Originally Posted by Sirius Flying
Ryanair may do this: Seating is not "really" free within the whole of the aircraft, some rows will be blocked off when pax enter the A/C. Thus choice of seats will be limited to a few rows.
Ye pays yer bit of money and yer makes no choice, yer sits down and shuts up.
This is a common practice amongs all -800 operators with open seating in addition to Ryraniar.
Those airlines who have assigned seating automatically restrict front and aft rows to reflect less than full flights and to insure that the aircraft is properly loaded within the CG limits. So you still pays yer bit of money and yer makes no choice, yer sits down and shuts up.