4 ms·

I'm actually fairly upset when airlines _don't_ do this. They're just leaving money on the table. If you want to pick your seat, pay for it.

by pxx 4y ago

elmomle 4y ago
So you only get to sit with your loved ones if you have enough money? That's not a world I want to have any part in.
- pxx 4y ago
  You only get to fly to see your loved ones if you have enough money too. Ancillary revenue like seat assignment fees makes it so that more people can afford to see their loved ones.
  - yamtaddle 4y ago
    This is only true if those seat assignment charges actually result in significantly lower ticket prices for everyone else, which is far from guaranteed.
    - pxx 4y ago
      It's not guaranteed, but competition solves this problem, and competition has empirically been particularly effective in the airline industry. There is a very good reason people fly Spirit/Frontier/Allegiant/Sun Country.
    - cool_dude85 4y ago
      No, you see, if they don't lower costs to the point of making no profit, then they will go out of business. Thats called competition and it's why no companies are able to buy shares back or pay dividends.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    I'm not a fan of a lot of the fees that airlines impose--but then I also don't fly budget airlines or buy the cheapest tickets. Personally I'd probably be happier with a more premium flying experience and somewhat higher ticket prices--though not enough to routinely upgrade to business class. And I'm sure there are many people for whom air travel over Christmas to visit family is something of a luxury appreciate being able to spend less money.
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
thereisnospork 4y ago
>If you want to pick your seat, pay for it. Ya its called a ticket, which are typically received in exchange for money. Should airlines also charge a disembarking fee? pay up or don't get off the plane? Seems like that's more money left on the table, captive audience and all.
- pxx 4y ago
  You're still going to get to where you want to go and you'll still get a seat. That's the service you're paying for. Disregarding the kidnapping part of your straw man: we also do already charge for priority disembark. This is why premium seating is typically near the boarding door.
  - thereisnospork 4y ago
    > You're still going to get to where you want to go and you'll still get a seat. That's the service you're paying for. The service I'm paying for includes an assigned seat, just like my ticket to the movies does. Its not justifiable for an airline - A federally regulated industry, not some mom and pop local business - to intentionally degrade the quality of their product to nickle and dime their customers. Lets expand your premise a little: Should toll roads charge families extra tolls if they are in the same car together? There's revenue there - a family is certainly getting more use out of the "privledge" of traveling together than two strangers, or one person. Should NFL stadiums, movie theaters, concerts charge extra for booking seats that are adjacent? Revenue and 'Value' there as well. How about hotels? Trying to book 3 rooms for a company-conference visit, it'll be $100 for the first room, $250 for the second, and $500 for the 3rd.
    - pxx 4y ago
      > federally regulated industry Regulations are primarily there for safety concerns, not you complaining about what is honestly a non-issue. If you don't want to pay for premium seats just don't pay for them?? But on that note, airline deregulation in the US has been the best thing that has ever happened to air travel. It is now far, far more accessible to travel by air. The revealed customer preference is that very few, if any, people want to go back to being forced to pay the old fares, even if the seats were bigger and the service was better. > The service I'm paying for includes an assigned seat, just like my ticket to the movies does Frontier is pretty upfront about this. You certainly have absolutely no guarantee of sitting next to somebody without paying for it one way or another. You get a seat. You don't get to choose your seat. Some theatres also do charge extra for choosing seats, and the ones that don't market themselves as premium theatres. > some varying strawmen I certainly don't think any of these techniques should be regulated. I can certainly see a surcharge if you require adjoining rooms in a hotel.
banannaise 4y ago
"We will actively make your life worse unless you pay us a premium in exchange for not doing that" is a terrible way to run any part of a society. If that's just how businesses are expected to behave, then we need to find ways to change that as a society.
- ghaff 4y ago
  There are classes of service and product just about everywhere. Basically everyone flying coach on a commercial aircraft has a deliberately worse experience than if they paid for business class. The alternative is to have a single level of coach service only (which is fairly common on regional jets) or a single level of business class only service (which is rare--BA LCY to JFK as far as I know although I'm not sure that even exists any longer).
  - banannaise 4y ago
    In cases like business class, the airline provides specific products and labor for those who paid more, in order to make their experience better. In the "deliberately split up parties" case, the airline provides labor for those who paid less, so as to intentionally make their experience worse. That makes this an entirely different scenario.
spoils19 4y ago
100% agreed. On my last flight where a family sat together without paying, I was literally crying and shaking. 'This isn't how capitalism works!' I cried out, but the flight attendant wouldn't have any of it. I don't know how you managed, but on my next flight with families who dodge valid charges, I will raise my plastic cup to you good sir.
joking 4y ago
I can get that first rows of the plane or places with extra leg space could be charged, but charge for selecting the last row of the plane? thats just greediness

