British Airways adds a "fly next to your children" fee

British Airways has broken new exciting new ground in the race to make flying as awful as possible: they have announced a fee (ranging from £10-60 per passenger) for advance seat selection, explaining that this will be the only way that families and other groups travelling together can be assured that they'll be sitting next to each other. I wonder what happens if you don't pay it while flying with a two-year-old in her own seat; do they seat her at the other end of the plane from you and explain to the strangers on either side of her that they're responsible for her well-being for the duration?

Best part: BA is billing this as a way of improving the flight "experience" because you can now be certain you'll get the seat that you want. War is peace, love is hate, the airline industry cares about passengers.

A BA spokeswoman said: "Customers frequently request specific seats, but in the past we've only been able to confirm them 24 hours in advance or on the day.
"We know people want to secure them in advance and have real control over their flying experience. This will allow them to do that."

British Airways sets seat charges

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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mcn

I would totally pay $150 (in your denomination of choice) to guarantee I’m not near and/or minding someone’s kids on a flight. I also will totally swap seats for free to allow a family to be together – particularly if it means I’m not next to the 2 year old, and I bet Reflex’s suggestion is right on for most people. Adults, passengers won’t usually move for – but under-18 people, we usually will.
Anonymous

According to this site, the fee will not apply to those travelling with “young children.”
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/20090925/british-airways-charge-pounds-seat-selection-service.htm
I’m sure they could be held liable for all sorts of potential problems if kids are separated from parents!
SkullHyphy

Motherflyers!
Anonymous

Air Canada has been doing this for some time now. And yes, if you don’t pay to pick seats, they will gladly scatter your family all over the plane.
arkizzle / Moderator

“I’ve been working more than 16 years in different airlines and the check-in agents always do their best to accomodate children next to their parents.”

I haven’t checked-in, or seen a check-in agent, in years.. do they still do that?
Antinous / Moderator

After six weeks traveling with friends, I bribed the ticket agent in Delhi to claim that they had to seat me at the far end of the plane.
ackpht

Airlines are public transportation. A very elaborate form of public transportation, but public transportation just the same.
Cicada

Perhaps a fee to make sure you’re not sitting next to someone else’s children?
60 quid sounds reasonable for that…cheap, even.
arkizzle / Moderator

Cicada +10
ChibiR

Coming next: A fee to ensure that your luggage will actually be on the same plane as you are.
Anonymous

I think if people are having kids and flying enough for this to be an issue, maybe they ought to think about their carbon footprint a little.
Anonymous

When booking online, Air New Zealand allows you to select your seat(s). For free. And again at check in. If I don’t want to, I don’t have to deal with a single person at any stage of the ticketing/check in/boarding process with Air NZ. Isn’t that the norm with air travel these days?!

No, I don’t work for Air NZ, just shocked at BA charging for information handling in the computer age(+40).
Anonymous

I love that the top story in the “SEE ALSO” column for that article is “British Airways makes Â£148m loss”.

Wot relationship between customer service and performance?!?
ljelondon

The CAA’s rules state that airlines’ procedures

should take into account the following factors:

Children, accompanied by adults, should ideally be seated in the same seat row as the adult. In wide-bodied aircraft, children and accompanying adults should not be separated by more than one aisle. Where this is not possible, children should be separated by no more than one seat row from accompanying adults.

Seat allocation procedures for family groups and suitable seating arrangements for large parties of children should reflect the above criteria.

Whenever small numbers of infants and children are travelling together, the airline should make every effort to ensure that they are allocated seats where they can be readily supervised by the responsible accompanying adult in both normal and abnormal conditions.

How does this fit with BA’s new policy?
asuffield

BA’s new policy says nothing about children specifically, so I’d imagine they will continue to seat them with their accompanying adults like they always have.

