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Continental Airlines newest money making scheme: paid exit row seating

by Scott Carmichael (RSS feed) on Mar 6th 2010 at 12:00PM

The accountants at

Continental airlines just announced their latest diabolical plan to squeeze more money out of us - paid exit row seating.

On March 17th, passengers in coach can add 7 inches of legroom by purchasing an exit row seat up to 24 hours before their flight. Elite program members and passengers traveling with them will get access to the seats for free.

Prices for a little extra legroom are pretty steep - USA Today quotes a $59 fee for a flight from Newark to Houston. A little math shows that Continental could be banking as much as $750,000 per day in "legroom fees".

Of course, as with any airline, Continental spins the fee around, claiming "Our customers want more choices". Brilliant.

Continental is not the first (nor will it be the last) to introduce these fees - JetBlue, Airtran, US Airways and Virgin America all have some form of seat upgrade program in place. British Airways even went so far as to announce a fee just for being able to select a seat.

Now the airlines have discovered how easy it is to grab a little extra cash, expect even more "innovations" in the fee department.

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Barkin Mar 6th 2010 1:42PM

I'm not sure how you can complain about this one. This isn't the usual airline cash grab (like fees for checking luggage, or for reserving a seat on BA) because it's not like Continental is looking to charge for something that is usually free.

On most airlines, only elite members and full-fare coach passengers can reserve exit rows. Non-elites can't pres-reserve those seats, and their only chance at them is to get lucky when checking in at the airport.

Continental is still allowing elites to pre-reserve the seats for free. Their just also giving that option to regular customers who are willing to pay a fee. Sorry to sound like their marketing department, but if anything, Continental is _adding_ an option for casual travelers while maintaining a privilege normally reserved for elites. If you ask me, that's a win-win.

Want to complain about baggage fees? Fine. But Continental isn't doing anything all that out-of-the-ordinary here. People who aren't interested in paying for this extra perk can go about their business as usual.

James Mar 6th 2010 2:02PM

If the rest of the seats weren't so horribly uncomfortable and torturous, this new fee wouldn't even be on the table. I would suggest allowing comfortable seating for everybody, collect all costs in the price of the ticket, and raise that price. The airlines are more likely to narrow the leg room in the majority of the seats so as to increase the number of extra fee seats, further aggravating the majority of their passengers.

Village Idiot Mar 6th 2010 2:55PM

I'll be willing to pay $15/hour to have an exit row seat if I can do it at time of booking. It means that I no longer have to worry at all about airline status, since one of the main reasons for me to keep status is to get exit row seating at booking.

mike Mar 9th 2010 7:28AM

People get these seats for the room, however there are safety concerns to be considered. I wonder what happens for those who buy the seat and are not allowed to occupy the seat.