Another AerLingus rip-off

talkingclock

RTE:

Aer Lingus is introducing a new charge to pre-book seats on short-haul flights.

From 23 May it will cost €10 to pre-book a seat in the first five rows, an exit seat will cost €15, and all remaining seats will cost €3 to pre-book.

The airline said customers may continue to select their seat when checking in at no additional charge

jester77

€15 :eek: Baxtards, I always take the aisle seat in that row so that my knees aren't on my shoulders :mad:

cathald

Are we sure Ryanair didn't take them over

Robxxx7

First having to pay for baggage and now having to pay for your seat ..its getting ridiculous .... Aer Lingus reckon it was because their business passengers requested this ... well ... as a user of their service regularly every week and a gold circle member ... i was never asked if i wanted this ... just another revenue creation scheme .... perhaps they should just rename their service Ryan Lingus :mad:

penexpers

You don't have to pay for your seat.

Robxxx7

True, you don't have to pay for your seat ..... but if you generally selected a seat in the first 5 rows or an exit seat previously, you do now have to pay for it ... so they are charging for seats regardless ... I always preferred an exit seat because of the extra leg room... being rather tall ...but now i have the option of having my kness nobbled by the seat in front, or pay €15 extra for a seat that didn't use to cost anything ....

Skyhater

If people paying for there seat, creates a stronger Aer Lingus (More New Routs & Cheeper Base Fairs) that fine by me.
The rest of us get to select our seat for free @ the Airport.

This is a storm in a tea-cup. The take-up for internet seat selection over the last few months was 50-60% (depending on rout).... You can be sure this will drop dramatically with the new charges. This means that > 50% of seats will be available for free selection at check-in.
This is still sooooooooooooo much better the Ryanair, who charge you extra to be first in the Q to run for your seat!!!!

Chris_533976

What do they define as 'short haul'? Cos lets face it if you're travelling Dublin - Heathrow you dont need a pre booked seat as it only takes an hour. Just get there a bit early if you want a window seat, and ask at check in if you can have a certain seat. If you ask nicely, they'll give it to you if its available.

Long haul flights are another matter. Much harder to sit for 8 hours in a crap seat than on a short haul.


All that said, this is another cash grab. They don't NEED to charge for this, the system is working fine as it is. €15 is outrageous, €5 would be enough.

Mr Magnolia

Skyhater wrote:

If people paying for there seat, creates a stronger Aer Lingus (More New Routs & Cheeper Base Fairs) that fine by me.
The rest of us get to select our seat for free @ the Airport.

This is a storm in a tea-cup. The take-up for internet seat selection over the last few months was 50-60% (depending on rout).... You can be sure this will drop dramatically with the new charges. This means that > 50% of seats will be available for free selection at check-in.
This is still sooooooooooooo much better the Ryanair, who charge you extra to be first in the Q to run for your seat!!!!

Exactly, if it means cheaper flights/seats for commuters that don't mind where they sit then it's for the better IMO

daymobrew

Skyhater wrote:

This is a storm in a tea-cup. The take-up for internet seat selection over the last few months was 50-60% (depending on rout).... You can be sure this will drop dramatically with the new charges. This means that > 50% of seats will be available for free selection at check-in.

You might be able to use the online check-in (between 30 and 2 hours before departure) to get a good choice of seat.

talkingclock

daymobrew wrote:

You might be able to use the online check-in (between 30 and 2 hours before departure) to get a good choice of seat.

But for the good choice of seat (if you prefer emergency exit due to your long legs) or the first 5 rows you need to pay now for those "premium" seats which you were able to select for free (nothing, nada, nichts, niente) before!

penexpers

Free seat selection online hasn't been around for that long though?

sk8board

As a GoldCircleClub business traveller, i think this is a great idea.

I always try to book rows 2-6, seats C or D (aisle seats), for a quick disembarkation. AerLingus can see these trends in their GCC DataBase. I'd say any of the serious travellers in our wee company travel on about 50 flights per year (20-25 trips), and will always check-in on-line, and choose preferential seats in economy/steerage, where available.

This new package of charges is a way of making us pay more for that privilage.

And if you don't want it, then you don't have to pay; you are given a free seat from the pool of seats remaining; which is what I'd do if I was travelling on my own dollar.

On-line check-in has also been a revelation, allowing you to go straight to the security queue when we arrive for all those red-eye flights, with just our lap-tops and check-in baggage.

seems fair. Gets you in and out of the airport quicker. I now leave my house 1 hour before departure time.

OTK

I like to sit in rows 2-5 but I wouldn't pay €10. I'd pay 20c. The charge is optional so I can't complain. Also I want Aer Lingus to stay in business.

For travel with small chldren it will be a necessity but I still wouldn't use RyanScum.

Zoney

Can you get seats together as a group/family if you don't pay for the seat selection at booking time?

I.e. at check-in do you get to pick from the left over "pool" of seating?

dowlingm

when flying Air Canada I check in online with 24hr to go and fix my seat then cause I can't be bothered paying, but Porter Airlines are going the other way - more frills, no bullsh!t. I've only flown them once but I hope they stay in business awhile.

Skyhater

Zoney wrote:

Can you get seats together as a group/family if you don't pay for the seat selection at booking time?
I.e. at check-in do you get to pick from the left over "pool" of seating?

Yes, and as i said above alot > 50% of seats will be available to select on the day (current level of internet seat booking is 50 to 60%, that's sure to drop now that they're charging).

Zoney

Skyhater wrote:

Yes, and as i said above alot > 50% of seats will be available to select on the day (current level of internet seat booking is 50 to 60%, that's sure to drop now that they're charging).

In that case the fuss about the Aer Lingus charging for seat selection at booking seems completely unnecessary, and partly due to people not being sufficiently informed. Eye-catching headlines to blame?

Yoda

OTK wrote:

Also I want Aer Lingus to stay in business.

I wish SAS would buy AerLingus. Rebrand or not. I don't care. At least the service wouldn't be customer-opinion-independent.