Groups of adults may get split up, however. De-sensationalising Cory’s spin a little, it’s a “fly next to your girlfriend” fee.
- Anonymous
  
  I have given up flying with BA with my very young children after two flights of being separated from them. I had even allocated seats, and they still split us up. On the day, I had an 18mth baby whom I had purchased a seat for sitting at the other side of the plan, my 3 year old on his own in the row in front and my husband a row behind. We had booked months in advance, and people around us had booked last minute yet were together. So don’t believe for a minute that BA care about families; they don’t. It was the passengers around who didn’t want responsibility for my kids and feeling sorry for us that agreed to move so we could all be together. We fly with American Carriers who do put us together! BA are going to fail if they keep ignoring their customer service quality.
Anonymous

Some airlines in US also do this. We traveled via Airtran recently and they have this policy. So we did not pre-book the seats at all. Moreover, at the check in counter we made clear that we did not care if the toddlers were seated with someone else :)
They put all of us in the same row anyway :(
Anonymous

Willie Walsh ruined Aer Lingus and is now turning BA into Ryanair
drew3ooo

You know, as a parent who does fly with his 1.5 year old on occasion, there are some great possiblities here. A) don’t pay it and hand the nappies over to the lucky passenger who gets to hang out with my kid for the 9-hour flight over the Atlantic. B) Turn around to the person standing behind me during check in and ask them if they’d like to pay Â£10-Â£60 to guarantee that they won’t be the person minding my kid.

I do empathize with fellow passengers who may not want to put up with my kid for that long in confined quarters. Perhaps a section of the plane could be considered as for families so that more childless passengers could do without the kicking and interesting odors? But then, a little planning doesn’t always maximise profits. Another example of how the market doesn’t necessarily lead to better service.
Cicada

I’m amused by the assumption that the person sitting next to the kid is going to take care of it, rather than just hitting the flight attendant call button to complain about disruptive behavior.
Your kid, your problem, no matter where the wee thing’s located.
stevecopley

If you read the story closely you’ll see that reservations can be made for free during the 24hrs before flying. In the past, on most of the BA flights I’ve taken, you’ve only been allowed to reserve seats during this period anyhow.

So there’s still a good chance that you’ll be able to book seats together – you’ll just need to be online the day before you fly.
eAi

Yeah, if you’d read the story properly, you’d have seen they’re just charging to book before the 24 hour window you can normally book in. Not many people will do this, so it won’t really affect most people. It’s just a way of milking the rich/picky a bit more!
Itram

This is nonsense. I’ve been working more than 16 years in different airlines and the check-in agents always do their best to accomodate children next to their parents. I recall very few situations when a family had to be split as the aircraft was nearly full.
Even the computer check-in system kept empty seats until the last moment next to families with babies who didn’t have a right to a seat so if the plane wasn’t full, they could use the empty seat for the baby.
All this was considered normal procedure for all airlines and now they try to explain us that we have to pay extra for something we’ve always had…

This reminds me of a weird situation in the late eighties when mostly Dutch charter airlines offered what they called “half-seat”. That is, you only paid half the fare or less for your kid… but he/she shared the seat with another kid. Usually they did this in the middle seat. If you had two children you could have them together, but if you only had one, the other half seat was given to the kid of another family… Last time I recall this was in 1989, I think with Martinair and/or Transavia.
alisong76

Actually, I think this is a splendid idea. I work for a rail co and all that ever happens is that by the time the train departure date gets close, it’s full of people who have all demanded window seats which means…GUESS WHAT? When someone books with a child we can’t seat them together because there are no pairs of seats left! Charging these people for seat assignment preference may actually curb the problem and allow families with children to sit together.
alisong76

Cicada, I’d pay that. In fact, I reckon I’d pay an extra $50 to be guaranteed a flight with no children on it at all. Airlines, are you listening?
bigvicproton

Its not what the story says, its what it means. They are just softening their passengers up to accept the future possibility that you WILL have to pay to get the seat you want no matter when you check in. And how obnoxious would it be to choose and pay for two seats then get on a half empty plane and find whole aisles with nobody in them? Will they not let you move around anymore? Im sure some weasel at BA corporate is already working on software to intentionally break up known booked groups so as to make them pay in the future. BA is the worst “big” airline outside of the US. They seem to enjoy annoying not only their customers but their workers. If the place I want to go to is only served by BA then I dont go there. I would, and sometimes do pay more, just to avoid that airline and its confirmed agitation and stress, as well as assured delays.
Anonymous

A number of bnudget airlines already do this – BMI babuy for example.

