Whenever I come across the price to select an airline seat, it always surprises me. That is because I usually don’t pay seat fees when flying, as my British Airways Executive Club status means seat selection is free.
Since I was going on about the cost in an article recently, I thought I would calculate how much I have saved by having status. Considering how much I fly, it should be a decent chunk of change.
Calculating Seat Fees
Checking my frequent flyer cards indicates my first Silver card expired in July 2013. That means I would have achieved status in 2012, which means I’ve had that or Gold status for 10 years now.
That is quite a long time to be fee free, which means I am going to have a lot of flights to look through. Luckily I’m a bit of a geek, so I have all my flights recorded online.
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- I’ve been places on my 560 flights to date.
Calculating the cost should be easy if we take some baselines. At the moment, a Club Europe seat costs £20 to select on a short flight such as Dublin to London, a route I fly often. That’s an easy one, so we’ll say £20 per short haul business class flight.
On long haul flights, World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy) seats cost £41, £45, £50, £65 and £92, so we will take it as £50. Club World (Business Class) start at £79 and heads up to £105. Window seats seem to be £97 and £89, so let’s say £95, as I always take a window.
How Much Have I Saved?
From January 2012 to the present, I have flown the following on British Airways. Within Europe, 26 times in EuroTraveller which is say £10 per seat, so £260 saved. Heading forward to Club Europe and I have about 90 flights there and at £20 a throw, that’s £1,800 saved.
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- Each one comes with a price.
Long haul, I took one flight down the back, so £40, nine flights in World Traveller Plus, another £450 and 11 in Club World, which is £1,045. That brings the grand total saved to £3,595 (US$4,123, €4,125, AU$6,155).
Overall Thoughts
That saving on seat fees is a couple of months salary for many people. While it would have been paid in little bits here and there, you do save a substantial amount by not paying for seats and that is just on one of the oneworld airlines that I regularly fly.
When I am flying Alaska Airlines or American Airlines for example, I also receive seat selection for free. That would add even more to the savings, since I have used them many times.
Considering all the seats on the plane are going to the same place, you may elect not select a seat in advance to save money. More power to you, but in my case I always will because I do like my window on short flights and an aisle on long-haul – when I’m not in business class of course.
Do you keep your frequent flyer status for this tangible benefit or is something else more important to you? How much have you saved on seat fees? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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I genuinely feel sorry for you if you pay for business class, but have to pay a seat fee, and have no other choice. Just about the worst policy in the industry; globally. I booked Club World once on a long haul flight. When I found out I would need to pay over £150 to simply reserve a seat, I promptly refunded my ticket and bought a flight on a U.S. airline (but the same would apply to just about any other global carrier). Better/confirmed seat, same fare, no fee. I can’t believe this still exists. Really. Shame on BA… Read more »
I’m glad to see you voted with your wallet and actually booked another airline. I think that’s a good thing to do if you disagree with something, as other people commenting have done as well. Appreciate hearing your thoughts!
It is really annoying for me that airlines charge seat selection fees.
I paid cash for transatlantic business class seats on British Airways and depending on the seat location,
they want to charge me between $133 to $193!!! What a rip off! If I don’t pay the fee I can choose my seat 24 hours before take off. None of the other airlines I fly charge this.
Yes, this is a particular bug bear for people flying business class on British Airways who don’t have frequent flyer status. You’re not the first and won’t be the last to complain about that!
I avoid British Airways for all the reasons listed by Jim below and the BA seat selection fees are the reason I discovered Lufthansa. Just before Covid, I booked business class on American (Dublin-London-Miami) and back. The return was on BA of course so I couldn’t select a seat beforehand. I also wasn’t allowed to check in on line and had to wait until I showed up at Miami airport. The only seat left was one of those internal 2 seat pairs (intimate and a bit cramped even for a couple) and the other seat was already occupied. Never again… Read more »
I suppose the only good thing that has occurred since is that the old style forward and back seats are all being replaced by the Club Suite, where everyone has aisle access. The seats are all the same, so it will prevent the issue you experienced. I also would not have been happy to be in the seat you describe, that’s for sure!
Lufthansa now charges even under 24 hours before for a seat if your booked in “Light” fare
Wow! You can’t avoid it at all here. Crazy!
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