British Airways Charges for Seat Selection

The price a passenger pays to reserve a seat up to 355 days before flying depends on the flight that's booked. If an economy class flight is booked for a flight within Europe, the fee will be $16 in US Dollars. The fee will be 20 pounds (approximately $32)for a long-haul economy seat or 50 pounds ($81) for an exit row seat. That's a whopping $81 to have the privilege of sitting in an exit row. Each way. That's an expensive addition to the cost of a ticket to sit in the exit row.

Business-class passengers will be charged a different rate for reserving a seat ahead of time. They be charged 20 pounds(approximately $32)for a short-haul flight and 60 pounds (close to $100) for a long-haul flight. Keep in mind, this fee is charge for each ticket and that is not a round trip price.

British Airways states on their site that seats can be selected at no charge in the 24 hour time period prior to departure, but that does not guarantee that the seat you want will be available. Many people like to secure their seat ahead of time and this will now cost them extra.

How do you get around paying the fee if you want to make sure you have a specific seat on a British Airways flight? Here are your options, according to the British Airways web site:

The following customers will continue to be able to choose their seat from the time of booking for free:
- Gold Executive Club members (and oneworld equivalents)
- Customers travelling in First
- Customers holding a fully flexible ticket booked in J/C/W/Y booking classes
- Customers travelling with infants
- Customers with additional needs (this includes those with disabilities or other special requirements)
- Silver Executive Club members (and oneworld equivalents) can choose a seat for free at time of booking, except exit row seats in World Traveller and World Traveller Plus which can be purchased from 10 to 4 days prior to their flight.

If it doesn't matter where you sit, there's no charge. You may end up at the rear of the plane for your flight and you may not get the coveted exit row seat, but it won't cost you any extra money out of your pocket.

More information can be found on the British Airways site.

Written by Cheryl Phillips
Providence, RI
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