Seat blocking for status pax

Just been reading a thread on FT about the technicalities of BA's system for holding back the best seats for their gold/silver etc pax and made me realise that VS don't do this - or do they?

Afaik it's just first come, first served with regards to seat assignments isn't it? I know there's a certain allocation held back for airport control and for virgin holidays but excluding that it's a free-for-all on VS.

Am I wrong? Maybe I just never noticed before! Should VS implement a similar system?

I'm pretty sure it happens - seat assignments are always subject to change, and I dare say if an elite member requested a particular seat they would make it happen.

Used to be the case that if a UNIQ wanted a particular seat - even if it had already been allocated - then it was given.
However, that pretty much changed when they introduced charging for reserved seats - which is absolutely the correct thing to do.
In PE/Y the bulk heads are under airport control in case they are needed for baby cots.

Yes there are ways and means, but it is very uncommon so I really wouldn't worry about it happening to you.

seat assignment is not guaranteed, even if you pay for more leg room,etc.
Ive been moved several times across different airlines to the seat Ive booked.
Virgin moved me & my partner to a Bulkhead to accommodate a family of 4 - this was done at baggage drop after I had checked in online!
Not complaining! KLM upgraded me to business class recently - though it was like the scene from Come Fly Me sketches when only the headdress was different.
Ive even witnessed a Virgin gold flyer bumped to PE!

Used to be the case that if a UNIQ wanted a particular seat - even if it had already been allocated - then it was given.
However, that pretty much changed when they introduced charging for reserved seats - which is absolutely the correct thing to do.
In PE/Y the bulk heads are under airport control in case they are needed for baby cots.

PAX can still be bumped for UNIQs, even when you've checked in and got your boarding pass and are sitting in the clubhouse enjoying a drink. It happened to me last year coming back from SFO when the clubhouse manager told me our seats (12 A&K on a 747) were broken and we were being moved and that he was then going to break the news to the 2 pax whose seats we'd been given, as they were being moved to ours.

When I boarded I saw the manifest in the galley which said one of the 2 pax was UNIQ. I don't think, from the way they stared at us, that they'd actually requested our seats. I think it was the clubhouse manager sucking up.

That said I don't think it happens often and shouldn't be anything to concern you.

What's UNIQ??

Someone will be able to answer this better than me but UNIQ is a hidden membership tier above Gold. To my knowledge there are no published membership criteria but VS hand this out to their very most commercially important customers as well as some celebs.

Someone will be able to answer this better than me but UNIQ is a hidden membership tier above Gold. To my knowledge there are no published membership criteria but VS hand this out to their very most commercially important customers as well as some celebs.

Yes that's basically it.

There are several variants depending on how it was awarded to you - commercial value / celebs that VS feel add commercial value to the VS brand / Friends of SRB

Someone will be able to answer this better than me but UNIQ is a hidden membership tier above Gold. To my knowledge there are no published membership criteria but VS hand this out to their very most commercially important customers as well as some celebs.

The first rule of UNIQ Club is: You do not talk about UNIQ Club. The second rule of UNIQ Club is: You do not talk about UNIQ Club.

I think this thread has missed the OP's point. I think the new BA system can display different seat availability, simultaneously, to different membership tiers of the BAEC.

Whereas the current VS system gives different FC tiers the ability to reserve a seat at different points between booking and check-in, but offers the same seat map to anyone at any given moment.

Exactly that. With BA's "theoretical seating", Gold and (to a lesser extent) Silver BAEC members will see more seat availability in MMB than those with lesser or no status. And if a flight's quiet, Gold and Silver members will automatically have the seat next to them blocked so it remains empty.

A clever system but not, I think, one that would go down well on VS.

Yeah I was on about the theoretical seating, I just find it interesting how BA and VS approach this so differently - or how BA passengers clearly place a huge amount of value on coveted seating assignments such as '1A'. But then maybe it's because there more inconsistency with good/bad seats on BA, especially in CW.

Have just looked into theoretical seating on BA, seems great while I'm gold! Looking at our upcoming flights to Rome and back, if trying to book without status, many rows at the front are blocked out, with none blocked when logged in.