Do you preselect your airline seats?

[quoo]

With recent news about requiring families are seated together - I’m curious - for those of you who fly airlines that have seat selection, do you preselect seating?

 

[FreeTime]

Yes. I didn’t vote as I do both 1 and 2. 1, when flying first class on Delta for long hauls and 2, partially, when getting EBCI for SW (so not preselecting but getting the option to select earlier at boarding).

 

[quoo]

Hmmm maybe I should modify my options… I didn’t even consider folks might take multiple approaches!

 

[georgina]

Obviously not when flying SW, which I do most of the time. I don't do EBCI. On legacy carriers like AA, United, etc I do as part of my fare (I don't get basic economy seats). On a longer trip to the UK we paid for extra legroom - very worth it.

 

[kanerf]

I will pay sometimes for a better seat if the free options available to me are really poor (all middle seats for example), but usually when I pick seats right after I book I generally get a decent seat. That said, I usually book 6 months or so out, many people cannot plan that far.

 

[Lewisc]

With recent news about requiring families are seated together - I’m curious - for those of you who fly airlines that have seat selection, do you preselect seating?

To be clear the requirements to sit famlies together is currently a request not a requirement The proposal is more like to the extent possible

 

[quoo]

I’ve never flown southwest. We usually fly Delta, although now that I live in Jersey (NYC previously) I’m waffling over switching to united. Even when we fly SAS we pay to select seats together.

Im a dork and I love checking seat guru to try to figure out which seats we’ll like best.

 

[JBRB828]

We always fly United and we always pay extra for the roomier seats.

 

[Lewisc]

The last few times I flew with Frontier I booked the Works. Checked bag bin bag and stretch seating. I wouldn't have just paid for an assigned seat

 

[Skip Coffee for Rope Drop]

To be clear the requirements to sit famlies together is currently a request not a requirement The proposal is more like to the extent possible

To be clear the requirements to sit famlies together is currently a request not a requirement The proposal is more like to the extent possible

They will do everything they can to put kids with parents but if the flights are delayed and bad weather is causing chaos, they just have to get you on board. I would pay the extra fare if you have kids, especially flying at night. You don't want them sitting between two strange men when it is dark. Especially with all of this craziness on flights lately with irate passengers. Not trying to be funny....I pay the extra and we stay together. If we are over budget, I cut somewhere else.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I have United Premier Silver status so I get the Economy Plus seats for no extra charge. On Southwest, I always try to book Early Bird Check in so I can get a seat near the front and guaranteed overhead space since I've been doing carry on only nowadays.

 

[PalmettoPath]

We have always pre-selected seats. I am one who is willing to pay for a sense of predictability.

 

[wfjny]

Hmmm maybe I should modify my options… I didn’t even consider folks might take multiple approaches!

Yeah, I do think it depends on the situation.

Yes, I do choose a seat every time.

Sometimes, it is included, sometimes it is a small upcharge. Thinking specifically about the last few flights I have flown on American.

On some airlines, every seat is an upcharge. I remember a flight on Frontier, where the fare was $19 (new route), and I think the minimum seat choice was and additional $13. For the premium seats, the seat charge was higher than the ticket cost.

 

[dance609]

With recent news about requiring families are seated together - I’m curious - for those of you who fly airlines that have seat selection, do you preselect seating?

Only did this when the kids were younger. Now that they are teenagers we just let the seats be assigned.

 

[saraheliz]

Depends. Flying alone? No. Flying as a family? We typically fly Southwest on points so the option is to pay more for Early Bird Boarding.
When we flew to Georgia in April we did not pay extra and boarded with families with young children (6 and under, my youngest is 6) in between the A and B groups- worked fine. Otherwise we would have been mid-late B group for all legs (based on checking in right at the 24 hour mark) so we may have had to sit 2-2-1 but would have been ok.
For our Orlando trip this week, I sucked it up and paid for Early Bird boarding. Did I need to? Probably not, but flights to Orlando are usually so full of kids that I didn't want to get screwed by them limiting who could board with the 6 year old (I have two older kids as well) or by there being so many families with young kids that it was useless.
Last time we flew home from Orlando we were with a group of students so we got end of C boarding even checking in right at 24 hours. My daughter (10 at the time) was having ear issues so I begged the lady at the gate to do something and she gave us priority/medical pre-boarding so the three of us would be sure to end up together. I don't want to risk that again!

 

[LadyBeBop]

Answered "yes, other." We don't travel with young children anymore, so that's not a consideration. But both my husband and I have long legs and we need the extra space. It's worth it to book a bulkhead or exit row seat for the extra leg room. However, we sometimes book Southwest, and we won't spring for the ECBI. Even with the ECBI, we may not get the extra-leg-room seats. So we head for the back and hope for the best.

We have no problems sitting separate. On my husband and my last trip on Allegiant, we sprung for the seat choice. There was only one seat in the front row, but multiple seats in the exit row. Due to me being Pooh-sized, I'm not allowed in the exit row. So I booked myself in the front row and my husband in the exit row.

 

[sponica]

We've always booked a fare where we select seats or my husband had high enough status it was included in whatever fare we booked. I don't like being on a wing or in the back of the plane, so I don't understand people who leave it up to fate or chance or whatever.

 

[quoo]

We've always booked a fare where we select seats or my husband had high enough status it was included in whatever fare we booked. I don't like being on a wing or in the back of the plane, so I don't understand people who leave it up to fate or chance or whatever.

I tend to be the same way, but I know my dad really doesn't care (and he travels a lot!) which made me wonder which was more common. Even when it's just me traveling for work I want to pick my seat if I can (I always want an aisle seat).

 

[quoo]

Also, I'm stalking my upcoming flight and while it's 3 weeks away the plane is what seems like half empty based on the standby availability. I was curious how many of this standby seats are just taken by folks w/o seat selections yet.

 

[_19disnA]

I prefer to choose my seat ahead of time on an aisle near the front of the plane since it makes exiting much faster at the destination. Many people seem to have no concept of how seating works and/or act like this is their first time on an airplane. People who pile belongings in an overhead bin several rows BEHIND where they are sitting usually act surprised they have to wait until the plan is empty to retrieve their items. Personally, I think you shouldn't be allowed to bring your 'luggage' on the plane and it should be in checked baggage. Airlines created this problem when they started charging for checked bags and people want to avoid the checked bag fee by bringing it on the plane. Trying to find space in the overhead bins also slows down both the loading and unloading process.

Whether you pay extra for your seat assignment or it is part of the fare varies by airline and exactly what type of ticket you purchase. Business class, for example, costs more but typically includes the fee to select a seat. Not sure for the choices shown in this survey how you account for that.

With airlines like Southwest that boards by 'group', you never know your seat number ahead of time. Southwest also offers an upgrade to get you into an earlier 'group'. Indirectly, you are paying to board sooner and therefore have more choices of seats. Not sure if any other airlines also do that. There is another recent thread about seating parents with children. That 'recommendation' published by the govt raises more issues that will have to be addressed and isn't an answer to that problem. There are several logistical questions about how that will actually work. For example. if you previously paid extra for your seat and then have to move, will you get a refund? For families with children who wait until they get to the airport to get a seat assignment, it isn't clear how the airlines will deal with this new 'recommendation'.