Shadow

OK, I am confused (yeah, most of the time...). I just booked Dublin-London Heathrow for myself, dh, mil and sil. I gave my cc and went to pick out the seats and found that I have to pay for that too? (oh yeah, thats after paying a "handling fee" on the tickets, and after paying for checked baggage each too....
I thought I had already PAID for the SEATS for goodness sakes (its called "airfare"!! If not, what is the initial payment for...the fuel?
I've never seen this before.....
I think this is getting ridiculous....paying for the seats...pffttt

Shadow

Lawchick

You are paying for pre choosing your seat. If you don't mind where you sit then don't do it.

hetismij

I see you have to pay for checked bags so why not for the seats too? Maybe they sneak a charge in for reserving you seat when you book rather than at check in, though I can't find any mention of it.
I see they are also very naughty in that they still quote prices without the taxes added - contrary to the EU ruling on this. Interestingly on the DUtch language spart of the site they include taxes etc in the price.

youngblueeyes

The seating charge is a new charge Aer Lingus have introduced in recent months. It is optional. The other charges are not. If you don't pick the seat, you still get one, but if there is a group travelling together or a family there is no guarantee that they will get seats together on check in at the airport. Irish consumer bodies are currently trying to get the legislation changed so Ryanair and Aer Lingus have to show up front the total cost of the flight including all charges.

Mucky

Welcome to European 'low cost' travel.

As others have said, don't pre book seats, the chances are that you will get seats together anyway, and if you don't ..so what ! its only a short flight.

Muck

janisj

as the others say - you aren't paying for seats. You will have a seat. If you choose to, you are paying to select specific seats numbers . . . . .

Christina

I think that makes a lot of sense for low-cost airlines to do that on such short routes. That way folks who really care about such things for an hour or so (and it amazes me those who do) can well pay for it.

rkkwan

That's such a deal! You pay to get an assigned seat. Unlike Ryanair, where you pay just to cut the line to the plane!

trigo

I sure wish I had seen this post a couple of weeks ago. I just booked Aer Lingus from Heathrow to Cork and Cork to Paris. I didn't pick up on the fact that reserving the seat was "optional" and went ahead and picked the cheapest seat on the plane. Short flight, so it didn't matter to me. That being said, had I known I diid not have to pay extra I certainly would not have. My husband and I can sit anywhwere for these short hops. I feel either dumb for not noticing it was optional or duped for being led to believe it was required. Oh well. The cheap flights turned out quite pricey by the time everything was added on and then converted to USD. Sigh.... but I'm still excited about our upcoming trip.

nrwayne

We flew Aer Lingus last year and were upleasantly surprised by the new discount fare approach, which means that the seats are packed in as tightly as possible. Since you're taking only a short hop it may not be too uncomfortable. For the long haul, however, Aer Lingus is now about as bad as it gets.

Shadow

Thanks for the responses...yes, I get it now....we did not pay...for a short haul we will take what we get...London is going to be expensive enough!!
I have to say that I have flown (and will do this trip as well) Aer Lingus from LAX and found it to be wonderful.
I have no complaints and I even liked the food...love the offer of tea as well....hopefully, I won't be disappointed this trip as we are bringing a tour group with us!!
We went Delta in April to Ireland and that was good too..in fact, they offered a free alcholic drink on that flight! I just go with whoever is cheaper and we got $499 (incl. taxes) from LAX to Dub then on to Shannon and leaving Dublin to LAX for September...could not turn that down!!
Thanks again,
Shadow

CAPH52

I was kind of surprised to see the comment about the seats being packed in tightly. This past March I flew AA to/from Ireland. While I was there, my daughter and I flew Aer Lingus to Paris. I found the Aer Lingus flight to be roomier and the seats more comfortable than AA.

tomassocroccante

Noticed last night that Northwest is now charging $15 to preselect a window or aisle seat = don't know whether that's only for international, or only for frequent flyer for that matter. (British Airways has for some time allowed coach customers only to select seats 24 hours before travel.)

We are all both the reason and the victims of the screwball airline pricing and extras. But it's going beyond the point where it makes sense.

But here we are going online and doing our own booking, (lets airlines hire fewer agents) and then we also get an extra charge for every possible feature that we had come to expect was included.

Wonder where this will end ...? We really need to make our opinions known to airlines, not just to one another. But if customers simply put up with the changes with no complaint, why wouldn't they charge extra? Then again, maybe later they'll change back and make it seem as if they're giving you something!

alanRow

"If you don't want it you shouldn't pay for it" - Michael O'Leary

Why should I pay more for a ticket so that I automatically get a reserved seat when I don't give a toss where I sit on the plane

GSteed

Read the fine print. Every charge or possible charge is detailed on the prospectus. Ask questions. Know the rules.Airlines are developing their marketing plans based on overall customer acceptance. Remember the old saw? "One egg or two with your malted milk?".

Maria_H

The optional extras have become crazy on some of the low cost airlines from the UK. I was recently researching a flight to Sicily and checked out Thomsonfly. In addition to the usual taxes and charges, there was a £12 optional meal, £17.50 for an extra 5kg luggage (nowhere could I find the basic allowance) and £12 for "sitting together" - that isn't even to assign specific seats, just to guarantee your party will have seats together - you can only then request a window seat. A fare that started off shown as £42 each could end up costing as much as £150!

rkkwan

But Maria_H - You don't have to pay any of those charges if you don't want to. That's the point - you only pay for service you're using.

GSteed

Extra charges! A public WC with an attendant..One price for urinal only, another for full service and extra for paper. Soap and towel was another charge.

Padraig

A scale of charges for using the toilets: there's another idea for the low-cost airlines.

tomassocroccante

I don't mind any charges for items that represent money costs to the seller: meals, headsets, blankets, baggae allowance. (Although when it comes to the weight allowance, let's be real: the baggage charge is the same for a skinny 14 yr old as for a hefty weightlifter)

I am concerned that this trend of assigning seats only at the last day, or not at all, represents a general disregard for passenger comfort and convenience. Alan, you may not care where you sit, but at 6'3" I do! I'm more interested in the aisle seat than in drinks, food or in flight entertainment. I'd pay the $15 charge to get it, too.

I think the issue for a lot of travelers is that the "advertised price" for air travel begins to seem more and more like a mass transit fare: you get on the bus, no guarantee you won't be standing. Fine for a trip across town, but across an ocean or continent?

Good traveling, all.