The mystery of 63A ….

One of the coolest things about flying Club World on British Airways is the ability to sit “upstairs” if you are on a Boeing 747.

Frankly, the Boeing 777 layout in Club World resembles a dormitory or a TV shot of a sports centre using for local residents after their houses get flooded!  Eight across seating is not pretty, even with a flat bed.

Upstairs, though, you have just 20 seats, with five rows of 2 x 2.  It is as near to flying on a private jet as most people will get.

Club World flyers without status have therefore been keen to pay BA’s outrageous seat selection fee in order to grab an upstairs seat – even though it means paying £80 per person, per leg.

A couple of weeks ago, though, some people started getting emails from BA saying that they were being evicted from the Club World upper deck seats they had paid for!

An explanation of sorts has now appeared:

There have been 2 key changes made to upper deck paid seating on our 747 aircraft

1. Change of seats protected for paid seating

The seats available for paid upper deck seating have been changed from 63JK 64ABJK to 63ABJK 64AB, because of this some customers may have received an email to advise of a seating change. Please reassure customers that they will be given their seat choice as this will be corrected manually for them.

2. Removal of day of week restrictions

Following feedback we have removed the restriction where paid seating was only offered on routes on specific days, as such you should be able to book upper deck on any day as long as the seats are available.

What is doesn’t say, of course, is why they have stopped selling reservations for 64J and 64K.  Especially as 64K is seen as the one of the best seats upstairs, due to the additional leg room and storage space and the feeling of privacy it offers.

The answer appears to be that 64J and 64K have been added to the seats which are restricted to Gold and Silver Executive Club members.  Why, of course, BA could not have let people who ALREADY paid for these seats stay in them, or given that a straightforward answer as to why, is known only to them ….

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)