Aer Lingus - transatlantic - Choice seats

IrishPhoenix

I've just booked Aer Lingus to NYC. i used them for the same route last year but this year, there's a change beyond the new saver/smart fares. On a saver fare [the old standard fare] they make a big hype about bag and seat selection being included but when I went to book my 'free' seat, they have made the entire front half of the plane 'choice' seating at €30 a pop, €50 for the exit row! The entire front half of the plane is pay seating only, every single seat, even the middle ones. The only 'free' seats with the saver fare are all in the back half of the plane. When did Aer Lingus start doing this? I feel it's very disingenuous to advertise advanced seat selection included and then exclude over half of the plane from this. Last year, only the first ten rows or so were 'choice' seating. Very disappointed with this change.

Locker10a

Choice seats have been around for years, not sure what rows were previously used as these seats. They only do what most airlines do nowadays, upsell everything they can, technically though they aren’t breaking rules, you can still choose seats for free. If you want to sit near the front check in early at the airport and ask at the desk as they assign what ever is still free.

IrishPhoenix

Locker10a wrote: »

Choice seats have been around for years, not sure what rows were previously used as these seats. They only do what most airlines do nowadays, upsell everything they can, technically though they aren’t breaking rules, you can still choose seats for free. If you want to sit near the front check in early at the airport and ask at the desk as they assign what ever is still free.

Rows 11-29 inclusive are all now pay seats. Not including business class. My problem is that with this new policy 142 standard seats are now pay seats, which seems to be a rather large proportion of the plane.

Jamie2k9

IrishPhoenix wrote: »

Rows 11-29 inclusive are all now pay seats. Not including business class. My problem is that with this new policy 142 standard seats are now pay seats, which seems to be a rather large proportion of the plane.

They are maximizing potential revenue, you are not forced to pay for seats. 50% are still free and it's hardly disingenuous. You just don't like the area where free seat selection is allowed.

Tenger

I would also frown at this change, but they aren’t forcing customers to do this.

You are paying to Pre-select your seat, as noted above if you check in online or at the airport you can still select a seat for free.
I think those Choice seats were previously only the first 6-7 rows.

sTuMbLeD

Trying to select seats for a flight to NYC next week and all I can see are rows of unbooked "Choice" seats @€;50 each.

I was hoping to book an exit seat, or even select my standard aisle seat for free, but they're all gone already.
Shouldn't they switch some Choice rows to be just Standard when this happens?

Wanderer2010

Whatever you do, do NOT pick the exit seats for Aer Lingus transatlantic flights, what they fail to point out is the "window seat" is actually half a bulkhead which painfully digs into your legs for the entire flight and the seat is an inch smaller because the IFE has to come out of the right armrest. Plus the "extra legroom" is a complete con as that area is where most people queue for the two toilets in that area and gather around for yoga and chats throughout the flight.

Don't say you haven't been warned!

kevinandrew

In my experience you still get more legroom at an exit row window seat than you do at a standard seat, the door equipment certainly never dug into my legs when I've sat there and common sense would suggest that sitting at an exit row means you're either going to be near toilets, galleys or open areas of the cabin where people may gather from time to time so it's always worth doing a bit of research before opting to pay for seat selection.

sTuMbLeD

Wanderer2010, I'd still gladly pick them if I could!
I'm 6ft 6 so exit seats, even with the extra noise and cold, and no reclining, are my only chance of having a bearable flight.
I can put up with/ignore the pain of cramped seats for an hour or so, but 7+ hours ain't gonna be fun for me, or the passengers seated next to and in front of me inconvenienced by my lanky legs.

My gripe here is when there are zero other seats to choose from how do they get away with even calling these a "Choice seat", shouldn't we still be able to pick a standard seat without paying another €50?

Jamie2k9

sTuMbLeD wrote: »

Wanderer2010, I'd still gladly pick them if I could!
I'm 6ft 6 so exit seats, even with the extra noise and cold, and no reclining, are my only chance of having a bearable flight.
I can put up with/ignore the pain of cramped seats for an hour or so, but 7+ hours ain't gonna be fun for me, or the passengers seated next to and in front of me inconvenienced by my lanky legs.

My gripe here is when there are zero other seats to choose from how do they get away with even calling these a "Choice seat", shouldn't we still be able to pick a standard seat without paying another €50?

You can pick free just before departure.

thecommander

sTuMbLeD wrote: »

Wanderer2010, I'd still gladly pick them if I could!
I'm 6ft 6 so exit seats, even with the extra noise and cold, and no reclining, are my only chance of having a bearable flight.
I can put up with/ignore the pain of cramped seats for an hour or so, but 7+ hours ain't gonna be fun for me, or the passengers seated next to and in front of me inconvenienced by my lanky legs.

My gripe here is when there are zero other seats to choose from how do they get away with even calling these a "Choice seat", shouldn't we still be able to pick a standard seat without paying another €50?

There's another set of seats further down the plane. Scroll down your view.

Wanderer2010

I think they are called "Choice" because they are close to the exit door so that when the plane starts to deboard, you will be one of the first to leave but that's not worth paying money for in my view- you might be just as long waiting for your bags in the carousel.

goingnowhere

Unless you have the misfortune to be going to Chicago and have a connection to make where every second can count

soups05

My brother once advised me to always sit at the back of a plane. I asked why and he replied:
"you never heard of a plane reversing into a mountain did you?"

No more front seats for me

California Dreamer

I had 30C on yesterday's 101 and I had plenty of room. Funny to watch the amount of people trying to go into the crew rest area though on -GAJ.

Tenger

California Dreamer wrote: »

I had 30C on yesterday's 101 and I had plenty of room. Funny to watch the amount of people trying to go into the crew rest area though on -GAJ.

Is that an exit row?
Isnt the crew rest the narrow door behind the infants cots? Not sure about GAJ but have seen it there on the -200's.

California Dreamer

That's an exit row. Then crew rest downstairs is just to the right almost opposite the toilets.

sTuMbLeD

thecommander wrote: »

There's another set of seats further down the plane. Scroll down your view.

Thanks, but I had checked the other half of the plane!
Those Choice seats were the only ones still available for the flight, 8 days before departure - also confirmed with customer support.

Tenger

sTuMbLeD wrote: »

Thanks, but I had checked the other half of the plane!
Those Choice seats were the only ones still available for the flight, 8 days before departure - also confirmed with customer support.

I guess it makes sense that if the aircraft is 60-75% booked then all the ‘normal’ seats would be chosen by previous ppl. Thus the only remaining option would be exits or ‘Choice’ seats. Seems like a ****ty up selling technique to me.

trellheim

Yes, its back to the "how late can you check in" roulette which is an interesting up-end

Tenger

trellheim wrote: »

Yes, its back to the "how late can you check in" roulette which is an interesting up-end

A mate travelled last week with them. Himself and the missus had booked their saver fare (so no checked bag of seat selection) seperated on both sectors.
He says the cash saving was worth the chance to watch films without the wife interrupting!!!


They got allocated seats in the 'Choice' section.