Air Canada seat selection $45, will you pay it for 3 hr flght?

[fh2000]

I just signed up for a 6 day tour mainly in Banff National Park, and some other surrounding areas.

The flight is a round trip from Los Angeles to Vancouver, a 3 hour flight. I booked with United but it is operated by Air Canada. I selected a United class with no seat selection fee, but Air Canada still charges $45 per seat. Their customer support rep told me if I wait until online checking 24 hrs prior, then seats are free.

I could save $180 for the 2 of us. DW said she is fine with bad seats for 3 hours. But what if we encounter overbooking with no more seats? Would you risk without paying for seat selection?

 

[njhowie]

We never pay for seats/selection, regardless how long the flight. Most of the airline algorithms by default will do its best to seat your travel party together.

When we flew to Hawaii in March, we took United Economy Basic, no seat selection. It sat the 3 of us together on 3 of the 4 flights and on the one where it didn't seat us together, I was in the row in front of my girls, and the person in the seat beside DW moved, so I was able to sit next to her then as well.

Me and DW flew on Frontier two weeks ago, again cheapest fare, no seat selection. They put us beside each other on both flights which were completely full. Sure, we were in the back of the plane, but the fare was half that of the next best fare offered by any other airline. Worked out fine.

 

[FlaMariner]

We had a similar scam/situation with British Airways.....flying from London to Miami....I refused to give in to the seat extortion fee and we were fine with British Airways assigning us a "no fee" seat.....we did get to sit together....We were not concerned about not getting a seat on the that flight....but we are the ones that jump first when they toss free flights around to get us to be bumped.....We consider that another benefit of being FIRED.

 

[Sunset]

I just signed up for a 6 day tour mainly in Banff National Park, and some other surrounding areas.

The flight is a round trip from Los Angeles to Vancouver, a 3 hour flight. I booked with United but it is operated by Air Canada. I selected a United class with no seat selection fee, but Air Canada still charges $45 per seat. Their customer support rep told me if I wait until online checking 24 hrs prior, then seats are free.

I could save $180 for the 2 of us. DW said she is fine with bad seats for 3 hours. But what if we encounter overbooking with no more seats? Would you risk without paying for seat selection?

I think if they are overbooked, they will bump anyone but would ask for volunteers first and there always seems to be people wanting it.

Hopefully you are flying in a day early, as planes can fail to fly for many reasons, so having a time cushion is nice.

By the way, Air Canada is my last choice airline.

 

[Aerides]

I could save $180 for the 2 of us. DW said she is fine with bad seats for 3 hours. But what if we encounter overbooking with no more seats? Would you risk without paying for seat selection?

for 3 hour flights? I'd risk it.

 

[tulak]

I’d risk it too. My threshold is around 4-5+ hour flights.

 

[Texas Proud]

MY DW insists on knowing her seat so yes I would have to cough up the money...


She always wants a window and those go fast...


But... at $45 per seat I think even she would pass on it... I think the most we have paid was $25...

 

[Sunset]

MY DW insists on knowing her seat so yes I would have to cough up the money...


She always wants a window and those go fast...


But... at $45 per seat I think even she would pass on it... I think the most we have paid was $25...

I wonder, if you got the middle and aisle seat would $30 convince the window person to swap to the aisle.

 

[Texas Proud]

I wonder, if you got the middle and aisle seat would $30 convince the window person to swap to the aisle.

Funny thing is that the price that I see on the flights that we take are the same for the whole row... IOW, the window cost the same as the middle..


The row or sections of rows seems to be the determining factor...

 

[rodi]

I faced this quandary ( but more expensive) on our return from Italy last month. I booked through American but the return flights were on British Air. One short flight, one 11 hour flight from Heathrow to San Diego. Despite being business class the was no seat selection.

I'm a control freak about this stuff and was nervous about not being able to select my seat till 24 hours before the flight.

But I was not going to pay for seat selection for two people.

It turned out fine. Our seats were good . But I didn't like it.

 

[HarveyS]

I would not pay $45 to pick a seat on this flight. It is highly unlikely that you will be involuntarily bumped, and, even if you have a confirmed seat they can bump you. Spend your $180 elsewhere.

