Can I pay for an extra seat next to me/partner without hassle?

ClarkeKent

Always nice to get extra room on a plane and I hate having to sit next to an unknown for hours. Is it possible to book an extra seat next to you without any hassle of entering details for that seat(passport # etc) and then battle with people wanting to swap seats on the plane etc.

Primarily I am thinking on budget airlines here as I believe they have 3 seats on each side (2 on side seats on longer flights) and it is cheap to do.

But also wondering on options for this on longer flights and how it works out when pre-booking seats.

Westin

It is certainly possible on Virgin Atlantic if you are considering flying to a destination that they operate to.

Details can be found here;

http://www.virgin-atlantic.com/gb/en/the-virgin-experience/economy/seating/seat-plus.html

richardw

Not generally available on easyJet, Ryanair, Wizzair, Vueling.
There are some smaller aircraft offering 2-2 seating, BA from LCY and STN.
Some flybe routes aswell. BA short haul business class also.

On long haul there are B767 and A330/340 aircraft and the upper deck of A380 aircraft offer 2-X-2 seating, browse https://www.seatguru.com for more details. BA and other airlines sometimes do premium economy in their sales which can be great value. Eva Air for the Far East often have good premium economy prices from travel agents such as trailfinders.
Similarly Vietnam Airlines on expedia.

Where in the UK are you?

Sagz_2

I've booked 2 seats for myself in the past, I used my name with no middle name for one seat, and with middle name for the other.

ClarkeKent

Sagz wrote: »

I've booked 2 seats for myself in the past, I used my name with no middle name for one seat, and with middle name for the other.

I assume then filling in same passport number for the extra seat. Which airline/s was this?

Caz3121

Sagz wrote: »

I've booked 2 seats for myself in the past, I used my name with no middle name for one seat, and with middle name for the other.

which airline?
with the majority of airlines, even if you check in online, you would only give over one boarding pass at the gate at which point the other 'person' would be offloaded and the seat would be available for another passenger - sometimes there are staff standby passengers or in the case of overbooking, passengers may have to wait till boarding completes to identify who does not turn up so their seats can be used

Sagz_2

Caz3121 wrote: »

which airline?
with the majority of airlines, even if you check in online, you would only give over one boarding pass at the gate at which point the other 'person' would be offloaded and the seat would be available for another passenger - sometimes there are staff standby passengers or in the case of overbooking, passengers may have to wait till boarding completes to identify who does not turn up so their seats can be used

Ryanair or Easyjet, I can't be sure which. It was refered to as a "comfort" seat.

richardw

Sometimes larger passengers can request this and the crew check if they are large.

Moto2

Yes you can

My son books an extra seat for his guitar, cant remember the details but it's something like first name:EXTRA last name:SEAT on Ryanair and something similar on Easyjet

silvercar

If you are doing this it is best to do it as an extra seat rather than a named person.

1. You won't risk that the missing person will be offloaded and the seat filled with someone else.

2. Airport passenger tax is only paid per person, so you won't be charge this tax on the comfort seat.

Blue264

Air New Zealand offer this service on their Skycouch seats.

http://www.airnewzealand.com/economy-skycouch