There is a running joke at FlyerTalk on the British Airways forum that any time the airline reduces something the spin doctors in marketing write about them as though they are enhancements. On that forum, if someone says something has been enhanced by the airline it usually means something good is now gone.
Today British Airways announced three enhancements to the Executive Club and here they are.
Free Seat Selection On Basic Fares
British Airways offer two fares in EuroTraveller called Basic and Plus. Basic fares do not include any luggage and you must pay for seat selection. Plus fares include one 23kg bag and seat selection is free 48 hours before departure.
Basic is what used to be known as the Hand Baggage Only fare. When it was introduced, people with status could choose seats for free, while all others had to pay. This was changed so that everyone, regardless of status, had to pay for a seat.
As you can imagine, this was particularly galling for frequent flyers. Happily, from 14 June 2017, passengers with status choosing the Basic fare can once again choose seats for free as they can on other fares. Hooray!
Status Hold For New Parents
It appears losing status when you have a baby is a big deal for some people so the airline has introduced a status hold. If you are going on maternity, paternity or adoption leave, you can hold your status for one year.
You can use this benefit twice in a five year period and there are even bonus Avios miles for joining your baby up to the Executive Club. Enhancements that lock a baby in to the club from birth – probably a good idea!
Enhancements That Are Really Advertising
The third enhancement announced today was a blatant advert for the British Airways eStore to get more people using it. Not much I can really say about it as it literally is a paragraph essentially saying, “This exists, remember to use it!”
It’s slightly sad to dress it up as an enhancement in my view.
Overall Thoughts
One enhancement for parents, one essentially bringing back something previously taken away and then an advert. Well, I guess beggars can’t be choosers and I’ll take it. I have booked exactly one basic fare with BA, usually avoiding it as I could not select my seat, so I am happy seat selection is back.
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Like you I’m really pleased about the ability to choose my seat again – apart from the fact that the one HBO fair I’ve ever paid for is in 3 weeks time so this is of no use to me, and my next flight after that on June 18th…I paid to select my seat!
I found that the one HBO fare I booked had me seated at the front window just like usual just in Economy. I found the seat you’re allocated can be checked on the MyFlights app if you have it. It showed my automatic seat allocation straight away even though I could see it nowhere else. For your June 18 flight, you can contact BA as you can get a refund on your seat selection – so says the BA page about the announcement, so I’d do that if I were you. Glad the seat selection is back for Basic! It’s… Read more »
I paid for Plus because I thought it was better value than Basic plus the seat fee, although I didn’t really want checked baggage….I feel obliged to pack extra heavy for 2 nights in Paris now!
hahaha I can understand why 🙂