So it’s just another way of giving a cheap price up front and then racking the price up once you’ve decided to fly…..
Captdrastic

Give me a 6-pack of two year olds seated randomly around the plane, and a 6-pack of Mountain Dew, and I’m pretty sure we could get this fee overturned in a matter of days.
airshowfan

Whatever happened to asking people to switch seats with you so that you can sit next to your friend/relative? I have seen situations on airplanes where friends/relatives were seated apart, and they always succeeded when they asked their neighbors (or, failing that, any two or three people on the airplane) to swap seats with them so they could sit together. It may be unreasonable to ask someone to give up a window seat for a middle seat, but as long as it’s the friend/relative who is “downgrading” in seat position, what’s the problem?
Shannon

My daughter has been flying on her own internationally (Toronto to LAX) regularly since she was five — and enjoys the experience and independence greatly. So certainly from that age and up there’s no reason why kids can’t sit on their own.

Below that age though, I’d be really really shocked if the airline staff didn’t move people to ensure that you’re sitting next to your kid. I can’t imagine there wouldn’t be liability issues otherwise, whether you paid the fee or not.
Liassic

So BA are just going the ancillary revenue route. If you can’t beat Ryanair then join them.
Pretty soon BA will be offering flights for nothing just like Ryanair knowing they’re going to get you on all the “extras”.
jackie31337

This actually is an improvement. Pretty much every time I’ve flown, I’ve only had my seat assigned at check-in (24 hours before departure with online check-in, on the day of the flight when checking in at the airport) for my transatlantic flights. This system is basically offering the option to have a guaranteed seat assignment in advance. Frequent flyers have already been able to do this for a long time (but with no fee).

I’ve been flying with my daughter since she was 5 months old (she’s 6 years old now) and even when we check in at the airport on the day of the flight, they do whatever they can to get us seats together, even if that means moving another passenger. I doubt that’s going to change just because more people have the option of reserving a seat in advance.
Anonymous

Prediction number 62 of the Dilbert Future:

Two things that will never improve in the future are airlines and bicycle seats.
Anonymous

That’s Virgin Atlantic’s next ad campaign sorted.

“Unlike BA, we won’t charge you extra to sit with your family when you go on holiday…”

Billy Connolly did a skit about similar to this once. The gist of it was that back in the day the airlines used to have big cardboard seat layouts of the plane behind the desk. You’d choose your seats, they’d pull out those seat markers for that flight and stick them in with your ticket, thereby reserving it for you. They couldn’t sell the same seat twice, because there was only 1 tag/seat. Obviously this was ~far~ too sensible a system to endure in this day and age.
jackie31337

drew3ooo @7 Perhaps a section of the plane could be considered as for families so that more childless passengers could do without the kicking and interesting odors?

Have you ever noticed that you often end up sitting in the rear of the plane when you fly with your child? There’s already sort of a de-facto family zone there. It’s also where they seat the unaccompanied minors.
microdot

I always have found BA’s “seat selection” a joke from the get go…the last time I flew from Chicago/Heathrow, I chose my seats 24 hrs before the flight only to find my seat occupied by one half of the worlds fattest family!
The attendant took me aside and said, “we seem to have problem here” and said they had demanded to sit in my prechosen seat.
In spite of the fact that business class was nearly empty, I was forced to sit in the bulkhead seat where the Scottish Steward sat, sneezing in my face as he got progressively sicker during the flight.
I am certain that this flight in April, from Chicago to Heathrow was the major vector which brought swine flu into Europe…
I was sick as a dog for a week!
But on the bright side, my doctor says that now I am naturally immune to the next wave of swine flu.
Anonymous

The problem with this new policy is going to be for the airline when it comes to young children who must be seated with their caretaker. It’s one thing to ask someone to switch seats to accomodate a family sitting together, and a WHOLE other thing to ask someone who has PAID Â£20 to switch their seat to accomodate a family sitting together – will they get a refund? Will the airline be liable for breach of contract?
caipirina

yeah .. now i can actually save some money and get some sleep on a flight, while having a complete stranger taking care of my kid … cool
ADavies

What a scam. I’ve never had a problem getting a seat next to my traveling companion(s) on any airline (British Airways included).

