Paying for luggage and seats together on flights?

[RosemaryAndTime]

If you were costing flights for a family of 4 would you consider the charges for seats together and luggage as "extras" or as part of the overall cost for what you need?

If I'm travelling alone and don't need luggage, I consider this a saving I can take advantage of.

I like the separate pricing as I can choose what I need but so many people seem to really resent this sort of pricing, especially over seating!

Extras. I often travel alone for the day for meetings. I don't want to pay for things I don't need.

I like the fact that you can get a flight cheaply and then pay for the extras you need. However that is because I travel a lot on my own and rarely check in a bag. With airlines where luggage is included for everyone then you are paying for this in the ticket price regardless as whether you are checking a bag or not so basically you are paying for someone else bag if you do not check one,

This is how it’s done, Ryanair has 3 different prices when you click on each flight at the very beginning.

@Neededanewuserhandle It's not 'fair', but fairness doesn't come into it. It's a business. A heavier person+baggage costs less to transport than a lighter person+baggage. Let's say someone is a really unusual size (extremely tall, short, fat, skinny, whatever) to the extent that they can't wear off the rack clothes because their size isn't catered for in the mass market due to extreme rarity. They have to get their clothes specially tailored which is obviously heaps more expensive than buying off the rack. It's not their fault they're that size but they still have to pay the extra to get clothes that fit them. They can't force mass market clothing companies to produce clothes in sizes only they can wear and sell to them for the same price as the 'standard' range of clothing. There are many examples like this in the world. Inconveniences or costs that you have to deal with due to something that you can't control. Why should flying be any different?

I'd like to be able to pay for a proper sized piece of hand luggage but not have it bundled into the "choose a seat" side of things. I'm generally flying solo so I don't care where I sit (prefer window but not enough to pay £££ for it) but do want to make sure crucial kit gets through (one of the things is too big for the mini luggage slot without a bag around it, even though the bag definitely fits in the under seat area!) so accept the extra cost. I'm also short so have never found leg room a problem on any flight!

I was annoyed that you can only check in 24h in advance if you don't book a specific seat (Ryanair) as 48h gives a lot more opportunity to find reliable internet when travelling. Also cost of roaming so I gritted my teeth and paid for one of the cheapest "assigned" seats £8 to be able to check in before I left for my outward flight!

Most of my travel is hand luggage plus sports equipment (with an extra hand luggage item for outbound only) so it's kind of handy to pick what I care about.

I'd probably give in and book seats regardless of travelling with the kids (although I'm very tempted to book the 3 in a row under 1 booking and let the other adult be wherever).

I don't really care who I'm next to on a flight, happy with my book!

I remember this as well. You once paid a lot for flights but now you have the option as to what you want included. I pay for seat allocations as I am particular where I sit.

I think it generally works fine if the airline is sensible. That said apparently some airlines specifically split up families to encourage people to pay to be sat together. That's annoying.

Airlines are one of the few situations where it does actually cost more to move more weight. So there's more justification of charging by weight (airfreight) as well as by volume (per seat).

Obviously big commercial planes of the 3+3 variety don't need to weigh and balance every single passenger but all the small planes will weigh every single thing and person that gets on the plane and calculate fuel load, take off etc accordingly!

I agree this is going too far. Obesity can be a result of a health condition not poor dietary habits - policing "lifestyle" over "health conditions" is not a road we should be expecting companies to go down.

Very fair to make them extras when not everyone wants them. When they are not extra, travelers who are not using them, are still paying for them.

My comment was not at all a value judgement on thinness vs fatness. I am aware people's weight (or height) isn't something that can be controlled at will. The passenger+baggage combined weight pricing scheme is merely a cost-based model. A heavier passenger+baggage weight is costlier to transport than a lighter one, so everyone is charged according to their combined weight. My husband is tall and finds economy seating very cramped and uncomfortable, so he pays to fly business. It's not his fault he's tall, he was born that way. Does that mean he should pay economy price to sit in business? If you are of the opinion that a combined weight pricing scheme is 'unfair' on obese people who can't control their weight, then tall people who have to fly business should also not have to pay any more than a short person in economy.

