Airline Seat Selection Fees Offend Me ... And They Might Get Worse | Cruising Altitude

Common flight maneuvers that might feel unsettling but are normal

Here are three surprising flight maneuvers that feel dangerous but are completely safe.

• Seat selection fees have become increasingly common among airlines since they were first introduced.
• These fees are a lucrative source of revenue for airlines, with major U.S. carriers generating billions of dollars from them in recent years.
• Families with children may be able to select adjacent seats for free.

I take seat selection fees as a personal affront. 

If I’m traveling on an economy ticket on an airline where I don’t have status, it bugs me to have to pay extra to choose my seat. 

But that’s just the way things are now. Seat selection fees are here to stay, and as time goes on, they’re only likely to get more prevalent. 

As airlines continue to look for ways to squeeze more revenue out of every passenger, it’s just par for the course to cough up for things we used to take for granted while flying. 

Seat selection fees are a relatively recent concept for airlines, but they’ve really gained traction since carriers first started trying them out in 2008. Not surprisingly, ultra-low-cost carriers like Spirit Airlines were among the first to charge to pick your seat, but now almost all airlines sell at least some tickets that don’t include a seat assignment in the base price. 

Southwest Airlines, which long differentiated itself with its open seating policy, will soon begin assigning seats and charging an extra fee to passengers who buy the lowest-priced tickets if they want to select a seat in advance. 

Since then, airlines have made a mint on these ancillary charges. 

According to a report from the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigation released in November, major U.S. airlines generated a combined $12.4 billion in revenue from seat selection fees between 2018 and 2023, and it seems unlikely that that number is going to decline anytime soon.  

Probably not. 

“It’s not going away because the two largest sources of ancillary product revenue are checked bags and advanced seat reservations,” Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research, a travel industry analytics firm, told me. “Airlines love charging for advanced seat selection because it is such a high margin product, and people are going to pay for it because they don’t want to take a chance.” 

If anything, seat selection fees in one form or another are only likely to become more common going forward. 

It's even going beyond those basic fare options. Even premium ticket holders are on notice. Currently, U.S. airlines all allow travelers in premium economy and business class to select a seat for free with their tickets, but that may not last forever. 

Many international airlines like British Airways, Air France and KLM already charge for seat selection on some business class tickets. Delta Air Lines teased last spring that it was toying with the idea of a “basic” business fare bucket during an earnings call. Of course, that’s not the word the airline’s executives used, but that’s how everyone is talking about it.  

There are no set plans for a basic business rollout at any U.S. airline, but if and when it does happen, no one who has been paying attention will be overly surprised. 

“The U.S. airline industry makes the phrase ‘monkey see, monkey do’ come to life. If one airline does something, it’s often copied by its key competitors,” Harteveldt said. “If Delta does something, I imagine American and United would introduce something on their long-haul flights, at least where they compete with Delta.” 

Before I can give this kind of advice, I need to make a slight differentiation: there are á la carte seat selection fees, where you pay an extra fee for a seat assignment by itself, but there are also ticket bundles that include seat fees. 

Both have their place, but the way to avoid them may be different. 

At a minimum, you’re more likely to get a free seat assignment whether or not you pay the fee or buy the bundle if you have frequent flyer status with the airline in question, though many airlines increasingly carve out their most bare-bones tickets from even this elite status perk. 

On JetBlue, for example, the cheapest “Blue Basic” ticket doesn’t typically include a seat assignment, but the next level up usually would. Mosaic TrueBlue members would have access to preferred seats or extra legroom seats at no additional charge, depending on their status tier. 

A co-branded credit card may also help you get the perk as part of your annual fee. 

“Airlines have said that by charging for those products it helps generate engagement with their co-branded credit cards. Airlines will often carve out the credit cards again offering free checked bags and discounted or free advanced seat reservations for credit card holders,” Harteveldt said. “You have a way to get free seat assignments even if you are not an elite tier member of the airline.” 

You may also find that a bundle that includes seat selection just makes sense for your trip. If, for example, you need to check a bag, buying up to a ticket that includes a checked bag and a seat assignment may be a fair deal. 

Some airlines also allow families with children to select adjacent seats at no additional charge. 

Travelers also always have the option of not paying the fee and just hoping they wind up with a decent seat. Especially on a short flight, this isn’t a totally crazy thing to do. Even I have gone with this option sometimes and, again, I know what I like when it comes to airplane seats. 

“If you’re doing a short-haul flight, a flight of 90 minutes or less, certain things might not matter as much, especially if it’s a day trip or a weekend trip,” Harteveldt said.  

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.