On the rare cases where I’ve seen other people get stuck not sitting next to each other, passengers have always been happy enough to swap around – without even charging a fee (can you imagine it?!).

While we’re on the subject of British Airways, here’s a blog from my colleges in the UK about misleading climate change ads from British Airways.
jackie31337

Shannon @16 My daughter has been flying on her own internationally (Toronto to LAX) regularly since she was five — and enjoys the experience and independence greatly. So certainly from that age and up there’s no reason why kids can’t sit on their own.

Except when a child under 12 flies alone, they’re not really alone. There’s a mandatory unaccompanied minor service added onto the ticket for children under 12 (unless they’re accompanied by a passenger over 16). With the unaccompanied minor service, airline staff escort the child to the gate and stay until the child has boarded the plane. Once the child is on the plane, the flight attendants are in charge of supervising the child. This is why unaccompanied minors are often seated together at the rear of the plane – so the flight attendants can supervise them all more easily. Airline staff meet the child at the arrival gate and escort them to their connection (if any) or escort them until the designated guardian (you have to specify who) meets them at their destination.

British Airways actually has rules about booking a child into a different cabin from yourself:

You may book your child to travel in a different cabin when you travel on the same flight. No special booking procedure is required for children who are 12 years of age or over. For children under 12 years of age, please note the following:

* the child must be at least 5 years old
* the child can be booked into any cabin once you are booked to travel on the same flight
* the child must be checked in with you at a check-in desk and remain with you until they are taken into the care of British Airwaysâ€™ staff at the boarding gate.
* whilst we retain overall Duty of Care after your child is checked in, you are requested to remain responsible for their health, well-being and behaviour both on the ground and on board.
Moriarty

Whatever, I just check my kids anyway.
Anonymous

BA needs to rid itself of its appalling management, particularly Mr Walsh and start respecting its customers and employees. Until that day any airline but BA will do.
Anonymous

This is nothing new, Norwegian (flying to and from Norway) charge 40 NOK. Then you can choose a seat when you book your flight. They have been doing it for about one year if I remember. It has not caused any disruptions as I have heard of.

It is a way for the airline to earn money of those who MUST have a particular seat. For the rest of us who are not that concerned about seating, we just get fewer seats to choose from when checking in sometime in the last 24 hours.

This system will not cause a problem for families unless there are many single travellers who book their seats early, so that there are no groups of seats left. If that were ever to happen then expect a great row, as people who have paid to get seats get moved to accommodate the families. (There are few airline attendants who would want to separate small children from their parents, they would rather ask other people to move).
Anonymous

Pretty much every time I’ve flown, I’ve only had my seat assigned at check-in (24 hours before departure with online check-in, on the day of the flight when checking in at the airport) for my transatlantic flights.

Hmm, I always get confirmed seats weeks or months in advance on US carriers (including transatlantic and transpacific flights).
johnny_action

Double plus good that, I also heard they are increasing the chocolate ration…
AlexG55

This is all a bit overblown. The former BA system was a first-come-first-served system in the last 24 hours before the flight, which had the advantage that if you could be at a computer 24 hours before departure, you could have pretty much any seat (including an exit-row seat) with no extra charge, but the disadvantage that if you didn’t check in until a few hours before (or, worse, at the airport) you got stuck with the middle seat at the back of the plane, and families often got put in different rows.
The current system allows you to “jump the queue” if it’s really important that you sit together. It’s unlikely that all the aisle seats would be grabbed by people using such a system, still less all the window and aisle seats- no BA aircraft has less than 33% aisle seats, and some have more than 50% (767). Also, BA are still charging less for exit-row seats than Virgin, their main competitor for long-haul flights from the UK.
sleze

I guess there aren’t a lot of people here who fly frequently as a part their job. Although I have never flown BA, EVERY other airline I have ever flown (domestic and international) has assigned seats WAY before the flight.

