One passenger wants to have two seats to himself

All this talk of upgrades (elsewhere on the site) reminds me of a question someone must be able to answer:

Is it possible for an individual to buy himself TWO cheapo Economy seats?

Usually that'd be much cheaper than PE, & while not as comfortable, a lot better than one Economy seat.

Given the ridiculous ticketing practices that do exist, if it's not possible, why not?

one big flaw with this is they wouldn't guarantee your 2 seats would be together so you could have a few problems

Nice idea though [^]

given that some (US) airlines are requiring the obese to pay for two seats I can't see why this could and should not happen.

The pax would need to ensure that they reserved two seats next to each other and there were no restrictions e.g. the arm rests between the seats able to be raised fully etc.

Not sure what would happen about luggage - would the one pax in two seats get one or two sets of allowance?

Also - two meals and two sets of drink etc ?

[Nottingham Nick]

Not sure that two Y seats are better than a PE seat - nor that it would work out cheaper. [?]

Julian Lloyd Webber reputedly always buys two seats - one for his cello, so the theory may hold water.

There was a poster on here many, many moons ago who claimed that he would buy 4 Y seats on a transatlantic night flight for less that he would pay for a UC seat. He would then lie across all four seats and sleep for the whole trip.

IIRC, his story didn't hold water after it was probed a little, but the details have passed from my cluttered memory. [:I][:D]

Nick

I have booked someone with an extra seat because of their size. The extra seat does not get a food or drinks allowance and you do not pay tax on the ticket either. However I do not see how someone can not book the extra seat.

Also you can not book 2 seats with the same name as the system will auto cancel your flight as you can not have 2 bookings in the same name.

[Darren Wheeler]

The other thing is, if you do buy 2 seats and 1 remains empty, there is nothing to stop someone sitting in said empty seat. There's a post somewhere on here where 2 people were off-loaded because the third member of their party couldn't make it and they refused to allow the stanby pax to use it.

quote:Originally posted by Darren Wheeler
The other thing is, if you do buy 2 seats and 1 remains empty, there is nothing to stop someone sitting in said empty seat. There's a post somewhere on here where 2 people were off-loaded because the third member of their party couldn't make it and they refused to allow the stanby pax to use it.


If you have booked an extra seat you would just tell the person not to sit there and that you had booked 2 seats! Also the crew would know you had booked 2 seats for one person.

I remember reading about a celebrity buying all of F or UC to avoid the public.

However, if you must have a different name for each seat, how does this match the requirement that the name on the passport must be the same as the ticket?

they usually book the extra seats as surname: (your name) first name XXTRAST or something like that. That way the system can identify it and not charge the airport taxes.

quote:Originally posted by Juliet
they usually book the extra seats as surname: (your name) first name XXTRAST or something like that. That way the system can identify it and not charge the airport taxes.


Thanks Juliet, I'll remember that next time I want UC all to myself! [:D]

[RichardMannion]

The Cello is Flying Club Gold if I remember....

You have to buy a seat for it, or it goes in the hold:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3589 ... et-it.html

quote:Originally posted by Nottingham Nick
Not sure that two Y seats are better than a PE seat - nor that it would work out cheaper. [?]
..... Nick
Good point.
However, for example, when I checked over a year ago, LHR to MIA was available for 280 Economy, and 960 PE (same dates.)
But currently (LHR to MIA for May/June) the difference is much less: 328 Economy, 716 PE.

I suspect there is a presumption against doing this, but can't imagine why - one passenger spread over two seats cannot cost the airline more than 2 passengers on 2 seats - probably this would both cost the carrier less and benefit crew & other passengers alike, although detrimental to any would-be marginal passengers (people on standby.)

If it's good enough for cellos, it's good enough for people.
But I can see it could open a can of worms: what if all sorts was put into a cello case ..... ?????

A business colleague of mine with a broken foot did this. I was on the same flight as him, so I can guarantee that it happened. The thing that's been mentioned, but not elaborated on, is that the second seat DOES NOT ATTRACT TAX.

SInce the tax in economy accounts for sometimes half of the cost, this is more like
'Two seats for the price of one and a half'

quote:Originally posted by PeterStansfield
A business colleague of mine with a broken foot did this. I was on the same flight as him, so I can guarantee that it happened. The thing that's been mentioned, but not elaborated on, is that the second seat DOES NOT ATTRACT TAX.

SInce the tax in economy accounts for sometimes half of the cost, this is more like
'Two seats for the price of one and a half'
Now that's beginning to sound good value .....

quote:Originally posted by RichardMannion
The Cello is Flying Club Gold if I remember....

You have to buy a seat for it, or it goes in the hold:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3589 ... et-it.html


Does that mean the cello can invite guests into the CH and if so do said guests have to be musical instruments?

Does the cello have a VF profile?

Is the cello allowed to book treatments?

Where does the cello stand re limes?

Didn't we have a similar thread not to long ago - when one of the comments was that when checking in, if no one physically checked in to the unused seat (and the passenger may have to say which one they are in) and the flight is oversold, then VS is within its rights to allocate the unused seats to another passenger ... which might make this a complete waste of time.

quote:Originally posted by Nottingham Nick


Julian Lloyd Webber reputedly always buys two seats - one for his cello, so the theory may hold water.

Nick


Not in my experience. Cello was ferreted away in wardrobe or some other corner by CC. If he had bought two seats perhaps his accompanist/PA or who ever she was would not have needed an inflight upgrade from PE to UC.

My wife was sat next to him on the LHR to HKG leg of our recent trip to Sydney

[Nottingham Nick]

LOL, thanks for that.
Another urban legend put to bed. [:D]

To be fair the story circulated a few years ago, pre-suites and when he had a couple of successful albums. I can't believe some PR guru would actually sex up a story to get him some publicity, but maybe that sort of thing does happen. [:w]

Nick

I remember from my check-in days seeing tickets marked Mr Broken Leg / Mr Cello etc - always made me giggle.

Have seen a cello in a economy seat many times - it occupies the seat/space on the floor and is secured with the seatbelt and infant seatbelts.