So it appears I have zero self control when it comes to selecting seats in advance for flights. Despite trying to remain steadfast to my convictions, I have caved and paid for economy class seats. It’s a dirty feeling all round.
Perhaps therapy will cure me of my desire to have my seat allocated in advance. I don’t know, though I do know this could be a slippery slope if I keep choosing to fly airlines where I have no status.
My Dirty Little Transaction
Picture it, a nine hour flight and a seat map that was looking pretty full. My original plan was to wing it, not select a seat, save that cash and take my chances during online check-in.
Overall Thoughts
I have saved thousands of pounds/dollars/euros over the years by having free seat selection thanks to my frequent flyer status. This time I’m going rogue and flying an airline where I have no status.
Clearly this is my bad, and I should have just flown with a oneworld alliance airline instead. In actual fact, most of the time I would have done exactly that, in part to avoid these fees.
Not this time though and I’ve paid the price, quite literally, for that decision. Lets hope the good people at Aer Lingus give me a pleasant journey across the Atlantic. (They will!)
Do you routinely pay to select a seat when you fly or not? Why? Thank you for reading and if you have any questions, please leave them below.
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All images via Aer Lingus.
Off topic but I have to smile at the pictures that come with the article. What a beautiful set of passengers in the general cabin view.
And picture 2…the pleasant manner in which the meal is presented, unlike the way my meal was fired at me without wine last time I was in the Business Class cabin. Perhaps the crew were in a great hurry to get to all the beautiful people back in economy. LOL
Back on topic, if I was running an airline and I saw people were willing to pay to select a seat, I’d keep raising the prices to see how much the public would pay.
As passengers, we get what we put up with and we are our own worst enemies.
You may have caved and paid for seat selection but only this week I broke the habit of a lifetime and decided not to book a trip to the Canary Islands because I realised I didn’t need to travel as much as I initially thought. That’s down to IAG and the pleasant experience that is flying in 2022.
Hahahahaha! Yes, the Aer Lingus marketing photographer did such a good job in capturing the “beauty” of flight in that set of pictures, that I couldn’t resist using them.
Oh, from an airline’s point of view, charging for seats makes total sense. They make a great deal of money from it, so fair play to them really. I’m just cheap, so I don’t love it personally 🙂
Yes, 2022 has been a really different year of flying, that’s for sure. Hopefully all the bugs are ironed out before the summer schedule comes in at the end of March.
Budgeting and use of money is so personal. If you think it through, it is the right choice. I would never pay for an assigned seat. I did pay for gas two days ago and drive five hours roundtrip to mentor college students for two hours in San Francisco. Normally, I would stay overnight, visit family, try new or favorite restaurants, do some shopping. However, hotel rates were sky high due to a convention, and my morning prior to the event was booked, so it was just a lot of driving for two hours of purposeful activity, and a long drive at night to go home.
I think you’re right, if it’s thought through then it’s the right choice. Your round trip to mentor students is probably a lot more worthwhile than my buying a seat on a flight, so I think your gas money is well spent. Sorry to hear the hotel rates were crazy and you had to go straight back home. Still worth it! Thanks so much for the comment!