In recent memory, I have flown: Delta, Continental, Northwest, US Airways, United, American Airlines and Luftansa. On US Airways, I had my seats assigned 8 months before my honeymoon.

This policy will keep me from flying on BA.
M

Perhaps this is part of their new “Ransom Your Family” program: “I’m sorry sir, but we unilaterally decided to move your wife back to the last row, next to the bathrooms. If you ever want to sleep with her again, I KNOW she’s going to want you to fork over fifty bucks to keep her close.”
M

To the person who commented that this only applies for people looking to seat less than 24 hours ahead, you do realize that to fit those people in next to each other, they will have to move others, who will then have the “option” to pay money to re-establish the situation they were smart enough to think they were booking ahead for?
wpncyril

it scares me to read how many people here do not like children in planes while forgetting they, too, where small and unbearable once ….
bloody ignorant and arrogant motherf******, excuse my language!
Shannon

Jackie… I understand how the service works as I’ve used it plenty. My point is that the kid is helped to get to the plane, and then they’re largely on their own for the flight. This is similar to a kid sitting separate from their parents, and I’m quite certain that any well-adjusted child should be able to handle it, and many well actually enjoy it.
Anonymous

I’m a somewhat regular Cathay Pacific flier, and here’s an anecdote from the other side of the asile (so to speak). Cathay has always allowed free online seat selection starting from 48 hrs before the flight. It’s quick, neat, and enormously satisfying to bypass the entire “boarding” line at the airport and just jump on the (mostly) empty “checked-in” line. That, and no more negotiation at the boarding desk for seats. Online booking + seatguru.com = a vastly better flight. How BA gets away w/ charging something for essentially allowing fliers to take work away from them boggles the mind.
Lt DirtyFreq

Back in the day weren’t we ALLOWED to sit next to friends & family without any problems whatsoever? Wasn’t it if you booked your flight you sat next to the people whom you’ve also booked?

Now it goes all over the place. Airline customer service has gone downhill fast. I flew in June with 2 friends & we were scattered. Even poor families were scattered. EVERYONE at the airports were rude (customers & employees). No one is smiley any more. :(
Anonymous

Just great. Booked my 1st trip on BA a month ago, cattle-class, Los Angeles to Paris for December. 8 of us. Then find out we cannot reserve a seat until 24 hrs before departure. Iâ€™m 6-2 (1.9 m) and non-isle = torture. If I knew about BAâ€™s old seating policy I never would have booked BA. Their new and improved policy is pouring salt into a open wound. On the other 3 airlines Iâ€™ve flown to Europe you give â€˜em your money months in advance, they get to use it interest free until you fly, and in return you get a reserved seat. The earlier you book the better your choice, and the longer they have your money. Am hoping that because BA changed the rules after I bought my nonrefundable tickets I can get my money back. The way this is headed by December BA will have economy and deluxe pay toilets.
Anonymous

Although as a caveat before commenting, I don’t have kids, I don’t see this as that much of a problem.

If you arrived at the airport with your child for check-in, five minutes before it closes, would you expect the airline to be able to accommodate you? The fact that everyone else checked in earlier means that all the seats are taken and there aren’t two together wouldn’t stop you complaining about unfair treatment.

You aren’t guaranteed two seats together unless you book the seats in advance. That seems reasonable. It’s exactly the same if you book seats on a train in advance – if you want to be certain that you’re not standing from London to Birmingham, then you have to pay for a reservation. Simple as.
Anonymous

As a parent of a couple of moody teenagers who have recently adopted the ‘Emo’ culture, our next family holiday will fly with BA.