 

[athena53]

Involuntary bumping seems to be a function of many things: status, fare class, last to check in, etc. And, as pointed out, the airlines first offer voluntary bumping. I wouldn't worry about it- it's more a question of whether you'd have a problem with sitting in middle seats a few rows apart, which is likely the worst case. If you're OK with that I'd save the $$.

 

[6miths]

No. Hate getting nickel and dimed. Not worth it to me.

 

[thatguy]

We're tall old and a little fat and need to book seats with a little more knee room. I think it was called Economy Plus. Banff is a 4 hour flight from here. I might tolerate a standard seat for 2 hours. Haven't flown since 2018.

 

[tulak]

No. Hate getting nickel and dimed. Not worth it to me.

Airline travel costs have come down quite a bit. I’m ok if I can choose what options I want to pay for and sometimes that’s a seat, other times I risk it.

 

[brett]

No, I would not pay it.

 

[gayl]

I wonder, if you got the middle and aisle seat would $30 convince the window person to swap to the aisle.

No. Not ever switching seats. Plus that window person paid $45 for it. If your seat is imortant to you (as it is to me) pick it upon booking

 

[ShokWaveRider]

We DO pay the little extra for seat selection. It is peanuts vs the benefit, for us at least. THEN, I have a pacemaker and of course need extra time to get seated (and get my carry on in a good spot), so I get to board early with the seat I want and DW in the adjacent aisle seat. We like aisles.

 

[brett]

We usually get assigned either an aisle and middle or window and middle. If it is the latter we purchase a window for my spouse. IF the later, we purchase an aisle for me.

After 49 years of marriage we do not care whether we sit together or not. It is, after all, only a flight.

 

[Sojourner]

Airline travel costs have come down quite a bit.

They've come down? Since when? DW and I recently booked flights to Europe for later this summer, and the price of that "premium economy" fare was significantly more than what I paid for a business class, lay-flat seat at the very front of the plane back in late summer of 2018. From what I can tell, airfares have gone up substantially over the past few years.

 

[brett]

Airline travel costs have come down quite a bit. I’m ok if I can choose what options I want to pay for and sometimes that’s a seat, other times I risk it.

We find that air travel prices in some areas have gone up, way up. Others just a little. Very few have stayed the same since covid.

Air fares that we have been shopping to SE Asia are up anywhere from 50 to 70 percent since covid.

Airfares to some Europe destinations are up about 25 percent, others not so much. We lucked out with a Portuagal fare last year that was only up about 10 percent. Just purchased air fares to Morocco....up about 15 percent from this time last year when we shopped.

Domestic in Canada is definitely up. Fewer departure times. Our airfares to Mexico are up over previous years.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

We don't mind flying Air Canada but dislike their Rouge line.
For a 3 hour flight, I'd risk selecting a seat right at the start of check-in time. If you are concerned about not seating together, I think the risk is generally low but I think I am seeing a lot more window and aisle occupied with the middle seat empty.

Our tolerance levels are weakening as we age so we're more open to pre-paying for a more comfortable seat depending on the situation. Eg. For a 5 hour flight across the country, I'm open to bucking up for an exit aisle seat.

 

[jollystomper]

For a 3 hour flight I would not pay $45, I would be ready at the 24 check-in time to select my seats. It sounds similar to what I do for Southwest, hit the button 24 hours before check-in to get my place in line.

For me my "threshold" is 5 hours, anything longer than that I will pay for my desired seat.

 

[Koolau]

Airline travel costs have come down quite a bit. I’m ok if I can choose what options I want to pay for and sometimes that’s a seat, other times I risk it.

This is not my experience. We paid half again as much as last year for our tickets to the mainland this year. YMMV

 

[Buckeye]

MY DW insists on knowing her seat so yes I would have to cough up the money...


She always wants a window and those go fast...


But... at $45 per seat I think even she would pass on it... I think the most we have paid was $25...

My hubby is the same about wanting to know beforehand where his seat is so we paid through the nose on our Air Canada flight from FL to Canada to Paris and back. I think we skipped buying seats on the last domestic leg. I was more worried about not having overhead bin room and being forced to check our bags, even if it was free. It was the first time we've flown on Air Canada and I was pleasantly surprised with there service.