a PE bulkhead seat, but status presumably helps in that regard.
Kicking up a fuss won’t change anything and could result in you being denied boarding altogether. That’s why I tend to go for seats which I’m unlikely to get moved from, rather than the one I necessarily want the most. so, exit row seat over bassinet seat (if applicable), for example, because exit seats can’t accommodate small children or anyone who’s injured, so you’re pretty safe in those!
Of course you could claim a refund if you’d paid for a seat and then not been allowed to sit in it, but that involves you making a claim, it’s not automatic.
Book something else that is pretty good. Then close to the date T minus 4 try and get basinet seats. As someone said chances of last minute baby very small.
I am happy to be corrected here, but I am under the impression that they can’t exactly kick you out of the bassinet seat if you’ve successfully selected it.
You are corrected 😉 No seats are guaranteed – even paid for – and as said above changes do get made often. Hopefully from economy to business if you’re a lone flyer with status 😁.
Personally never found the bassinet seats attractive.
QED – I’ve just spotted that we’ve been kicked out of our exit row seats going to AGP in ET on my birthday in May! CE (presumably) is now up to row 12 and BA is still selling seats at over £400 pp, one-way.
I traveled solo with my extremely young daughter on a Virgin flight back from San Francisco many years ago (economy).
My co-occupants of the bulkhead seats were clearly horrified when the bassinet was flipped down into “their” space and my daughter proceeded to alternate between fidgeting, moaning and screaming for the next 11 hours.
If you have a choice, sit somewhere else.
Aleays be nice though if asked to wait if your boarding pass has not worked during boarding.
With or without the beep you may indeed have been moved from your paid-for or status-booked seat, but one way the airline could use to reseat you could include an upgrade.
You can always complain later and request the return of any seat fees paid, if not.
QED – I’ve just spotted that we’ve been kicked out of our exit row seats going to AGP in ET on my birthday in May! CE (presumably) is now up to row 12 and BA is still selling seats at over £400 pp, one-way.
Happy Birthday from British Airways. Your special gifts include a free seat choice in the back half of the aircraft, and an extra bag of nuts or weird corn things.
PS Don’t hold your breath on the second one 🙂
Lol, @AndrewT, the plan is to have a hearty birthday breakfast in the F lounge (sorry @JDB!) so we’re not relying on the weird corn things and teeny bottle of water!
I had economy remorse last night and looked to see if there were any reward seats left in CE, but I was born at a very popular time for travel, so no joy!
*I suppose as a treat I could splash out on some Percy Pigs or whatever they sell in BoB these days …
If you have a choice, sit somewhere else.
In Economy I would agree because bassinet users are always likely. In PE, as per the original question, they are fairly rare so it’s a different balance.
QED – I’ve just spotted that we’ve been kicked out of our exit row seats going to AGP in ET on my birthday in May! CE (presumably) is now up to row 12 and BA is still selling seats at over £400 pp, one-way.
Make hay while the sun shines! For BA at least. At least if you mention it they’ll send some champers down the back to you 😉
Status matters. But not as much as $$$ matters. On the plus side, you’re unlikely to be at the bottom of the list and get bumped.
Personally I follow @memesweeper’s view – sit as far away as possible! No one would have wanted to sit near us when we travelled when our son was young! If planes are delayed because of weather or cancelled, you could easily be bumped from the bassinet seats by a family transferred from another flight. A bleep at the gate isn’t always positive.
May I jump in on this topic too please?
I need to book 2 adults and a 4yo DOH-MEL on a QR 777-300ER in Sep/Oct. (no hope of affording J or even EK PE for 3 pax). The best I can do to improve a 14h flight in E is to pay for the extra legroom bulkhead seats which gives nice extra room for the wiggly kid too (no exit row with a kiddo).There are a total of 8 bassinet seats in E on these planes, but selecting those bulkheads costs over €500 each flight. Is that too risky and a bad idea? I’ve no status these days. 14 hours in E with a 4yo is a solid definition of hell but it’s for my sister’s wedding so it’s gotta be done.
thanks for any input x
The bulkhead/exit seats in economy do have excellent leg room – easily as much as the BA PE front row. I think if you paid for them, you’d be safe. From my one experience, there were solo adults in the middle bulkhead row, and families with babies who were seated elsewhere. Hopefully you wouldn’t get a chancer with a baby trying to usurp you, but you’d have very good grounds for refusing!
We took our son to NZ and Oz when he was 4. To this day I’m not sure how we endured that journey in economy! Fortunately he was having an aviation phase and loved the whole thing.
Well if you’ve booked a set of three there’s no risk of sitting directly with someone else’s baby, fairly likely there may be one across the aisle. Worst case if you got moved you would get your money back, but you’d have to submit a claim as it doesn’t happen automatically. Probably a very small chance you could get split up if moved.
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