Neilson BA Flights

[samwardill]

I recently booked a Neilson beach holiday with a BA flight. I found out that, unlike last year, you can not prebook seats on Neilson beach holiday with BA flights this year. I think this is not really very family friendly and I certainly would not have gone out of my way to book a Neilson resort with a BA flight had I known.

When I approached Neilson they initially told me that this was BA's fault. However, when I approached BA they said it was not so I went back to Neilson. I then got the real reason. The issue is that Neilson have been sold to another company and therefore Thomas Cook are no longer willing to let them use their website for seat allocation on BA charter flights.

There are other companies that Neilson could use to manage seat allocation. I want to put a bit of pressure on them to do something about this in time for my holiday (in May). I hope that other Mumsnet members might also feel this is important to them. If this is also an issue that affects you, or even if you are just generally supportive, please consider posting the following on Neilson's Facebook page.
"I really like the option to fly British Airways with Neilson because I'm not a big fan of tour operator charter flights. The option to fly BA is one of the reasons I choose Neilson for my holiday. I am disappointed that, as a result of their new owner, Neilson have withdrawn the seat reservation service on their BA charter flights. Please can you ask the aviation manager to look at options for reinstating this for the 2015 summer season?"

It would probably also help to clarify your status as well e.g. "I am a Neilson customer booked on a BA Charter for the 2015 summer season / I am considering booking a Neilson holiday with a BA Charter flight for the 2015 summer season"

We couldn't book seats last year...it's really not that much of a problem! They do a group booking handled at a separate checkin desk and allocate the seats themselves to make sure families are together. Which is actually a lot more likely than if everyone chooses their own seats. Plus I'm not sure how much of the plane they have...depends on bookings!

As it turns out it was important. Just came back from Kalamata. Check in for flight home was absolute chaos because of lack of seat allocation. Chaos didn't stop at check in. Although, unlike many other families, my 5 year old daughter and I were allocated seats together, we were given an exit row and we were not allowed to sit there (because you have to be over 12). Seated next to us was a nervous flyer who should also not have been seated in an exit row and who, even when she swapped seats, had a terrible journey because she didn't have her partner to comfort her. Many infants were seated in rows without sufficient oxygen masks. It was a complete shambles. One of the things I really value about Neilson is that staff seek feedback proactively and try to rectify issues before they ruin your holiday. It is a shame that head office staff do not follow this mantra too!

Surely it cannot cost much more to use the scheduled flight service and get all the post booking services - like choosing your seats! Get the flight code and away you go!

Customers can move seats when they are in the aircraft!!! Ask the flight staff. Someone would have swapped with the nervous lady so she could be next to her husband! Loads of people swap around! If infants sit on parents' laps and do not have a seat, I am not sure what happens about oxygen masks. You could have an aircraft full of infants who have not paid for their own seat. What would you expect to happen on any airline? Seats do not have two oxygen masks do they? Each seat has an oxygen mask.