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'm fairly sure most of these seats dilemma threads are planted by airlines. Literally no one I know cares.

Wow so the cabin crew did nothing about a passenger shouting for four hours? Just stood around watching her shout?

Did anyone else take charge?

Yes, the suitable seat for them is the aisle seat.

But the OP is declaring that anyone in the aisle seat is 'body blocking' and needs to get up twice an hour to let her in and out because she likes to jump up and down for the entirety of the flight.

So the person with mobility issues is in the correct seat for their needs. They've paid to be in that seat. They can't get in and out of middle and window seats. But still the OP thinks that person should get out of her way rather than her also paying for the aisle seat that would be most suitable for her.

Isn't it simpler bool the seat you want so there is less chance of having a being more important than anyone else thing going on

I don't think there is an airline now which doesn't charge for prior seat booking . Even EasyJet do it. It's part and parcel of airlines now. I consider it part of the ticket price now if I want a specific seat. 💺

Exactly...yes it's a PITA but it's the modern pricing model that allows access to really low fares for some travellers, e.g. sub-£400 return UK - US, including the APD, hand baggage only, no sear choice.

As someone who once woke up on a flight with a stranger’s sizeable buttocks on my lap and equally substantial norms in my face when they tried clambering over me and slipped, I’m pro booking the seat you need. We were both very polite to each other for the rest of the flight but it was like being stuck with someone you’d had a bad one night stand with. Neither of us could get off that flight quick enough when it was over and still I kept catching her eye all round the luggage claim. 😂

@onehorserace ”…even easyJet”? EasyJet do what it says on the tin and efficiently. But they are hardly an example of a no extras, all inclusive airline.

@Thewolvesarerunningagain - don’t shout too loudly about buttocks on your lap, they will start listing it as a chargeable extra fee 😀.

I don't think there at that many no extras all inclusive airlines left, long haul or shorthaul.

The revenue / marketing folks worked out what makes people tick when it came to buying tickets years if not decades ago.

Anyone who books an aisle seat and is grumpy about seat neighbours wanting to get out is the selfish one not the getter outer. That’s the breaks of an aisle seat.

I recently had to fly long haul last minute as my best friends husband suddenly died. I got given one of the middle seats in a middle 4; last seat on the flight. I’ve had DVT before and I have to get up at least once an hour for a leg stretch. I told the guy on the aisle who seemed to understand yet fell asleep before we left the gate and got more and more pissed off everytime I woke him up. Sorry love I’m not going to risk death so you can get a nap in. Wouldn’t swap either even though he could have had 14 hours uninterrupted shut eye in my shitty seat.

The op is unreasonable. DH snd I normally end up with isle and middle seats as he has heslth issues requiring airline assistance. It's where they put us. He cant stand easily on planes due to his balance so while we would facilitate once or twice on a 10 hour flight after the second request in 2 hours I'd be enquiring if she had bladder issued and refusing to move! As its a want not a need book your seat or sit down for the flight, anything else is purely selfish.

Why do you need to get up once an hour? Do you never sit down for more than an hour while watching a film or in a restaurant? Just wondering if you have a specific medical issue, in which case pay for an aisle seat.

if it’s any help Dd flies frequently transatlantic and never pays for a seat selection. Seats are released 24 hours prior free of charge with what’s left and she has always managed to get an aisle seat. Last flight there were multiple aisle seats to choose from. But she does set an alarm for the precise time the seats are released.

As if you’d crawl over someone, you are funny 😂😂

I think you've missed my point which is that even budget airlines snare people with this.

In fairness for some people it will be a need. Dd has had a previous pulmonary embolism so is nervous about flying long haul and is told she needs to get up frequently and walk around. Which is why she aims for an aisle seat every time, but like I said in my previous post she won’t pay (she’s a student).

She has always managed to get an aisle seat for free so it’s never been an issue. I might mention to her next time actually about ringing customer service and asking for an aisle seat for free on health grounds, might be worth trying for her. BA seem to love her for some reason and she’s often upgraded to Business class anyway, lucky bugger.

I did miss your point, surely budget airlines are the ones most likely to?

I don’t book seats either but that is because I’m your average traveller, with no specific requirement to get out of my seat frequently, no mobility issue, I don’t plan on sleeping for the whole flight, etc.
However, anybody knowing they will get up more than average OR that they will have difficulties getting up OR that they are counting on undisturbed sleep, etc should book one. Unfair on others otherwise.

I would agree in her case it's a need not a want. It's normally done through travel assistance in our case. Normally jet 2 who put less able travellers on the isle

I paid for seats for me and our youngest who is flying long haul soon. Don’t like the uncertainty, even though I detest paying to book seats.

I don't have theat kind of mobility and I'm sure it's the same for others

I'm sure that kind of behaviour would be seen as very anti social and certainly a safety issue by cabin crew. 🙄

Why’s it funny? I’ve climbed over sleeping people loads of times because I like a window seat. Plenty of us are small and mobile enough to manage it without difficulty.

if you can step over someone without touching them fair enough. But posters stating they would “crawl” over someone does not give that picture. I have visions of someone on all fours literally crawling over peoples legs/laps. If someone put their body weight on me while crawling over me they’d be missing some teeth by the end of the flight!

If you're small it would be really difficult if not impossible to be able to climb over someone without touching them at all. You'd need very long legs to do that!

Crawling over people like this @DecemberPlusFebruary?