To not book a seat on a longhaul flight?

[DecemberPlusFebruary]

I'm travelling alone. Flight is 10 hours. Adding seats to the (economy cheapest) booking raises the price by about £70 - £85/flight and it's round trip. Economy cheapest means I am allocated a seat randomly - no choice even at check-in. Price without a seat: £425. With seats: £602!

I have a half hour drive on arrival at destination, but a route I know well, and even if I don't sleep at all, timings mean I will be okay to drive. No driving on return.

But... I like an aisle seat. I stand up and move like once/hour. Crawling over people is pretty unpleasant, for everyone involved - though I would do it anyway.

Hmm. Aibu to just hope for the best on allocation?? How bad can it be? £175 seems insane to pay for seats.

I wouldn’t pay. You can normally choose seat at check in online so just do that as soon as it opens to clinch aisle seat.

What airline is that? I've only flown longhaul with airlines which include seat choice in the fare so I'm fascinated by this (sorry).

If you literally get up every hour and intend to ' crawl over people' regardless, then it would be pretty shitty of you not to book an aisle seat. People will be trying to sleep and you will be causing people near youto basically be awake for much of the flight. Also how awkward would that be for you too? If you can afford long haul you should try and factor in a seat

How bad can it be? You can be in the middle seat, and/or the non-reclining one next to the back of the plane. You can be blocked in by someone you feel unable to disturb - elderly, broken foot, just settled a baby, etc. You can get bumped if the flight is overbooked.

Personally I’d pay the fee and convince myself that was just the cost of the basic flight all along. My comfort is worth £7 an hour and I’d be cross at myself a couple hours in if I could have avoided the situation.

I would book.

I am claustrophobic and need an aisle seat.

I would be incredibly anxious if I didn’t know my aisle seat was guaranteed (can cope with a bulkhead middle seat as you can get out without having to ask another person’s permission).

So it would be worth it to me.

Not wholly sure it’s fair to be getting up every hour if you aren’t in an aisle seat and don’t know the person beside you.

If you expect to get up once every hour then you need to book a seat. I'd be seriously pissed off if I was next you you (trying to sleep) and you kept wanting to get out that frequently.

I also like an aisle seat so would definitely pay to book one on a 10 hour flight.
If you don't pay, chances are you'll be stuck in a middle seat.

I’d be pretty annoyed to be seated next to somebody in a window or aisle seat who wanted me to get out of my seat ten or more times so they could move around during a flight, particularly if I wanted to sleep even though they didn’t. If you know you’re a fidget who likes to stroll then you need to book the appropriate seat.

Sometimes you get lucky at check-in allocation and can ask for your preferred seat, but it’s not unusual for only the least-liked middle seats to be remaining, especially for long haul when more people will value their comfort and pay for a seat.

If you are up and down you need to book a seat i think not only will it be a pain for the other passengers but you as well with "excuse me sorrys" . I wouldn't chance it.

Jet Blue have taken to doing it recently - with some ticket types, unless you pay to choose, you aren’t even assigned a seat on check-in, but only when you get to gate. If your boarding group is right at the end, it’s going to be whatever’s left after everyone else has taken their pick. I think Iceland Air are the same for Transatlantic - though they are pretty no-frills generally.

We booked the exit row seats on our Heathrow to Singapore flight. Worth every penny. Nobody in front reclining their seat, only 2 seats on the row, extra legroom and room in front to move about without disturbing anyone.

For those wondering on airline - I checked four, all major carriers (BA, etc) and the cheapest economy option for 3/4 was allocation at check-in (not choice).

For 10 hrs I would pay. It’s a long time to risk to be squished between 2 people in a middle seat.
I’ve noticed recently airlines doing that- I booked business with 2 different airlines and had to pay for seat too on top.

You'll get a middle seat which would be my idea of hell.

I don’t pay extra when travelling alone. Invariably I get allocated a middle seat between a couple who booked aisle and window to try to get the whole row to themselves. Every time they’ve moved over and given me the aisle.

But if you want to be up and down every hour then you need to pay for an aisle seat - you can’t rely on it.

I hate paying for seats it is a total rip off and I don't usually bother for short haul but if I was on a plane for 10 hours I would book.

I would do the same as you. You are not obliged to pay that much extra for an aisle seat because you want to follow basic fight advice to move around regularly. PPA are talking nonsense. People who choose aisle seats know they will have to move for other passengers when they are asked to.

She said she’s going economy and will be allocated a seat, no choice at check in. Read the post.

If it was me, I would pay extra for an aisle seat. Very unlikely you’ll be the lucky one to get allocated one. People with the cash will likely book for them beforehand, especially if it’s such a long haul flights. Same for exit row.

Thanks all. Can I afford the seats? Yes - I can afford the flight so the seats won't break me. I was just sticker-shocked at the cost (of seats, not the flight) this time.

Anyway, I just put this to dh who looked at me over his glasses, having sat next to me on many many flights, and immediately offered to pay for the aisle seat.

So... yeah.

If it is a daytime flight and no-one will be sleeping, I'd say yes in a heartbeat.

It should of course not be allowed to charge extra and you be allocated a seat when you book, as happens with Eurostar. One of many customer rip-offs that should be outlawed in a modern consumer act.

Yes - that is also my thought.

For longhaul I would book an extra legroom seat.

DD and I had extra legroom seats on a Virgin Atlantic flight. We ended up with three seats between the two of us as they hadn't all been booked. I actually managed to get some sleep on the overnight flight home.

Lucky you. It should be you paying though, not him.

With business? Ugh. That's just wrong.