Seat prices

[gordon2uk]

I am flying by BA next July to Amsterdam. I wanted to reserve my seat in advance but when I looked at the price I decided not to. BA wanted to charge me £10 to sit at the rear of the aircraft or £22 to be at the front of economy. Today I checked the price and it has now increased to £12/£24 which is ridiculous. Another budget airline only charge £5.99/£14.49 respectively. I will wait and book my seat 24 hrs before departure and hope I get the seat that I want.

[Repos]

Firstly, hands up, much as I am interested in aviation, I rarely fly but I book several flight a year for Mrs R and this seat reservation thing drives me nuts.
She mainly flies alone and on trips of less than 2 hours so objects to paying a premium for selecting a seat rather opting for the auto-allocation.
On some occasions she had been asked to move to the emergency exit seat because they are empty, when she would have paid 10/15 euros if she had selected them as a option.
Michael O'Leary said that these days an airplane is a bus with wings, and that just about sums it up on short haul. The thing is unlike a bus or train, you will always get a seat somewhe on a plane
(for the time being, at least!), but at the moment it's all a game and if everyone refused to play it the airlines would have to change their game.
My response is generic to the issue and I understand some people have specific needs around seating.

[Alsacienne]

Please remember that BA has to gain ancillary revenue just like all the other airlines ... specifically thinking of the LoCos which compete on certain routes with legacy carriers. That can easily be seen by BOB, baggage charges for both hold and cabin and seat reservations. It is not just a BA thing for the price of seat reservation to increase as the flying date draws near ... and realistically this charge and baggage charges should be mentally (if not arithmetically) factored in when booking a ticket. It's not just the headline price that you'll be paying ... so Gordon, whilst I understand your indignation at the rise in seat reservation prices, I think you have to accept that this is becoming more and more common.

[rog747]

It is only AMS - quick flight - not worth spending £24 to bag a seat...
If you are a BA Exec Club member with spare Avios you can use miles now to pay for seat res.

[ZFT]

It is only AMS - quick flight - not worth spending £24 to bag a seat...
If you are a BA Exec Club member with spare Avios you can use miles now to pay for seat res.

Flown BA to AMS from both LGW and LHR twice within past 2 months and both of us seated together in reasonable seats without prebooking. We have no status with one world ( and board last with the chickens and other livestock)

​​​​​​On other BA flights I've found BA have actually been quite reasonable with seating us together in acceptable seats too without any prebooking or seat payments.
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[Ancient Mariner]

We always wait until whatever airline opens their reservation window to book our seats. Me in one ails seat, wifey in the opposite. Never had a problem with that.
Two advantages, we both have ails seats, we do not have to talk. Bliss.
Per

[Harry Wayfarers]

We always wait until whatever airline opens their reservation window to book our seats. Me in one ails seat, wifey in the opposite. Never had a problem with that.
Two advantages, we both have ails seats, we do not have to talk. Bliss.
Per

And in aisle seats one is nearer to the refreshments trolley, doesn't have to clamber over people to go for a pee, and so long as there isn't a trolley coming can stretch one's legs out.

Where I am it is the supposed LoCo's that charge for seats yet the national airline, PAL, who are regularly cheaper than the supposed LoCo's, when it comes to online check-in whatever seat they may have pre-allocated one can change it without charge.

[PAXboy]

I don't think there is any 'standard'. Some LCCs charge for seats and some do not. Some Legacies charge for seats and some do not. As always - whatever the local market will bear.

[Sobelena]

Some LCCs charge for seats and some do not. Some Legacies charge for seats and some do not.

And, in some cases, it all depends on the fare category you select.

[Harry Wayfarers]

And, in some cases, it all depends on the fare category you select.

There's one LoCo down this way, Cebu (Pacific) Air, who have quite a terrible reputation, time after time after time check-in were repeatedly asking me if I would like an emergency exit seat, yes I worked in the industry for some 30 years, yes I've done the cabin mock-up of opening the doors and jumping down the slide etc. but they don't know that, to them I am just a regular passenger, so the next time I asked the check-in girl why they are always offering me an emergency exit, the answer came back that because I am quite tall I might appreciate the extra legroom and because I look quite sensible.

[Asturias56]

I have occasionally paid for seat allocation on short haul when I need to get off in a hurry on arrival so want to be at the very front (or the back depending on the airport and use of steps e.g ABZ).

It's just another revenue generating device and by paying it you just encourage them to charge more for it on routine flights.

[Sobelena]

I'm not quite sure what my quote has to do with your story Harry. ;) The low cost carrier I fly with offers 3 different fare categories. The basic fare is just what it says. Any extras you may desire are charged for. The next category includes 22Kg hold baggage allowance, and advance seat selection in the forward section of the Y cabin. The final category is a form of Biz/Comfort option with extra legroom, middle seat unoccupied and all the usual frills that come with Business class in terms of check-in, boarding and lounge access. So, if you are travelling say with only hand baggage it's probably best to go BASIC and pay for advance seat reservation if you really need it. I find that with their 72hr advance online check-in I can get the seats I want without problem, so I don't advance purchase seats. If I travel with hold baggage I go for the next category fare which includes baggage and seat allocation. Finally, their (restricted) "Biz Class" fares can be a real bargain on off peak flights and I make good use of them when possible. Unrestricted Biz Class becomes almost as expensive as the legacy carriers. It's a very good and simple fare system and I hope they will keep it that way. Their only downside is their erratic punctuality!

