I experienced a similar situation last month on a BA flight from Newark to London but was happy with the outcome. No status on BA so couldn't allocate a seat in J for free until 24 hours before the flight. This was on an award booking for 2 passengers.
For a few days before check in, I started doing dummy seat purchases (without completing the last payment step) and saw the seats available for allocation reduce to 1. As I suspected, when I tried to check-in online I wasn't able to complete the process which made me very nervous.
Called BA reservations hoping I could transfer to a flight departing from JFK but was told they were unable to assist as I was flying on an Asia Miles award ticket. After an expensive cab ride Newark, we arrived 3.5 hours before check in and were first in line. As soon as we put the first piece of luggage on the conveyor belt and provided our passports, the lovely lady at BA told us to stop loading our luggage.
She had been trying to call me on my mobile (which I had switched off) to inform us the flight has been overbooked and we had been transferred to a flight at JFK. BA provided us with a taxi voucher and we were able to fly from JFK in J as per our original booking.
Could have avoided this if I had switched my phone on - I only realised later that the flight would have come under airport control 24 hours before departure and the staff there had the power to make changes. Very relieved we weren't downgraded as I have read many nightmare stories about how difficult it is to obtain compensation. Very happy with the solution provided by BA however I suspect if we had arrived at check in later there wouldn't have been time to drive over to JFK ( it took over an hour) and we may have ended up flying in economy.
For a few days before check in, I started doing dummy seat purchases (without completing the last payment step) and saw the seats available for allocation reduce to 1. As I suspected, when I tried to check-in online I wasn't able to complete the process which made me very nervous.
Called BA reservations hoping I could transfer to a flight departing from JFK but was told they were unable to assist as I was flying on an Asia Miles award ticket. After an expensive cab ride Newark, we arrived 3.5 hours before check in and were first in line. As soon as we put the first piece of luggage on the conveyor belt and provided our passports, the lovely lady at BA told us to stop loading our luggage.
She had been trying to call me on my mobile (which I had switched off) to inform us the flight has been overbooked and we had been transferred to a flight at JFK. BA provided us with a taxi voucher and we were able to fly from JFK in J as per our original booking.
Could have avoided this if I had switched my phone on - I only realised later that the flight would have come under airport control 24 hours before departure and the staff there had the power to make changes. Very relieved we weren't downgraded as I have read many nightmare stories about how difficult it is to obtain compensation. Very happy with the solution provided by BA however I suspect if we had arrived at check in later there wouldn't have been time to drive over to JFK ( it took over an hour) and we may have ended up flying in economy.