Suffice it to say I will appreciate the saving :)
mizike

Hey British Airways, maybe you’d have less people clamouring to book a specific seat if more than 5% of the seats in coach didn’t ensure any passenger over 6’0″ would spend the entire flight in knee crushing agony? Just a thought.
Anonymous

Hmm, maybe next up is a “landing fee.”
Outtacontext

Funny this should come up. I’ve just started a new airline, actually two. One is called “Childless Air” and the other is called “Diaper Air.” You pick your atmosphere!
Anonymous

People keep saying that people are happy to move for others. This was before the fee. If you’ve already paid the fee, would you move if someone else asked you to do so?
davidasposted

I’m traveling inside Canada this November and for the first time, didn’t even consider booking a flight. I would have taken VIA Rail, except that they charge airline prices (so much for an alternative). So I guess it’s the rental car for me…
Anonymous

Do the Brits sue everyone when someone molests their kids?
PathogenAntifreeze

Those of us who remember flying in the late ’90s and up until 9/11 recall that air travel was actually kinda pleasant. At least it was pleasant compared to now. The companies who were hit so hard financially have gone guns-blazing at both feet ever since in an effort to encourage more road trips whenever possible. I know I drive to my destinations *a lot* more than I did back then, and every single change by every airline in the last 8 years has reinforced that.

I say this with a US-centric point of view and having read a bit on the European airlines… I will acknowledge that Cathay and Thai are good and don’t seem to be on the sepuku bandwagon.
chgoliz

Considering the stories so far, I feel the urge to tell one of mine…

Family reunion several states away. Two family sets arrive at the airport, mine and my cousin’s (minus his wife). Between us, 6 children, including a <2 year old who had her own paid seat. United admitted they screwed up when they issued the boarding tickets and so, instead of 9 seats, we only were allowed to board with 6. They actually told me that the person in my family who did not have the right boarding pass was the baby, and so I was to get on the plane and LEAVE HER BEHIND IN THE GATE AREA. They actually said this with a straight face.

We figured out rather quickly that the two men in business suits with business frequent flier miles were going to have the best shot at getting on another flight (there were only 2 a day to this particular location). So, I got on with 6 children, one of whom had to sit on my lap. They refused to ask any of the other passengers to move. Amazingly, none of the passengers would move when I asked them.

And that is how I flew across the country with one young toddler on my lap and 5 other children of varying ages (all under 12) in 5 completely separate parts of the airplane.

Fortunately for the other passengers, our children are seasoned travelers and all did fine without bothering anyone.

But, WTF????
chgoliz

Reposting because parts of the text just disappeared for no apparent reason:
________

Considering the stories so far, I feel the urge to tell one of mine…

Family reunion several states away. Two family sets arrive at the airport, mine and my cousin’s (minus his wife). Between us, 6 children, including a <2 year old who had her own paid seat. United admitted they screwed up when they issued the boarding tickets and so, instead of 9 seats, we only were allowed to board with 6. They actually told me that the person in my family who did not have the right boarding pass was the baby, and so I was to get on the plane and LEAVE HER BEHIND IN THE GATE AREA. They actually said this with a straight face.

We figured out rather quickly that the two men in business suits with business frequent flier miles were going to have the best shot at getting on another flight (there were only 2 a day to this particular location). So, I got on with 6 children, one of whom had to sit on my lap. They refused to ask any of the other passengers to move. Amazingly, none of the passengers would move when I asked them.

And that is how I flew across the country with one young toddler on my lap and 5 other children of varying ages (all under 12) in 5 completely separate parts of the airplane.

Fortunately for the other passengers, our children are seasoned travelers and all did fine without bothering anyone.

But, WTF????
chgoliz

Grrrrrr….

