3 ms·

Let me be a bit more explicit although I don't understand why people skip the relevant details just to make a point. When you buy the ticket no airline I ever u

Let me be a bit more explicit although I don't understand why people skip the relevant details just to make a point. When you buy the ticket no airline I ever used (anecdote) shows a visible mention of "you'll be flying Boeing 737MAX" which may ring some alarms. You see "flight number LH2053" (random example). You can investigate and see that it's usually flown by Airbus A321s, you may even dig into the details of your purchase before committing (something 99% of customers never will because they are relatively hidden and not at all obvious unless you're looking for them). And then you run into the next issue I mentioned: The difference between "readily available" and "guaranteed" is pretty big. I have been on just under 500 flights in my life. As an estimation I'd say that at least 50 of those ended up with a plane change right at the gate (no idea about the reasons - maybe technical issues; but mostly they were downsized so perhaps it's about capacity). In my case this meant for example that row 12 was no longer the emergency exit but right behind it which made me more likely to remember the occurrence. If flying the MAX actually influenced the ticket price you can bet this would become standard practice. Since the airline does not guarantee anything there's no obligation from their side. Can you honestly tell me the price would actually be influenced in such a way?

sokoloff 8y ago
If by investigate you mean "click on the seat map", sure I agree that you could investigate and dig into the details. > I don't understand why people skip the relevant details just to make a point. You were the one who said you had a body type that made you more prone than most to want to choose a specific seat (as do I). I took that to mean that you were more prone than most to use the seat map before purchasing, making it all the more unusual to think that you'd not been shown an aircraft model prior to booking previously. You've had extraordinarily bad luck given that 10% of your flights had equipment changes at the gate. That's a level of chaos for airline operations that is unheard of in the industry. I don't think the 737-MAX is going to suffer from negative margins because customers will be afraid of it. I flew yesterday and will fly again on Monday. I'd get in and would put my family on a US-carrier 737-MAX right now, without any software or hardware fixes in place. (Yes, Boeing made errors here. I also don't think that an AA, Southwest, or Alaska crew would have crashed the second one.)
- close04 8y ago
  > you mean "click on the seat map" The seat map is presented at check-in, after you buy the ticket. But you can see the plane model also before purchase by googling the flight number or by digging into the flight details on the purchase page. Both are things that most passengers won't do. And in the end you're still at the mercy of the company which can decide to change the plane at any time until the boarding starts. > That's a level of chaos for airline operations that is unheard of in the industry I seriously doubt it. They happened with most major European airlines. Unless the implication is that EU airlines provide a much lower level of service then at most we can attribute it to bad luck.
  - sokoloff 8y ago
    > The seat map is presented at check-in, after you buy the ticket. How do you usually buy tickets? I am offered a seat map before booking on every carrier I checked (except Southwest who doesn't issue seat assignment).
    - close04 8y ago
      It's different in Europe I guess. As far back as I can remember you buy the ticket whenever and check-in at the counter or online 24h before the flight to pick a seat. But this won't help even when the airline gives you information about the plane used (not buried in menus, not hidden by services they try to sell you, etc.) if on the day of the flight they switch. And if the price is indeed dragged down by the choice of plane then you can bet the info will disappear completely and/or plane switching will happen as a rule, not an exception. Can you honestly underestimate an airline's willingness to squeeze money from passengers?
chrisdhal 8y ago
Delta specifically tells you the plane before you purchase. It's literally right there when you go to pick your seat, it doesn't require any digging whatsoever. As others have said, on a full service airline where you can pick seats ahead of time they obviously know what they're planning on flying because they give you the seat map.

sokoloff 8y ago

If by investigate you mean "click on the seat map", sure I agree that you could investigate and dig into the details. > I don't understand why people skip the relevant details just to make a point. You were the one who said you had a body type that made you more prone than most to want to choose a specific seat (as do I). I took that to mean that you were more prone than most to use the seat map before purchasing, making it all the more unusual to think that you'd not been shown an aircraft model prior to booking previously. You've had extraordinarily bad luck given that 10% of your flights had equipment changes at the gate. That's a level of chaos for airline operations that is unheard of in the industry. I don't think the 737-MAX is going to suffer from negative margins because customers will be afraid of it. I flew yesterday and will fly again on Monday. I'd get in and would put my family on a US-carrier 737-MAX right now, without any software or hardware fixes in place. (Yes, Boeing made errors here. I also don't think that an AA, Southwest, or Alaska crew would have crashed the second one.)

close04 8y ago
> you mean "click on the seat map" The seat map is presented at check-in, after you buy the ticket. But you can see the plane model also before purchase by googling the flight number or by digging into the flight details on the purchase page. Both are things that most passengers won't do. And in the end you're still at the mercy of the company which can decide to change the plane at any time until the boarding starts. > That's a level of chaos for airline operations that is unheard of in the industry I seriously doubt it. They happened with most major European airlines. Unless the implication is that EU airlines provide a much lower level of service then at most we can attribute it to bad luck.
- sokoloff 8y ago
  > The seat map is presented at check-in, after you buy the ticket. How do you usually buy tickets? I am offered a seat map before booking on every carrier I checked (except Southwest who doesn't issue seat assignment).
  - close04 8y ago
    It's different in Europe I guess. As far back as I can remember you buy the ticket whenever and check-in at the counter or online 24h before the flight to pick a seat. But this won't help even when the airline gives you information about the plane used (not buried in menus, not hidden by services they try to sell you, etc.) if on the day of the flight they switch. And if the price is indeed dragged down by the choice of plane then you can bet the info will disappear completely and/or plane switching will happen as a rule, not an exception. Can you honestly underestimate an airline's willingness to squeeze money from passengers?

chrisdhal 8y ago

Delta specifically tells you the plane before you purchase. It's literally right there when you go to pick your seat, it doesn't require any digging whatsoever. As others have said, on a full service airline where you can pick seats ahead of time they obviously know what they're planning on flying because they give you the seat map.