Cheap airline seating

Nick_C

The seats at the front of Economy are "Main Cabin Extra".

The seat pitch is 35" to 37", whereas the main economy cabin is 31".

Main cabin extra is free for anyone who has paid bought a full fare ticket, or who has a high level of status / loyalty - Sapphire status on One World (Silver on BA).

Anyone else can pay extra to sit in this area if seats are available.

If the flight is full, some people may be upgraded to these front seats at check in or at the gate.

If you try to sit in a seat that other people have paid £61 each for then you can expect problems, and rightly so.

You get what you paid for.

It's no different to trying to sit in business class when you have only bought an economy ticket.

bobbyhibs

hi and thanks to all whom have repsond to my questions
thanks to
Pollycat for the feedback!
eDicky-thanks also for the feedback!
Nick_C- yep i understand what you are saying in regards if somone has paid for the seats but i was sorta trying to be tight- be Money saving ,I guess what im saying( or trying to atleast!) if there is NOONE in those sorta seats either by paying or being upgraded would there be any chance of being able to get it for free or at a lower price than advertised.

Though i do disagree about you last sentence, though its just my view , but again I am grateful for your feedback, so thank you for your time in responding!

Nick_C

I understand where you are coming from bobbyhips, and yes, this site is all about money saving. But if I had paid extra for premium seating and I saw some who hadn't paid extra trying to just move forward ant take the more expensive seats, then I would complain to the cabin crew (and have done in the past).

No one would buy premium seating if it became a free for all once everyone had boarded. And for this reason I would expect the cabin crew to tell you to return to your allocated seats. AA crews are known for their assertiveness!

By all means ask at check in if they can move you forward. They may offer you a cheaper upgrade at check in than they are currently offering on line. Especially if the flight is full and they need to upgrade some passengers anyway. I've done this with BA a few times, paying to upgrade at check in to PE, for less than the price of a PE ticket.

There is no harm in asking. But they are likely to say no.

And of course if you pay to move forward to Main Cabin Extra, you might still have a third person sitting next to you.

bobbyhibs

hi
and thanks again for the feedback nick c and i can very much see your point !! and i do agree in what youy are thinking !

i think i will ask nicely as i can (be maybe a lil cheeky) to see if the check in staff can help-offer a better deal !

this is the first time flying with aa so with your advice on the staff being known for their assertiveness i better be on my toes!!
thanks again for your advice-input
kind reagrds

stevie11

Bobbyhibs, I have flown quite extensively with AA over the last few years. So if you fly this coming week you should be able to see seat availability. Good advice already from Nick, Polly and Dicky and has rightly stated MCE and emergency exit rows are for elite pax or those who pay the premium. So if the seats that you want are currently available and not classed as premium seats can you not change seats now or is that in the 24 hour window?

Another option is when you check-in or deposit your bags ask the check-in agent if you can be moved to a row with an empty middle seat if that is available.

The next option once on board if you get a chatty flight attendant ask if you can move to spare seats that may be available, they probably wont move you to MCE seats but usually pax are free to move around once the doors have closed. You may be lucky and have a friendly attentive FA but unfortunately many of the Transtlantic AA FA's are not noted for this IMO, although I have met a few chatty FA's on certain routes.

Hope you can sort something out.

bobbyhibs

hi
and thanks for the detailed feedback stevie11!

We travell next monday and have choosen our seats together though we (well I was) hoping for the 3 seats for us 2 but somone has choosen the seat beside us,
There are avaibale seats 2-3 rows back in economy which are (were avaiable eariler) which are an option, but i am the most inpaitent person (i think im getting worse !!:eek:)

thanks to all whom have contributed to my question !!

Pollycat

Enjoy your trip and come back and let us know how your flights worked out.

stevie11

bobbyhibs wrote: »

hi
and thanks for the detailed feedback stevie11!

We travell next monday and have choosen our seats together though we (well I was) hoping for the 3 seats for us 2 but somone has choosen the seat beside us,
There are avaibale seats 2-3 rows back in economy which are (were avaiable eariler) which are an option, but i am the most inpaitent person (i think im getting worse !!:eek:)

thanks to all whom have contributed to my question !!

Bobby, are you able to change your seats on the AA web site? If so why don't you book the window and aisle for you and your friend. That leaves the middle seat empty, a lot of people wont book the middle seat unless the flight is full.

If you can't do it online give the AA call centre a ring, 0207-660-2300 . See if they can change for free. Have the PNR ref handy.
Good luck

zagfles

akh43 wrote: »

Same here, paid Ryanair £10 each for seats so DD and I could sit together and we were totally surrounded by around 10 noisy Hen Do girls. Staff did little to make them behave, in fact they sold them more drink which just made them worse. In the end we had to move and sit separately, When I spoke to cabin staff they said there was only 1 spare seat according to their records, luckily I found a couple of spare seats, but they were middle seats on different rows. Annoying that we paid to sit together and then had to move due to these disruptive passengers, I cannot believe the staff did nothing. Quite a few passengers commented on the disruption when leaving the plane and they just said they had to put up with this daily from Manchester. Why do they let a few unruly and selfish passengers ruin it for the rest?

Yes, I never pay for seat selection but if there was an option to guarantee a seat away from hen/stag groups I think even I'd pay! Unfortunately no airline offers this option! Molly - if you're reading this - a new money making option for you to offer

XAV8R

Last year I booked early (before the seat crisis rip off )
This year as always I booked return flights to Bangkok airport & found the outrageous prices for booking seats, bearing in mind most long haul flights to the east include a flight change so therefore pen & paper at the ready.
BOOKING A SEAT PRICES :mad:
Standard seats....................................................................... are £19.60 x 4 = £78.40p
Preferred seats (what's the difference with the above?),,,,,,,,,are £27.50 x 4 - £110.0p
Extra leg room (discrimination against tall people).................are £113.8 x 4 = £455.20p :eek:
Next year a direct flight from London will halve the seat costs.
PS
No discount for an ex flight instructor either