Does everyone really pay for seat allocation?

[V8 Stang]

So have a flight from Heathrow to Denver tomorrow with BA. Ive always previously flown to the US with Virgin UC which has free seat selection.

I refuse to pay BA £50-£100 per leg to choose my own seat, especially as im flying solo, so not end of world where i end up.

Its now 5 hours before free seat selection at 24 hours before the flight, and just looked up the seat selection, and there is only a single seat left!



So does everyone really pay for seat selection? Or have i missed a trick?

[sparkythecat]

If that’s your seat, you’ve done well.
Extra legroom for no extra charge

[SkinnyPete]

I pay for it, but I detest doing so, especially when you’re already paying thousands for a business class ticket.

[mikebradford]

Only for ong haul. And I usually pay for extra leg room anyway.
Into Europe even in a group we tend not to.
With easy jet you can log in 30 days before your flight. 90% of the time it will put you all togther if you check in then.
Saves a little bit of money. And worst case is your not sat together for 2hrs. Not an issue as an adult.

[grumbledoak]

Yes. Crap isn't it.

The pricing structure of air travel is cheap headline ticket prices and then make you pay your way out of all the misery they inflict on you. Everything from car parking in neighbouring towns to "fast track" security to the seat you sit in.

But there is little real competition in the industry. So you pay or you suck it up.

[V8 Stang]

sparkythecat said:

If that’s your seat, you’ve done well.
Extra legroom for no extra charge

I think thats a drawing error.

This plan of BA A350, shows same size gap.

[dontlookdown]

It annoys me greatly that this is now more or less standard airline practice. Chiselling of the worst kind.

Also strikes me that there are safety implications, because in the event of an emergency evacuation, family groups who aren't seated together are more likely to panic/go looking for each other and delay everyone else getting off.

If everyone was seated free of additional charges, that issue would arise much less often.

[peterperkins]

dontlookdown said:

Also strikes me that there are safety implications, because in the event of an emergency evacuation, family groups who aren't seated together are more likely to panic/go looking for each other and delay everyone else getting off.

That's a very good point and on that basis alone the practise should be outlawed.
Airlines should be forced to sit family groups etc together as far as is possible.

[dontlookdown]

peterperkins said:

dontlookdown said:

Also strikes me that there are safety implications, because in the event of an emergency evacuation, family groups who aren't seated together are more likely to panic/go looking for each other and delay everyone else getting off.

That's a very good point and on that basis alone the practise should be outlawed.
Airlines should be forced to sit family groups etc together as far as is possible.

I quite agree. It's such an obvious risk I can only assume the industry has just collectively decided to take the money and cross it's fingers.

Edited by dontlookdown on Friday 21st February 08:18

[bad company]

I’d never pay for that no. If that means Mrs BC and I sitting separately so be it. Tougher for families though.

[Truckosaurus]

As suggested above, with BA if you have silver status you can bag your seat straight away, and its been too easy to get that status in recent years (even scummers like me get it with 2x Premium Economy transatlantic and 1x short haul trips a year).

I think Bronze lets you book it for free a week before.

Also, I suspect most of the remaining people who want a good seat do the online check-in the moment it opens, so when the OP comes along 5 hours before the flight they get the dregs.

[V8 Stang]

So just checked in, and now i can select my seat for free, however looks like someone has changed seats, as now its only 20F available.
Which is nice as this does have extra legroom, however i guess the baby icon means its a baby area?

I would have thought there should not be many babies onboard, as Denver must be mostly for Ski'ers etc?

[RedWhiteMonkey]

V8 Stang said:

So just checked in, and now i can select my seat for free, however looks like someone has changed seats, as now its only 20F available.
Which is nice as this does have extra legroom, however i guess the baby icon means its a baby area?

I would have thought there should not be many babies onboard, as Denver must be mostly for Ski'ers etc?

Haha, wishful thinking. Good luck with 10 hours of baby crying.

[paulmakin]

i had to pay to select mine travelling in Nov to Tobago. Not sure i had to pay in previous years. The same seat on the return flight in March was half the price..

when i did elect to book a seat there were scant few available but the plane itself was probably only half full on the day, all classes, maybe they release in "batches" for the differing traveller tiers ?

[captain_cynic]

I do but only for long haul and I usually fly airlines that are reasonably priced for seats. This is my return flight in just under a month.



The flight, 3 legs with the longest in premium economy was £1,100, considering economy goes for £750 for the same route, £1,150 for premium, incl seats for the 20 hours between MAD and BOG (both ways) seems like a no brainer to me.

Thinking about paying £9 for a window seat on the MAD-LHR flight but only because that's on a A330.

My strategy is to go for the last row because cabins fill up front to back so if you're going to get a spare seat next to you it'll be there. This has worked on 3 of my last 4 long haul flights.

I'm pretty much convinced that airlines exaggerate the number of booked seats to make people panic.

Congrats on blagging an exit row seat. I've gotten a few emergency row seats on short haul through sheer luck but I think the algorithm is programmed to put single travellers there.

[Muzzer79]

I pay to choose my seat

I'm tall and my worst nightmare is being in a middle seat.

So I pay for the privilege and always choose an aisle seat.

If long haul, I pay for the privilege of an exit seat.

I've sometimes left it until it's free, but not often - usually pay up front.

[Bill]

V8 Stang said:

So just checked in, and now i can select my seat for free, however looks like someone has changed seats, as now its only 20F available.
Which is nice as this does have extra legroom, however i guess the baby icon means its a baby area?

I would have thought there should not be many babies onboard, as Denver must be mostly for Ski'ers etc?

Probably the dad who swapped out.

[Mazinbrum]

I pay extra to make sure I’m sat at the opposite end of the plane to my Mrs.

[wyson]

Is she in 1st whilst you go to cattle class?

I’ve never understood the seat allocation thing and never bothered.

[romft123]

last several years we have flown to and from the Canaries. Never paid for seats. Only ever sat apart once. Over 50% of the time we have been put together...the rest, the wife shuffles people around til she sits next to me.....4 hrs of bliss!