It’s remarkable how much airlines can get away with when they charge for seat selection. This ancillary cost has really come into its own, providing quite a revenue bump to compensate for cheap ticket prices.
With my frequent flyer status, I get free seat selection, which means I rarely see seating fees. When I do, I am happy to pay anything up to €10 with the upper teens being my limit. Anything with two at the start is not going to happen.
British Airways EuroTraveller Prices
A friend of mine recently booked flights in economy class on British Airways from Dublin to London and back. He has no status and so I got his booking reference to have a bit of a peek at the pricing.
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- That exit row costs… say what now?
Imagine my astonishment when I scrolled down the seat map and saw €42 for the exit row seats! €42! For a flight with around an hour in the air, that is some fee!
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- Even the cheapest seats are expensive!
Right down the back of the plane, the seats are still a high €16. That’s what I pay for a seat up the front on Aer Lingus, so it’s a lot of money. Considering it’s an Embraer 190 and all the seats are the same (well… aren’t they all!), it’s surprising.
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- A little cheaper!
That was on a flight with BA CityFlyer to London City, so perhaps people pay the premium. On a flight from London Heathrow to Dublin, the cheapest seats are €10, perhaps reflecting both the market and the fact there are more seats to fill. That’s more reasonable!
Overall Thoughts
Airlines will always charge for seat selection, so that is pretty much here to stay. I think €42 for an exit row is steep though. For tall people, I suppose there is little option but to fork out and pay it. I’d hope that was on a dirt cheap fare though!
Business class is not immune to this either, with airlines realising that people will also pay to select seats in this cabin too. Of course, the prices are even higher to reflect the perceived spending power of people flying in that cabin.
Personally, I am not a fan of paying for seats, and it’s one reason I tend to try my best to maintain a decent frequent flyer status. Do seat fees make me fly more to get them free, or do I fly more knowing I get the perk of free seats? I’m sure someone has analysed THAT one!
What is the most you’ve paid for seat selection when flying? Are you someone who pays or do you just wait for check-in? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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I paid $100 but that was a Singapore Airlines flight that was something like 15 hours and it was the only seat in economy not bulkhead that did not have a seat in front of it. Worth every penny.
I would have paid that for that kind of flight length – money well spent! Thanks for the comment!
I just paid €26.99 each for two emergency row seats for my upcoming EI flights to Rhodes. But I’m tall, and the flight time is over 4 hours. It’s still daylight robbery though.
Ouch! Worth it for a flight of that length though – the extra room will be very welcome. At least now you’re guaranteed a comfortable trip! 🙂
And that’s actually cheap..transatlantic flights are from the low $100 range and up. Depending.. ridiculous..and the stand by’s get them for free..
Yes, they are far more expensive on long-haul flights. Standby should get them free though, they work for the company in many cases and they also are at risk of not getting a seat at all.
Not all standby work for the company though. Granted we cannot see their tier to know whether they do or not 🙂
True, I’ve been on someone’s staff travel and I didn’t work for the company. Those others that get access to the benefits do because the nature of the work often takes their loved ones away from them – you know, working at Christmas and so on. So I think it’s all quite fair! 🙂