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British Airways innovates in the "new fees" department with a seat selection fee
Dear readers - it is official; British Airways has lost its frikkin mind. Starting October 7th, the UK airline will be charging pretty hefty fees for anyone who wants to make a seat selection at the time of booking (something offered for free by most civilized airlines in the world).
The fees start at $15 for a domestic UK seat selection, and go to $30 for World Traveler and World Traveler Plus, and an insulting $90 for their business class product. Those still stupid enough to pay for a First Class seat still get to pick their favorite for free.
If you don't want to play along, then you can select your seat 24 hours in advance for free, which will be after everyone else has picked the best seats, most likely forcing you and your family to sit in the middle seat spread throughout the plane.
I'm going to say it right away - this new move is disgusting, and shows how pathetic the airlines have become. Can you imagine paying $3400 for a business class ticket, then being asked to fork over another $90 just so you can get a decent seat? It gets even better - British Airways clearly understands that the exit row seats are very popular, so they keep those blocked until 10 days before the flight, and want $75 per person, per segment.
What this means to your wallet is this; lets assume that you and your wife are flying from New York to Amsterdam, and would like to sit together with your three teenagers. Your first segment will cost $150, then $75 on the London to Amsterdam flight. Then of course that same price for the flights back. Would you pay $450 for decent seats, or would you just pick a better airline?
The only silver lining is that elite passengers can still select their favorite seat for free, and that passengers traveling with kids (2-11) or kids traveling on their own can select a seat three days before departure without paying the fee. Which in my opinion is still just as insulting, because by then, the open seat selection will be miserable. A chart showing the changes can be found here.
It is obvious that we are in a new era of air travel, and that the airlines have lost all respect for their passengers. It's going to be a bumpy ride, and I suspect we'll start seeing more of these stupid fees pop up every week. There is bound to be an airline HQ somewhere in the world where someone reads about these new British Airways seat fees and says "hey, we can do that too".
(Via Consumerist.com)
Filed under: Europe, United Kingdom, Airlines
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Craig Sep 25th 2009 6:19PM
I'm just waiting for a trans-Atlantic train, or teleportation, then I won't have to care about airline BS anymore.
Howard Sep 26th 2009 2:05AM
I think I have seen a creative way at some airlines of getting their hands in our pocket... "Discount" for not picking your seat in advanced!
Snife Sep 26th 2009 8:01AM
This is a very bad move for BA, they need to realise why people fly with them, they are now trying to offer a budget service without reducing the price, they've cut free meals and now they are trying to charge for seats and baggage, I might as well fly easyjet when its an option for the same type of service (although they are still not as ridiculous as ryanair, the most expensive 'budget' airline in the world). Before I always used to make a point of flying with BA whenever possible for my domestic/europe flights but now the choice will purely come down to price.
Howard - that wouldn't work, the whole point of these types of fees is to con you into thinking the flight is cheaper than it actually is, if it were a discount then the flight cost on comparison websites would still be higher and they would lose business
Dan @ Airships.net Sep 26th 2009 8:08AM
I can understand charging a seat selection fee in connection with the most deeply discounted coach tickets, but if BA is going to charge an extra fee to passengers buying full fare coach tickets, or even more bizarrely, full fare business class tickets, I think their executives should really go back on their medication.
Brett Tabor Sep 26th 2009 11:59AM
Don't forget flights to Heathrow have the highest "taxes" of any destination... most of it of course, just being a sneaky and misleading fuel surcharge.
Mike Sep 27th 2009 10:49AM
There is an American budget airline called AirTran that does the same thing. Its $6 for regular seats $20 for exit row, business and first class ticket holders don't have to pay .
Ladyexpat Sep 27th 2009 10:18AM
It seems that many businesses involved in the travel industry are finding ways to squeeze travelers. I wouldn't be surprised if more airlines don't go this route. I agree, it's pretty tacky.
It's in line with the hotel that offers you a good rate and then charges 4 bucks an hour to access the Internet from your room. That might not bother someone who is traveling strictly for pleasure. However, it becomes a significant expense for the business traveler, and especially if you are a freelancer.
Michele Sep 28th 2009 5:14AM
Singapore Airlines is doing the same thing: I'm flying with it in a few weeks and I was asked to pay to choose the seat. I thought it was clever of them to do so.
However, asking a business class passenger to pay to pick the seat is not wise, because you're risking losing a pro-customer over a matter of change compared to the price of the ticket. Definitely not a smart move, IMHO...
James Sep 28th 2009 5:08PM
I'd be fine with it if it were the JetBlue model, free for a regular seat and a bit of money for an exit row or seat with more seat pitch but paying for just a regular seat is crazy.