Flight Seat Booker

[dgs1956]

Booking seats just gets more and more expensive for what is really for nothing apart from making sure you can sit beside your partner. Our next cruise is £35/pp each way so £140. Personally I think its a disgrace. What do others think and do you book yours?

[Teabelly69]

I agree. I'm off on a fly cruise with my daughter in January and would rather take my chance at the airport. You dont get through check in any quicker and I would rather spend that money elsewhere. 

[shopaholic6]

1 hour ago, dgs1956 said:

Booking seats just gets more and more expensive for what is really for nothing apart from making sure you can sit beside your partner. Our next cruise is £35/pp each way so £140. Personally I think its a disgrace. What do others think and do you book yours?

 

I refuse to pay! Unless I’m on a long haul (in which case I probably would) but on a short haul - I take my chance! I refuse to give them anymore money! 😁

[dgs1956]

1 minute ago, shopaholic6 said:

 

I refuse to pay! Unless I’m on a long haul (in which case I probably would) but on a short haul - I take my chance! I refuse to give them anymore money! 😁

We have always paid and grudged it. Next cruise is a Caribbean one and it'll be £140. We are seriously thinking of taking our chances. Its the Dreamliner anyway and if you book the window and middle seats then its a pain getting in and out.

[shopaholic6]

Just now, dgs1956 said:

We have always paid and grudged it. Next cruise is a Caribbean one and it'll be £140. We are seriously thinking of taking our chances. Its the Dreamliner anyway and if you book the window and middle seats then its a pain getting in and out.

 

I very rarely fly long haul which is why I always take my chance - plus the last time I risked it someone else wanted to move in such a way that I ended up beside the other half anyway! 😁 Good luck if you do take your chances! 🤞🏼🤞🏼🤞🏼

[ohnonotmeagain]

Yes to long haul,no to short haul.😀

[Son of Anarchy]

We've always taken our chances on both longa & short haul.  Always checked in early, and always got seats together.

 

That said, I'm tempted at up upgrading to premium economy on the flight back from our trans-atlantic repositioning cruise.

[piatro]

I agree prices for booking seats are getting out of hand have just booked ours for barbados £35 each way is a rip off 

would rather spend it on trips or booze.But have bitten the bullet and paid as 9hour flight and do not want to risk getting 

bad seats.Also have paid extra for security fast track, flying is no longer the enjoyable experience that it once was.

However we are still looking forward to our caribbean cruise.

[Mrs Wally]

I have paid the upgrade to premium economy to and from my Caribbean cruise and have now been told that the extra we paid for this - circa £350 pp does not include the seat reservation and we will need to pay another £70 pp on top to sit togethe/choose our seats!!!

[dgs1956]

8 minutes ago, Mrs Wally said:

I have paid the upgrade to premium economy to and from my Caribbean cruise and have now been told that the extra we paid for this - circa £350 pp does not include the seat reservation and we will need to pay another £70 pp on top to sit togethe/choose our seats!!!

That has to be the biggest rip off. We did Premium once. So its almost £850. Madness

[wowzz]

35 minutes ago, dgs1956 said:

That has to be the biggest rip off. We did Premium once. So its almost £850. Madness

Blame P&O - the decision as to how much to charge is down to them, assuming it is a cruise charter flight.

[snaefell]

We are off to China soon with RCI on Etihad which is 2 flights each way,I am pretty tall so have been looking at finding seats with extra legroom & have been quoted nearly £120 each,multiply for the 4 flights,you are basically paying another air fare!

[AndyMichelle]

6 hours ago, Mrs Wally said:

I have paid the upgrade to premium economy to and from my Caribbean cruise and have now been told that the extra we paid for this - circa £350 pp does not include the seat reservation and we will need to pay another £70 pp on top to sit togethe/choose our seats!!!

Wow, I have just paid less for 7 nights on Aurora than you have paid to upgrade... 

Andy

[Se1lad]

It’s fairly common practice with a lot of airlines these days.  If you don’t have any frequent traveller status BA for example will charge between £20-£70 per passenger per sector to pre select a seat in Economy - so for a family of 4 that could add £560 to the flights.

Edited September 23, 2019 by Se1lad

[Denarius]

As a solo passenger I never pay extra to select a seat, as it is immaterial who I sit next to. If I was travelling with a companion however and wanted to sit next to them I would consider this as yet another rip off.

I have taken a number of touring holidays with Titan and Saga which involve the tour company booking a block of seats on a scheduled flight. Seats are pre-allocated by the tour company which ensures that all those travelling together are seated together. There is no reason whatsoever why P&O could not do the same on its charter flights - except its obvious intention to screw every possible penny from its customers.

