Airlines have been doing anything they possibly can to raise money over the past few months, from checked bag fees to charging for soft drinks to increasing the price for almost everything that formerly had a fee associated with it.
Now, according to an article over at Smarter Travel, Spirit has decided to start charging extra for online seat selection.
Carriers have done this before — many current legacy carriers charge extra for sitting in an aisle or window near the front of the plane or in preferred seats. But what Spirit is proposing is to charge for ANY seat selected online before departure — even the seats that most people don’t want.
Fees will range from $15 for a window to $10 for an aisle to $5 dollars for a middle seat.
So if you want to sit next to a person that you’re traveling with or want to sit in a decent seat and want to pick your spots before departure, you’re basically screwed into paying these fees. It looks like you can still go to the airport the day of departure and get assigned seats, but there’s no telling who you’ll be sitting next to and where at that point.
[Via Airfarewatchdog]