[Paul Lupp]

So, how much is it worth to you to pay to choose your seat? Try using a travel agent as they seem to have an ability to do this, over and above what airlines offer on their websites, but the overall ticket cost may work out more expensive.

The BA lark of charging for a seat is a bit of a joke IMHO, but it's the way that the world is going. I flew LHR-YVR and back earlier this month - I would have had to pay a lot extra to choose a seat so declined to pay up to £65 each way for the seat that I chose for free anyway - I only booked about 7 or 8 weeks before I flew and by then, it appears that all, or almost all, travellers in the cabin I was in (premium economy), had already paid to choose the prime window and aisle seats (or were high enough in the Airmiles club to be able to choose their seats for free at time of booking). I am almost always travelling on a strict budget and don't have the will or funds to blow a significant sum on choosing my seat having paid extra for PE over cattle class - I'd prefer to use money on that upgrade rather than choosing a (window) seat in cattle class.

Outward bound to YVR I had an aisle seat but in the centre of the plane, with the only empty seat in the cabin next to me, for a change!
Inward I had a "middle" seat in the centre of the plane but as I did my best to sleep for the entire flight, the lack of easy access to an aisle wasn't an issue.

(Bigger issue for me is that when I booked, BA were using the A380 to YVR but from October they switched to a 747, which is far noisier and IMHO Not as comfortable; I was really looking forward to the A380 again and felt very short-changed having to go by 747)

[25F]

It was when I saw a mother and child (on Ryanair) being moved from the exit row and swapping places with people in Row 1 that I realised that these premium seats often do *not* sell and get allocated to the late check-ins. Because obvs with a child they would not have been able to *buy* an exit row seat.

[scr1]

It was when I saw a mother and child (on Ryanair) being moved from the exit row and swapping places with people in Row 1 that I realised that these premium seats often do *not* sell and get allocated to the late check-ins. Because obvs with a child they would not have been able to *buy* an exit row seat.


Have seen parents book their child as a adult so they can get the emergency exit

As for paying for a seat have never paid for one, My wife is a WCHC and needs help in flight just phone up the call center and explain to them and get allocated seats, on a LoCo often row 2-4 on a wide body often 2 seats on their own were the config allows have also been give a seat with room for a infant basket once.

[Asturias56]

"Have seen parents book their child as a adult so they can get the emergency exit"

And I've seen people with kids in that row moved without ceremony................

[Sobelena]

Depends what you consider to be a child. From 12 years of age a child is required to pay an adult fare.

[Alsacienne]

But can a child manage the manoeuvres to open the overwing exit in an emergency .... or not have a melt-down faced with the unknown? (OK so in an evacuation probably nearly all the pax will have a meltdown in some capacity, but the child's meltdown could delay the passage of themselves and others in evacuating quickly and safely ... where's teddy?)

[Asturias56]

But they're probably a bit smaller and so can clear out the exit a lot faster than those of us who are... bigger.......

If it comes to an emergency I want to be on board with Snow White and her 7 diminutive companions and not the Lakers Basketball team

[BRUpax]

Alsacienne, I think that Sobelena's point was in answer to the post by scr1: Have seen parents book their child as a adult so they can get the emergency exit

No, I don't think that a 12 year old is a good idea next to an emergency exit, however, I honestly don't think that parents deliberately book a child as an adult. The point is that from the age of 12 they are charged adult fares!

[bbrown1664]

Alsacienne, I think that Sobelena's point was in answer to the post by scr1:

No, I don't think that a 12 year old is a good idea next to an emergency exit, however, I honestly don't think that parents deliberately book a child as an adult. The point is that from the age of 12 they are charged adult fares!

Several years ago now we were flying back from Dalaman on an airline that has since been banned from the EU and we were asked to move from the exit row and swap with the passengers in the row behind. That started a little discussion as I had the window seat by the exit and knew what to do, then my (at the time) 10 year old son and then my Wife on one side. On the other side was (only two seats from memory) my 16 year old son who was about 6ft tall and a regular rugby playing 2nd row player along with a guy that needed a stick to get along the cabin, was about 80 years old) and sat at the exit. Now in the even of an emergency, my money would have been on my son getting that exit open and out the exit before the 80 year old worked out what was happening. Instead the lovely crew insisted that myself and my two sons switched with a group of ever so slightly intoxicated ladies in the row behind. Great!!!! This was made even worse by the fact that even with my short legs, I could not actually get my knees in behind the seat in front due to the VERY short pitch between the seats.

Needless to say, it wasn't a great loss to European aviation when they were banned from EU airspace.

[krismiler]

If you're on a connecting flight with a tight interval, the system will often give you a forward seat so you can get off first.

Always check both full service and LCC prices, don't automatically assume LCC will be cheaper as they may have filled up rapidly and only have high fares left.

BA seem to be going the way of AerLingus, which have so many add ons that should be included with a full service fare that there is little reason to choose them over a low cost.

[Asturias56]

"BA seem to be going the way of AerLingus, which have so many add ons that should be included with a full service fare that there is little reason to choose them over a low cost."

Absolutely the truth - and the trouble is they're not as efficient as a LCC at things like turning the plane around, boarding people or getting the luggage off - worst of all worlds.