I'm actually fairly upset when airlines _don't_ do this. They're just leaving money on the table. If you want to pick your seat, pay for it.

by pxx 4y ago

I'm actually fairly upset when airlines _don't_ do this. They're just leaving money on the table. If you want to pick your seat, pay for it.

elmomle 4y ago

So you only get to sit with your loved ones if you have enough money? That's not a world I want to have any part in.

pxx 4y ago
You only get to fly to see your loved ones if you have enough money too. Ancillary revenue like seat assignment fees makes it so that more people can afford to see their loved ones.
- yamtaddle 4y ago
  This is only true if those seat assignment charges actually result in significantly lower ticket prices for everyone else, which is far from guaranteed.
  - pxx 4y ago
    It's not guaranteed, but competition solves this problem, and competition has empirically been particularly effective in the airline industry. There is a very good reason people fly Spirit/Frontier/Allegiant/Sun Country.
  - cool_dude85 4y ago
    No, you see, if they don't lower costs to the point of making no profit, then they will go out of business. Thats called competition and it's why no companies are able to buy shares back or pay dividends.
- ghaff 4y ago
  I'm not a fan of a lot of the fees that airlines impose--but then I also don't fly budget airlines or buy the cheapest tickets. Personally I'd probably be happier with a more premium flying experience and somewhat higher ticket prices--though not enough to routinely upgrade to business class. And I'm sure there are many people for whom air travel over Christmas to visit family is something of a luxury appreciate being able to spend less money.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

thereisnospork 4y ago

>If you want to pick your seat, pay for it. Ya its called a ticket, which are typically received in exchange for money. Should airlines also charge a disembarking fee? pay up or don't get off the plane? Seems like that's more money left on the table, captive audience and all.

pxx 4y ago
You're still going to get to where you want to go and you'll still get a seat. That's the service you're paying for. Disregarding the kidnapping part of your straw man: we also do already charge for priority disembark. This is why premium seating is typically near the boarding door.
- thereisnospork 4y ago
  > You're still going to get to where you want to go and you'll still get a seat. That's the service you're paying for. The service I'm paying for includes an assigned seat, just like my ticket to the movies does. Its not justifiable for an airline - A federally regulated industry, not some mom and pop local business - to intentionally degrade the quality of their product to nickle and dime their customers. Lets expand your premise a little: Should toll roads charge families extra tolls if they are in the same car together? There's revenue there - a family is certainly getting more use out of the "privledge" of traveling together than two strangers, or one person. Should NFL stadiums, movie theaters, concerts charge extra for booking seats that are adjacent? Revenue and 'Value' there as well. How about hotels? Trying to book 3 rooms for a company-conference visit, it'll be $100 for the first room, $250 for the second, and $500 for the 3rd.
  - pxx 4y ago
    > federally regulated industry Regulations are primarily there for safety concerns, not you complaining about what is honestly a non-issue. If you don't want to pay for premium seats just don't pay for them?? But on that note, airline deregulation in the US has been the best thing that has ever happened to air travel. It is now far, far more accessible to travel by air. The revealed customer preference is that very few, if any, people want to go back to being forced to pay the old fares, even if the seats were bigger and the service was better. > The service I'm paying for includes an assigned seat, just like my ticket to the movies does Frontier is pretty upfront about this. You certainly have absolutely no guarantee of sitting next to somebody without paying for it one way or another. You get a seat. You don't get to choose your seat. Some theatres also do charge extra for choosing seats, and the ones that don't market themselves as premium theatres. > some varying strawmen I certainly don't think any of these techniques should be regulated. I can certainly see a surcharge if you require adjoining rooms in a hotel.

banannaise 4y ago

"We will actively make your life worse unless you pay us a premium in exchange for not doing that" is a terrible way to run any part of a society. If that's just how businesses are expected to behave, then we need to find ways to change that as a society.

ghaff 4y ago
There are classes of service and product just about everywhere. Basically everyone flying coach on a commercial aircraft has a deliberately worse experience than if they paid for business class. The alternative is to have a single level of coach service only (which is fairly common on regional jets) or a single level of business class only service (which is rare--BA LCY to JFK as far as I know although I'm not sure that even exists any longer).
- banannaise 4y ago
  In cases like business class, the airline provides specific products and labor for those who paid more, in order to make their experience better. In the "deliberately split up parties" case, the airline provides labor for those who paid less, so as to intentionally make their experience worse. That makes this an entirely different scenario.

spoils19 4y ago

100% agreed. On my last flight where a family sat together without paying, I was literally crying and shaking. 'This isn't how capitalism works!' I cried out, but the flight attendant wouldn't have any of it. I don't know how you managed, but on my next flight with families who dodge valid charges, I will raise my plastic cup to you good sir.

joking 4y ago

I can get that first rows of the plane or places with extra leg space could be charged, but charge for selecting the last row of the plane? thats just greediness