Luggage I think is a reasonable extra. Charging so you can sit together I resent as that’s often a matter of them creating an issue in order to charge for fixing it rather than simply charging more for something thats more desireable to others in order to manage demand or cover the costs of providing it.

I fully expect to pay for whatever my family and I need to make the trip work for us. I'm certainly happy to take advantage the other way when DH travels for work and doesn't need specific seating or checked in luggage

I'd really like to see the rules change so they have to put the headline price as the most you would pay to fly with luggage and reserved seats. Then when you book you could remove those options to make it cheaper.

It does annoy me that you have to remember to factor in those costs when looking for a holiday. If you forget it can be a nasty shock when it comes to booking!

I class both as extras

I would rather select and pay for what luggage we need rather than it being incorporated in the basis flught cost

I never pay for seats and am happy to sit in whatever seats are allocated

I sometimes include it, sometimes don't. This is because sometimes I just book the flights and then go back and add seats on. Mostly I include it joe s we have young kids.

It is an add on but it's ridiculous what they charge. I don't mind paying for the luggage, well if it's reasonable. Recent flight booked been about £90 for 1 return case which is scandalous.

I also resent having to pay to sit with the kids. Ryanair give u the kids seats for free so u can sit them with an adult. So it might be like £8 for me and same for dh, I don't mind paying £32 to have the knowledge that we are all seated together.

However this year we are flying with easyJet. You absolutely aren't guaranteed to be seated together even with little ones. Check in opens 30days before you fly but I'm too scared to risk it (especially as it's school holidays so likely flight full). I read online about a family who had a 3 yr old in the row infront and a 2yr old over the aisle! This counted as next to the parent! No one wld move as they had paid for the seats or were sitting with their kids.

It was about £80 to book seats together, I really grudged it! Didn't want to risk it though.

I don't mind paying for what luggage we need, as we will probably only take 1 large case with the rest as hand luggage. But I booked flights with Jet2 last night and was surprised to be asked if I wanted to pay extra (from memory £4.50 per bag) for what they were calling "Guaranteed cabin luggage". Apparently on busy flights, they may ask you to put your 10kg hand luggage in the hold if they've run out of space in the cabin. So if you want to be certain of keeping your hand luggage with you, you need to pay extra. That really is CF

Of course. It all adds to the cost. I generally refuse to pay for seats and just check in and take the allocated free seats. Never not been sat together. Cost of a bag I include. How can you not add in these costs, seems silly.

Why though? People used to only take a handbag on flights. Now many people take cases. There isn't room for all of them in the overhead lockers.

Part of the cost for me

I like the flexibility, but I always pay for my seat and usually for hold luggage, so I know that the "headline" price is not the final total. People seem to forget how expensive flights were under the old system (e.g. £400 to go to Mallorca in mid 80s), so we don't have much t9 complain about now!
We need to accept that if we want certain facilities/services then we have to pay for them - it's common sense.

I'd rather have an initial price for everything then deduct what you don't want.

Then there would be no excuse for people who want to sit together trying to get others to switch. They would have actively deducted it.

I used to avoid Jet2 because it was more expensive because of included checked bags that I don't want.

Luggage I can accept, because there is a definite saving in time for turnaround the less hold luggage there is. Though I'd prefer it to be a discount and any advertised fare include hold luggage.

Seating I think is unreasonable.

I think luggage and seat selection should be standard for long haul flights and all-inclusive tickets, but not flights less than 3 hours.

With one airline, when I did check-in, there was a choice whether to pay to select your seat or just take whatever they gave you. The adults had to be checked in first, and were allocated seats in completely different rows. It was clearly a ruse to make you panic and pay to select the children's seats. DD was old enough that she would cope sat on her own if nobody would swap, so I decided to risk calling their bluff - I suspected they wouldn't actually go as far as seating children away from either adult. I was right. When we got on, it appeared that every family had been split between two completely different rows, and there was a lot of swapping!