Spirit not only ones who hit you with hidden fees!

[sz9144]

for those who hate spirit, American is just as much of a scam artist.

bought low fare seats 2 weeks ago. no free seats were showing so I figured I'd wait till check in and select. last night I go online to check in and there were 3 free seats but 4 of us. so computer says we cannot check in until airport since we all need seats to check in. The three open seats were middles scattered through the plane. I was worried that we'd get to the airport and be bumped due to lack of free seats or have to pay anyway for a seat, so I paid for seats- and we're still not all together! paid the equivalent of a 5th plane ticket for seats there and back- what a racket!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

for those who hate spirit, American is just as much of a scam artist.

Spirit is famous for charging $35, $40, or $100 (depending on when it's paid) for a carry-on bag in the overhead compartment. Spirit also as its ridiculous "Unintended Consequences of DOT Regulations Charge" of $2 each way.

American charges nothing for a carry-on in the overhead.

I was worried that we'd get to the airport and be bumped due to lack of free seats or have to pay anyway for a seat, so I paid for seats- and we're still not all together! paid the equivalent of a 5th plane ticket for seats there and back- what a racket!

You did not need to pay for seats. You would have gotten boarding passes with seats at the the airport. There are seats under airport control and blocks of "elite" seats that show has unavailable to regular passengers.

If you paid for seats in Main Cabin Extra, you will have a few inches of extra legroom and knee room.

Involuntary denied boarding is rare on leisure routes. If a flight is overbooked, airlines offer travel vouchers to volunteers. If you are actually denied boarding involuntarily due to overbooking and no volunteers, the airline has to pay you in cash (typically twice what you paid) and you're put on the next flight or on another airline. You can still be denied boarding, even if you have boarding passes.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

for those who hate spirit, American is just as much of a scam artist.

bought low fare seats 2 weeks ago. no free seats were showing so I figured I'd wait till check in and select. last night I go online to check in and there were 3 free seats but 4 of us. so computer says we cannot check in until airport since we all need seats to check in. The three open seats were middles scattered through the plane. I was worried that we'd get to the airport and be bumped due to lack of free seats or have to pay anyway for a seat, so I paid for seats- and we're still not all together! paid the equivalent of a 5th plane ticket for seats there and back- what a racket!

This is not a racket. If you wait until the last minute to buy your tickets, you are going to find seat selection is limited on every airline with advanced seat selection. You chose not to take the open seats. You could have selected them and kept checking the website to see if better seats opened up; this happens all the time. In fact, you should have been checking every day since you bought your tickets, as it's a certainty seats opened up during these days and you missed it. As already stated, being bumped should not have been a concern; involuntary bumping is very rare. You can also change seats at the airport.

You chose to pay for seats; you didn't have to.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

for those who hate spirit, American is just as much of a scam artist.

bought low fare seats 2 weeks ago. no free seats were showing so I figured I'd wait till check in and select. last night I go online to check in and there were 3 free seats but 4 of us. so computer says we cannot check in until airport since we all need seats to check in. The three open seats were middles scattered through the plane. I was worried that we'd get to the airport and be bumped due to lack of free seats or have to pay anyway for a seat, so I paid for seats- and we're still not all together! paid the equivalent of a 5th plane ticket for seats there and back- what a racket!

Lost on where there is a hidden fee here. You elected to pay for a fee instead of waiting to be assigned seats. I cannot think of an airline that doesn't offer "better" seating for a fee, something you choose to purchase.

 

[Lewisc]

The poster has a point. Passengers without an assigned seat are generally at the top of the list to be bumped, if the flight has more passengers then seats and can't get enough volunteers.

There is a difference between paying extra for an assigned seat at booking (NOT a hidden fee) and paying extra in order to avoid being at the top of the list for idb (hidden fee). The hidden fee was the, real threat, of being bumped if the fee wasn't paid.

 

[RysMomma]

I've been involuntarily bumped and it was miserable. It was from EWR to Aruba (although the trip itself wasn't miserable). I had an 18 month old and a 4 year old, and my husband and I. We bought our tickets 11 months in advance and still got bumped (one of us had a seat, the others didn't). They compensated us nicely at the end (since it took us three different flights to get to get to another destination that couldn't fly out until the next day) but it wasn't easy getting what was promised to me and after being so burned after that situation, I would totally pay the extra to make sure we all had seat arrangements. Just my opinion!

 

[DebbieB]

I think they intentionally do that to get people to buy the seats. But if you would have waited until you got to the airport, you would have got free seats. Small chance of getting bumped. Even if it was overbooked, there are usually people to volunteer.

 

[gmeh1]

This is not a racket. If you wait until the last minute to buy your tickets, you are going to find seat selection is limited on every airline with advanced seat selection. You chose not to take the open seats. You could have selected them and kept checking the website to see if better seats opened up; this happens all the time. In fact, you should have been checking every day since you bought your tickets, as it's a certainty seats opened up during these days and you missed it. As already stated, being bumped should not have been a concern; involuntary bumping is very rare. You can also change seats at the airport.

You chose to pay for seats; you didn't have to.

 

[gigicnm]

This happened to my sister and I when we were flying back from Alaska this summer. We were flying to Massachusetts, so it was a looong flight. We didn't have assigned seats. We checked frequently and were unable to get any seats (and we didn't care if we were together). When we arrived at the airport it was an overbooked flight and they took volunteers. We were assigned seats next to each other in the extra leg room row that you normally have to pay extra for. It made for a very nice flight.

I would only pay all that extra money for an assigned seat if I was traveling with a small child that I didn't want to be separated from. I agree with previous posters, it was not a hidden fee. Your anxiety about not having a seat made you CHOOSE to spend the extra money. That's exactly what the airlines are hoping for. You played right into their greedy little hands.

 

[Keels]

Also, in many cases the desk agent can make moves to make sure parents and children are seated together.

Everyone on the manifest is ranked by status with that particular airline and/or fare code, so in an effort to make seats next to each other available, they'll often "upgrade" the highest ranking full-fare or status traveler.

I've flown more times than I can count on American (for work) without an assigned seat until I got to the airport. Most of the time, I was seated in an exit row or an extra-fee seat. And AA is generally good about calling for volunteers before they bump people, and before they even do that, they don't allow any standby passengers for the flight unless all the paid passengers have been slotted to seats.

 

[Lewisc]

When we arrived at the airport it was an overbooked flight and they took volunteers. We were assigned seats next to each other in the extra leg room row that you normally have to pay extra for. .....

it was not a hidden fee.

There were enough volunteers. Had there not been enough volunteers you would have been among the first to be "bumped". The hidden fee refers to the fact that failing to pay the seat fee puts you near the top of the list of passengers who will bumped, if necessary.

AA is generally good about calling for volunteers before they bump people, and before they even do that, they don't allow any standby passengers for the flight unless all the paid passengers have been slotted to seats.

It's not a matter of being "good". Airlines are required to ask for volunteers.

Of course an airline won't board standby passengers unless passengers with reservations aren't accommodated. An airline could further overbook the flight by making a reservation for an elite passenger.