OK, here’s the second paragraph in full:
______

Family reunion several states away. Two family sets arrive at the airport, mine and my cousin’s (minus his wife). Between us, 6 children, including a <2 year old who had her own paid seat. United admitted they screwed up when they issued the boarding tickets and so, instead of 9 seats, we only were allowed to board with 6. They actually told me that the person in my family who did not have the right boarding pass was the baby, and so I was to get on the plane and LEAVE HER BEHIND IN THE GATE AREA. They actually said this with a straight face.
Anonymous

Here’s an point to consider: how often is the middle seat taken first, leaving the window and aisle seats free for parent and kidlet? Practically never. The middle seat by itself is the LEAST desirable seat. People choose either window or aisle. If two together, they choose window+center or center+aisle. So this is pretty much a moot point.
chgoliz

Bloody !@(*&#$^&$

It’s the less-than sign. OK, take 3, or whatever this is:
______

Family reunion several states away. Two family sets arrive at the airport, mine and my cousin’s (minus his wife). Between us, 6 children, including a less-than-2 year old who had her own paid seat. United admitted they screwed up when they issued the boarding tickets and so, instead of 9 seats, we only were allowed to board with 6. They actually told me that the person in my family who did not have the right boarding pass was the baby, and so I was to get on the plane and LEAVE HER BEHIND IN THE GATE AREA. They actually said this with a straight face.
Anonymous

Well since using BA would most certainly mean a stop at London Heathrow, the absolute WORST airport in the world, it would much rather take ANY other airline regardless of what stupid ideas they get to mistreat their customers.

But it is interesting that BA came up with that, totally in line with Londons Heathrow policy of making sure your trip will be an absolute nightmare.

If you are even considering ever taking a trip that involves London Heathrow, there is what to expect:
You get driven in a bus to the other side of the airport, regardless where you get off. Then you have to stand in a single, 1.2km long line of people to wait for one of the two security lanes with absolutely NO seating possibility ANYWHERE. The other security lane btw is reserved for First Class (Business class does not count). If it takes 3 hours then that’s how long it takes. If you miss you connection, oh well. When you finally get to the checkpoint there is a 75% chance they will search every bag to the last scrap, makes you wonder why they even bother with the xray machines when they hand search everything anyway.

After the hours of waiting and finally getting through you either have to wait in another huge line at the airport counter to get your flight rebooked, OR, if somehow you managed to get through pre boarding time wander aimlessly as they only announce the gate of your connecting flight 10 minutes before boarding. Of course when they do tell you it is at the absolute other end of the terminal of wherever you are. Once you are there a bus will take you back to the terminal you originally came from and you will see that your connecting flight was actually right next to the gate that you arrived at. Never mind that you of course went through security before boarding the flight that you arrived in and that you only want to transfer to a connecting flight.

If you feel like you don’t have enough pain and misery in your life, be sure to book a flight with BA via London Heathrow. A must for every true hard core masochist. And no worries, whatever i mentioned above will certainly no longer be current, i’m sure by now they have devised even more elaborate and effective (but most certainly not efficient) ways of tormenting travelers.
bearchild

Here’s an idea:

British Airways adds a “don’t fly next to your mother-in-law” fee
Anonymous

this is absurd, look at their new rule, the actualy label men as pedophiles
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/personal-view/3634055/Come-off-it-folks-how-many-paedophiles-can-there-be.html

and

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-414550/Revealed-How-BA-bans-men-sitting-children-dont-know.html
straponego

The airlines seem determined to make travel more painful day by day. This is not a sustainable business model.

If airlines aren’t turning a profit, and flights are nearly always booked to capacity now, why not raise prices so that we can travel in decent conditions again? Delays cascade throughout the system because there aren’t enough empty seats on other flights to absorb the blow. They’ve lowered prices and quality of service to the point that everybody is miserable, and they’re dying because of it. Raise the damn prices.

I’m also in favor a no kicking/screaming/****ting section.

As for families sitting in groups… on our last flight, my girlfriend and I had booked aisle seats across from each other. A family of five came on, including one teen and one baby. They asked if we’d move into a middle and a window seat so that they could sit together. Like idiots, we agreed. The window seat was cramped and stifling for the hour we sat on the tarmac with no air conditioning. My girlfriend effectively had half a seat, because the father and the baby used the rest. The flight attendants offered another seat to the teen, which would have made everybody comfortable, but the vicious, bitter, harpy mother forbade it.

