Would you give up your seat to let a family sit together? What about a couple? Just 2 years ago, it was natural to assume that travel companions would sit in the same row. These days, it is practically impossible. Peter sat down with New York Times columnist Joe Sharkey to see how the airline fee structure is changing how we travel and, perhaps, ushering in a new era of passenger courtesy.
Peter Greenberg: We have grown accustomed to a new definition of comfort when it comes to travel by air. It no longer about getting a great seat on the plane, it’s about getting a less bad seat. And discomfort comes at a price.
Joe Sharkey: When flying, I think in terms of crummy seats and less crummy seats. It costs extra to get the less crummy seat. As you noticed, they’re slicing and dicing coach ticket prices. On any typical flight, if you look at the seat selection chart, you’ll see that the cheapest coach fare seats, are kind of scattered around the plane in the middle seats or back by the bathroom where everybody bumps into you.
Now 30 or 40 percent of seats have an extra fee because they’re, in essence, less crummy seats.
PG: You mentioned middle seats and this brings up a big bone of contention. I understand why the airlines would want to charge you more for a premium seat in the front of the plane, but why would a middle seat be then defined as a premium seat?
JS: There is a new issue now. A lot of leisure travelers, who may not be especially cognizant of how the airlines have changed the fare structures, will ask travelers to switch seats. It happened to me fairly recently where I had paid extra for the seat I wanted and priority boarding. I told the person who had asked that I would switch and he was huffing and puffing and his wife had to go sit in her seat a couple of rows, five or six rows behind. This sense of entitlement comes up a lot. Travelers still assume that they should be able to travel together and that not only the airline but other passengers should accommodate them.
PG: You talk about a sense of entitlement, here’s a different scenario. A very good friend of mine was traveling with her 9-year-old son and the airline would not let them sit together. She was traveling the next week with her 5-year-old son. Same thing happened. The airline still wouldn’t give in. This time she had a solution. Before she boarded the plane, she bought her son three scoops of ice cream on one cone. Everybody volunteered to give up his or her seat next to this kid.
Image Credit: BigStock
JS: When it comes to flying today all the seats are full and the airlines are charging different prices for every seat. In order to accommodate a family, you may be dealing with a couple of seats that are priced differently. That said, my experience proves frequent travelers are very accommodating. So we can kind of depend on the kindness of strangers quite often, when it’s a very small child.
PG: Another fee being discussed is paying $10 to get off the plane early. There was a recent survey by George Hobica of AirfareWatchdog, where 10 percent of the respondents said they would pay $10 to get off the plane earlier. And 3 percent of the respondents said they’d pay $20 to get off the plane early. I’d pay $50 not to get on the plane at all, but that’s another story. How do you manage that on the plane?
JS: I don’t think that’s a feasible plan.
PG: It doesn’t even work now. Say you’re delayed and the flight attendants ask number of passengers connections, could you please allow them to get off the plane. Nobody pays attention. It just doesn’t work.
JS: We’re all in this terrible fix. However, I do see as the airlines are getting worse, travelers are being kind to each other. I think the idea has gotten around that we can do something.
PG: We’re all in it together, for better or worse.
Are you having trouble sitting together when you travel? Are travelers getting nice or is the new fee system making it every man for himself?
For further information on airline fees, check out:
- Ancillary Revenue Update, New Charges, Hidden Fees & What You Can Do?
- Land of the Brave and Home of the Fee: Airline CEOS Speak out at GBTA Conference
- The Travel Detective on Spirit Air’s Ancillary Fee Madness
By Peter Greenberg for Peter Greenberg Worldwide
Feature Image credit: BigStock
