4 ms·

What transparency is missing? All the airlines disclose their seating configurations. There's SeatGuru. Google Flights even shows the pitch right in the sear

What transparency is missing? All the airlines disclose their seating configurations. There's SeatGuru. Google Flights even shows the pitch right in the search results.

eeeeeeeeeeeee 8y ago
SeatGuru is not run by the airlines and is not entirely accurate. It frequently shows configurations that will not match your airline or specific configuration. If airlines wanted to be transparent and encourage competition, they would disclose the seat measurement config alongside the price.
- saryant 8y ago
  You're never going to get a perfect guarantee. The airlines have to have the ability to swap aircraft at the last minute and that may mean delivering different pitch than originally shown. Do passengers want the extra inch or do they want to arrive on time? I'm betting it's the latter.
  - ceejayoz 8y ago
    > Do passengers want the extra inch or do they want to arrive on time? I'm betting it's the latter. On-time with a partial refund for not getting the seat they'd paid for is an option, too.
ceejayoz 8y ago
The prices shown on airline sites and aggregators like Orbitz don't remotely reflect the actual costs after pseudo-optional fees and taxes.
- saryant 8y ago
  That's just not true. Go through the purchase flow for a United flight on Orbitz. Taxes are included and the checked-bag fees are prominently disclosed.
  - ceejayoz 8y ago
    I just checked out Orbitz again to confirm. The list of flights assumes I have zero bags, despite saying "including taxes and fees", with no way to get a list that incorporates a bag selection. The "cheapest" flight on Orbitz for my chosen destination is thus United, but with fairly well buried exceptions like "no carry-on bag" (which I didn't even know airlines restricted at all). If I account for the bag (and carry-on United would've told me I couldn't take) Southwest is actually cheaper.
laken 8y ago
One of the big airlines I hear a lot of hatred for regarding missing hidden fees is the ULCCs such as Frontier, Spirit, and Allegiant. Bags, snacks, seats with your party, etc. are not included at all in the base fare. The cost you see on those websites are for _a_ seat on that flight and nothing else. Many people, especially if they aren't frequent flyers don't realize that, and find out that the $100/person fare comes out to more like $200/person if they're flying with their family and needs seats together and at least a bag or two. If you know what you're doing, sure, it's transparent. But the people who fly most often on those carriers are people who never have or rarely do fly.
longerthoughts 8y ago
Who looks at seat dimensions and has a great concept of how comfortable a seat is going to be for them? It's helpful to be able to compare seats but I don't happen to know my femur length and bet I'm not alone. Not arguing that they're not being transparent, just that it's not particularly helpful.

What transparency is missing? All the airlines disclose their seating configurations. There's SeatGuru. Google Flights even shows the pitch right in the search results.

eeeeeeeeeeeee 8y ago

SeatGuru is not run by the airlines and is not entirely accurate. It frequently shows configurations that will not match your airline or specific configuration. If airlines wanted to be transparent and encourage competition, they would disclose the seat measurement config alongside the price.

saryant 8y ago
You're never going to get a perfect guarantee. The airlines have to have the ability to swap aircraft at the last minute and that may mean delivering different pitch than originally shown. Do passengers want the extra inch or do they want to arrive on time? I'm betting it's the latter.
- ceejayoz 8y ago
  > Do passengers want the extra inch or do they want to arrive on time? I'm betting it's the latter. On-time with a partial refund for not getting the seat they'd paid for is an option, too.

ceejayoz 8y ago

The prices shown on airline sites and aggregators like Orbitz don't remotely reflect the actual costs after pseudo-optional fees and taxes.

saryant 8y ago
That's just not true. Go through the purchase flow for a United flight on Orbitz. Taxes are included and the checked-bag fees are prominently disclosed.
- ceejayoz 8y ago
  I just checked out Orbitz again to confirm. The list of flights assumes I have zero bags, despite saying "including taxes and fees", with no way to get a list that incorporates a bag selection. The "cheapest" flight on Orbitz for my chosen destination is thus United, but with fairly well buried exceptions like "no carry-on bag" (which I didn't even know airlines restricted at all). If I account for the bag (and carry-on United would've told me I couldn't take) Southwest is actually cheaper.

laken 8y ago

One of the big airlines I hear a lot of hatred for regarding missing hidden fees is the ULCCs such as Frontier, Spirit, and Allegiant. Bags, snacks, seats with your party, etc. are not included at all in the base fare. The cost you see on those websites are for _a_ seat on that flight and nothing else. Many people, especially if they aren't frequent flyers don't realize that, and find out that the $100/person fare comes out to more like $200/person if they're flying with their family and needs seats together and at least a bag or two. If you know what you're doing, sure, it's transparent. But the people who fly most often on those carriers are people who never have or rarely do fly.

longerthoughts 8y ago

Who looks at seat dimensions and has a great concept of how comfortable a seat is going to be for them? It's helpful to be able to compare seats but I don't happen to know my femur length and bet I'm not alone. Not arguing that they're not being transparent, just that it's not particularly helpful.