[wowzz]

Paying for seat selection is very much the norm these days due to unbundling of fares. If I want the cheapest possible holiday/cruise, I will sit anywhere. That saves me money.  If other pax want to sit together,  then I see no reason why they should not pay to do so. It is all down to personal choice. 

[dgs1956]

8 hours ago, wowzz said:

Paying for seat selection is very much the norm these days due to unbundling of fares. If I want the cheapest possible holiday/cruise, I will sit anywhere. That saves me money.  If other pax want to sit together,  then I see no reason why they should not pay to do so. It is all down to personal choice. 

You must be the only person that is actually in favour of paying for seat booking.

[AndyMichelle]

13 minutes ago, dgs1956 said:

You must be the only person that is actually in favour of paying for seat booking.

Wowzz makes a valid point. 

Put it into context of your cruise. If you want to select your cabin and dining options, you pay extra for select fare. If you are not that fussed and would rather save a few quid, it's saver and take what you are given. 

You just have to budget it as part of your holiday, like insurance etc. 

I would want to sit with Michelle, so would happily pay the extra. If I was travelling alone, I would not be happy if the price was increased so others could sit together. 

Andy

[wowzz]

51 minutes ago, dgs1956 said:

You must be the only person that is actually in favour of paying for seat booking.

No, I am in favour of getting the lowest possible price that will get me from A to B. After that I can decide what add ons I want to purchase. 

No different to buying a car. I can buy a entry level model, but if I want heated seats, better sound system etc, I have to pay extra. No one seems to think this is a rip off.

Just to be clear  though, I do disagree about deliberately splitting pax apart, but, apart from Ryanair, this does not appear to be standard policy on most airlines. 

[dgs1956]

1 hour ago, AndyMichelle said:

Wowzz makes a valid point. 

Put it into context of your cruise. If you want to select your cabin and dining options, you pay extra for select fare. If you are not that fussed and would rather save a few quid, it's saver and take what you are given. 

You just have to budget it as part of your holiday, like insurance etc. 

I would want to sit with Michelle, so would happily pay the extra. If I was travelling alone, I would not be happy if the price was increased so others could sit together. 

Andy

I have always booked our seats together. My point is it is getting ridiculously expensive. Its more then "saving a few quid".

[Se1lad]

9 minutes ago, dgs1956 said:

I have always booked our seats together. My point is it is getting ridiculously expensive. Its more then "saving a few quid".

It's a similar price to what scheduled airlines charge, and can be cheaper than BA for example.  What would be good however is if they offered higher tier members of the Peninsular club a discounted or free seat selection as a reward for loyalty.  This would be a similar model to airlines.  With BA for example if you get to Bronze Status (pretty easy - 2 return long haul premium economy flights, and a return economy flight in Europe in one year) then you can pick your seats for free 1 week before departure.  With silver status (twice the requirement of bronze) you can pick seats for free at time of booking.  With gold status you can also pick the exit rows for free.

[wowzz]

21 minutes ago, dgs1956 said:

I have always booked our seats together. My point is it is getting ridiculously expensive. Its more then "saving a few quid".

You could look at it another way. The base fares are probably cheaper than they have ever been, in "real" terms. This is because airlines are using the extra fees to keep their base costs down.

It all comes down to personal choice.   

[terrierjohn]

There are major benefits to the airline in getting passengers to book their seats on-line even without charging them, the saving in check in time alone is worth it in reducing check in staff numbers, and speeding up check  in has benefits in the passenger experience, which improves customer satisfaction.  If everyone refused to book and pay for their seats the resultant delays would create lots of problems for the airlines, maybe even take off delays and extra charges the airport might make, as well as possible claims by passengers for flight delays.

Of course the airlines would eventually find some other way of increasing their revenue, but my anarchic streak would enjoy the discomfort it would give the airlines, even if it was only temporary.

[Se1lad]

4 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

.  If everyone refused to book and pay for their seats the resultant delays would create lots of problems for the airlines, maybe even take off delays and extra charges the airport might make, as well as possible claims by passengers for flight delays.

For a long haul flight it would need to be a delay of over 3 hours for the EU flight delay compensation to kick in.

If you haven't paid to select a seat can't you use online check in as soon as it opens and then get the best choice of remaining seats, or do you have to wait until you get to the airport?

[wowzz]

34 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

maybe even take off delays

No it wouldn't. The flight will take off empty if necessary. All your plan would do, would make it necessary for pax to arrive ever earlier at the airport to battle through the scrum to check in.