Article: The Unpublished Benefit of Paying for Preferred Seats

[Volando]

In May I flew HBA - MEL and found Economy X exit row seats available for free. This was one or two days before flight. Flight was quite full. No such luck on return.

I also got row 13 for free on VA on a recent MEL-OOL flight when OLCI opened at 48 hours. I wasn’t sure if this is an unpublished SG benefit or just a free for all on full flights at check in if those seats haven’t got paying pax in them.

 

[willclan]

In May I flew HBA - MEL and found Economy X exit row seats available for free. This was one or two days before flight. Flight was quite full. No such luck on return.

Another benefit of VA Economy X is priority boarding as I have had several times on domestic flights.

 

[Turbo123]

The Unpublished Benefit of Paying for Preferred Seats is an article written by the AFF editorial team:

The Unpublished Benefit of Paying for Preferred Seats

If you've paid for a chargeable extra legroom or "preferred" seat and the flight isn't full, you have a better chance of getting a vacant neighbouring seat.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

I flew economy on Emerites recently - the row in front of us were extra leg room seats that remained empty - the stewards would not let anyone sit in that row at any time during the flight unless they paid. I have not seen that before. They said it wasn't fair on people who had paid. They actually enforced it - I was a bit surprised.

 

[ramboflyer]

I've decided to pay extra using $$ or points every domestic flight these days because of the extra legroom. In my opinion it's worth it not to be crammed into normal seats.

 

[p--and--t]

In March this year JQ ran a very cheap fare with rtn free to Japan which I snapped up but then paid for exit row on both our and rtn legs.

On both sectors I had the whole row to myself because noone else wanted to pay for the exit row.

Not only ended up with more legroom but also spare seat to put my stuff on and no rubbing shoulders with a stranger.

 

[Human]

In March this year JQ ran a very cheap fare with rtn free to Japan which I snapped up but then paid for exit row on both our and rtn legs.

On both sectors I had the whole row to myself because noone else wanted to pay for the exit row.

Not only ended up with more legroom but also spare seat to put my stuff on and no rubbing shoulders with a stranger.

For many years I actively and eagerly avoided flying Jetstar. Then one day I flew Jetstar out of necessity, paid for an exit row, and it dawned on me...

Jetstar with extra legroom is far more comfortable than a full service airline without extra legroom.

 

[eastwest101]

In March this year JQ ran a very cheap fare with rtn free to Japan which I snapped up but then paid for exit row on both our and rtn legs.

On both sectors I had the whole row to myself because noone else wanted to pay for the exit row.

Not only ended up with more legroom but also spare seat to put my stuff on and no rubbing shoulders with a stranger.

Pretty much the only way to fly on JQ 787s without paying for Starclass, that's the weird thing, because the passengers are mostly super cost-conscious they won't spend the money for extra legroom or exit rows. With 9 abreast Y class B787s in particular - having an empty seat next to you is a completely different flight experience than having someone next to you.

 

[dajop]

SQ is another one that comes to mind. Paid for preferred exit row seats on a 737 HKT-SIN. Packed plane except for our row of 6 which went out with just us. I suspect they filled the exit row in front with passengers who didn’t pay the fee giving us all the room.

Unlikely to be the case for med-long haul flights on SQ, where people are willing to pay for them. We get free exit row seats through status, and often we can't get exit rows on med-long hauls, as they are already taken.

 

[tomasdee]

i paid for seat selection with Q for elderly mother to try and make her journey a bit easier. Seats were chosen, money paid, receipt received showing the seats etc.
2 days before her flight, her 1st flights seat selections were erased. I rang Q and they told me 'seat selections aren't guaranteed' -- pretty angry frankly / now i have to wait till after her trip to apply for a refund (its not automatic). Wow!

 

[VPS]

i paid for seat selection with Q for elderly mother to try and make her journey a bit easier. Seats were chosen, money paid, receipt received showing the seats etc.
2 days before her flight, her 1st flights seat selections were erased. I rang Q and they told me 'seat selections aren't guaranteed' -- pretty angry frankly / now i have to wait till after her trip to apply for a refund (its not automatic). Wow!

Welcome to AFF - not a happy first post though. Very annoying for you and your mum

 

[CaptJCool]

I found the QF Neighbour Free offer points to “empty seats” on board. In my recent flights, and given my LTG status, it has resulted in an empty seat neighbour without the need to pay for it.

Also @Mattg I found yesterday that because i was doing 3 domestic flights on the one booking that row 4 opened up more than 24 hours ahead - would have been 31 hours seeing I checked in around 1pm

Great looks like a spare seat. Until they cancelled the prior flight which was the case and thus the late flight was completely full… still being in row 4 was a nice gift

 

[Warragul]

Your upgrade request will stay but you won't get refunded the seat selection fee

Having said that, if you're paying for seat selection then I assume you don't have any status and therefore an upgrade on a sector like FCO-PER is very very very unlikely, might get something on PER-SYD though.

WP pay for the extra legroom seats in Y, so paying is not just for the statusless.