November 2nd, 2026
We're off for our second trip of the year to dear old Blighty, and while we're still three days away from flying, we've had some travel drama already.
Don't get me wrong, I quite like British Airways for our transatlantic jaunts; they have a fantastic terminal at Heathrow, their aircraft are normally pretty new, the staff are universally excellent, and their prices have been very competitive in recent years. But they do have a habit of messing about with pre-booked, and paid for, seating.
Two trips ago, with four of us travelling Premium Economy, we'd booked and paid for two rows of two. For "operational reasons", our seat allocations were changed to a row of four in the centre of the aircraft. I wasn't able to change their decision, so we sat in that four across row, but I did have a moan and claimed a refund of the seat booking fee, which was in the hundreds of dollars. I had a second moan to British Airways because I thought they'd bounced my refund claim, but that was unjustified on my part because they had indeed made the refund, I just hadn't checked the credit card bill properly.
Our last trip suffered the same problem. We'd booked and paid for two Premium Economy seats together, as we always do. When informed of the seat changes, I checked online to find that we, DW and I, were seated in different rows! On that occasion I was able to alter the seating online, more or less back to where we'd originally booked, so I didn't feel the need to claim a refund. I'm glad I didn't because on the trip home, we were upgraded to Business Class, at no cost, so props to BA for that.
For this trip, third time in a row, British Airways did it again. Our two seats together had been changed to two seats in the same row, but with an aisle between us. This time, though, I couldn't alter the seating online as there were no more two-seat sets vacant. DW was bereft, and the prospect of having to sit next to a stranger for eight hours was too much for her, so she did no more than called up BA in the UK and made a very polite, but firm, fuss. Low and behold, we have been restored to a two-seat row, window and aisle, and because it's in front of a bulkhead we get extra leg room, all at no extra cost. The irony is that the seats are directly in front the row we'd originally booked. Well done DW, and thank you British Airways.
The really aggravating thing is that we pay big bucks to choose our seat, and I don't know why we keep getting bumped around the aircraft. I absolutely understand that aircraft changes can impact seating, and even paid for seat allocations are not guaranteed, but why is it always us getting messed around? Yes, we could claim a refund, but if this kind of thing keeps happening, why do they bother charging at all if they then just have to give the money back?
Our return flight seats have been changed, too, but not drastically. Technically I could go for a refund, but we have gained an advantage on the outward leg of trip, so I'll hold off a claim in the interests of balance. Who knows, maybe we'll get another upgrade for the flight home?
