Air Transat Q.....

[BitsnBearsMom]

we were told by our TA that if we wanted to pre-book our seat assignments it would cost us $10 per ticket per way ($80 for our family!)

looking for your experienced opinions..... do you think this is necessary/important to be done now or will we still probably be able to sit together if we wait and do it when we get to the airport at that ungodly hour of 4am?? We leave on a Friday in October.

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

And one more Q....... I just checked AT's web site and found out that the price of my 4 flights is now down almost $50 per ticket including the taxes..... burns my butt to think I am loosing $200..... Anything I can do about that??

 

[mom_rules]

DD just returned from Europe on AT-we did book seats @$10 each way due to long flight and seat preference-She wanted aisle in exit row because seats are actually larger and more leg room. For her it was worth it-she did say most had prebooked seats and we are glad we didn't take a chance.
Also, re: AT-watch your luggage weight and size-she had to pay $100 each way because her one piece of luggage (she couldn't handle two bags etc by herself) was oversize/overweight.
Her cheap airfare cost her an extra $200. + $20 to prebook seats.
We should have put her on AC! It would have worked out cheaper.

 

[SandraC]

When we used AT, we pre-booked our seats. In fact, I went to the AT website, located the plane and seating plan and picked from there. We wanted the bulkhead in from of the TV screen. It was perfect! Well worth the extra $$$$$$. We saw many families separated on the plane because they could not get seats together. We booked 6 months in advanced. I knew that the prices of the tickets would go down, but I wanted the security of a paid ticket and seating well in advanced. The extra money is like having an insurance policy. When we used AC, we pre-booked the seats, but didn't have to pay extra $$$$$. That was nice. S

 

[Amberle3]

If you choose not to pre-book your seats, then you run the risk of your family being split up at the airport. If not having seats together isn't an issue for you, then don't bother with the pre-booking of the seats.

However having said that, I had a honeymoon couple last year that we prebooked their seats and they did NOT get their assigned seats on either the way there or the way back.

As for the lower price, firstly when an airline - especially a charter airline - drops their price closer to the departure date they're very unlikely to lower an already-paid fare. Also, it's possible that they've lowered the price because of the new fuel surcharge of $50 per ticket that just went into effect.

 

[East Coaster]

AC now charges for seat selection also, $10 each way. Booked our seats on the way down, as we do not want to get bumped. We didn't bother booking seats on the way back, our kids are old enough to sit by themseleves, and it's not the end of the world if we don't get home on time!

 

[mom_rules]

Can you tell @ what date AC started charging? We didn't have to pay to preselect our seats.

 

[Amberle3]

AC started charging for seats on April 30/04 for their "Tango" fares. If you book one of the higher fares (Fun, Latitude, Freedom, Econo or Executive) then the seat selection fee is included in the fare (ie you don't pay extra for it).

 

[mom_rules]

OIC-that's why I didn't get charged!