Never again. You try to help a family out, and they crap on you. You pay for two tickets, get 1.5; breeders pay for 4, get 4.5.
gepinniw

Air Canada does the same thing. Ridiculous!!
Anonymous

There’s a value to individual travelers, too. Sitting towards the front, especially on international flights to beat the passport control line, or to connect a flight, is easily worth GBP 10. I’m not sure about GBP 60.
ikegently

OK. This is going to make everyone hate me, but, for sake of argument:

Try reframing this a different way. The airlines can’t seem to turn a profit. They must increase ticket prices or go out of business. If they go out of business, that is no good for us. So there are two choices:

a) Increase ticket prices for everyone. This is not good for anyone (though it is, in some way, egalitarian in its badness).

b) Increase ticket prices for some people, namely the people who are least price sensitive. If you want an extra service, you pay for it. Often when I fly I don’t care where I sit. I also don’t check bags (usually), and I bring my own food. I do these things anyway. Maybe it is a good thing that my ticket isn’t going to cost more because I am subsidizing everyone else’s food, bags, and seat selection. By debundling the service offerings, they let me pay for the one thing I do care about (transport of my body) without paying for all the other stuff.

Just a thought.

Also, I think the whole flying with small children angle is a little blown out of proportion. Airline staff and other passengers will pretty much always work to get families sitting together. This will not change the fact that, when boarding, families can always ask people to switch. Flight attendants will always help make this happen. And other passengers will almost always move seats for a small child.
octopod

>Fortunately for the other passengers, our children are seasoned travelers and all did fine without bothering anyone.

hmm. possible parental reality distortion field detected.
Moriarty

Ikegently,

I agree with you. Rationally, debundling is a better and fairer solution. TANSTAAFL, and all. They were charging you for all that before, too, but they were forcing you to buy it, and not giving you an itemized bill, so it seemed “free.” Now they’re raising prices, but not forcing you to buy those extra luxuries, so the result is you pay the same. (Or you pay more, but not as much more.)
chgoliz

Octopod @ #53:

[QUOTE]hmm. possible parental reality distortion field detected.[/QUOTE]

Ha! I’ve certainly witnessed that problem too, more times than I care to remember. But in this case, we’re talking about kids who read the entire time, except for the two youngest, one of whom was in my arms and the other was only about 4 rows away (within sight and hearing) so I do know that there was no crying, arguing, hitting, kicking, spilling, etc.

I’m the kind of parent who is told at the end of international flights “we didn’t even realize there was a kid in this section.” I hate being stuck near obnoxious, noisy, smelly passengers – of any age – myself, so traveling with well-prepared children is something I take very seriously.

My point in posting was that several posters mentioned FAA rules about proximity between children and caregivers while in-flight, and those rules were not followed in any way, shape or form on that flight. We’d all love to believe that companies who take our lives into our hands are strict about safety guidelines, but that isn’t how it plays out IRL.
Anonymous

I can fly with a two year old, have the monster seated far away, and save reservation fee?

Win!!
Anonymous

I am flying tonight from Singapore to London. I booked my tickets for me and my two children aged 2 and 4 in April 09. On the other three flights with BA I have made this year, their 3 day before flight, seat allocation applied – me and the girls have always been seated together. 3 days ago I went to check the seat allocation – my 2 year old has been allocated at seat on the left hand side of the front row, my 4 year old a seat on the 2nd row in the middle and me on the 3rd row on the right! After 3 long calls to the BA offices in the UK, no one will move us as there is no space. (they did suggest we pay 6k to move to business class where there is space!) At no time have we been notified about their change in seating policy, although we did receive an email to inform us that the arrival terminal was changing. I am dreading the flight and hope and pray some nice passengers change seats with me. I think it is an absolute disgrace and will NEVER fly BA again.
freeyourcrt

Great Britain (Airlines) is our ally. Great Britain (Airlines) has always been our ally.
reflex

The solution is simple. Don’t pay the fee. If your party gets split up, negotiate seat swaps with other passengers. It’ll probably clog up the aisles and make it difficult other passengers to get seated. Then call BA’s customer service line and complain about the mess their seating policy caused on your flight.
Anonymous

This sounds like one of those “we’re cutting our hours to serve you better” kind of deals.