Generally I have had very good service with BA (I have never flown Virgin). I do take exception with BAs policy of only assigning a small portion of their seats until check in. I can see no reason for this when one has a confirmed reservation.

On a trip to London in October my wife and I checked in more than 3 hours early to be sure of getting decent seats. The only seats available at this time were in the final row of the aircraft. This leads me to believe that BA's policy is a load of...well you get the picture. The check in agent told me that the flight was no where near being fully checked-in but these were the only seats available. She only rolled her eyes when I asked how this could be the case in light of BA's seat reservation policy?

I faxed a letter to BA Customer Service in the U.S. and in London but I have never received any response to my questions. I can only draw from this that they are not terribly interested in their customers concerns.

This said about corporate policy; I have always had excellent service from BA staff at a face-to-face level. Regards, Jude