Are VS going to charge for seat reservations?

ken54 wrote:If the fairest system is first com first served, then all seats should be allocated at checkin


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First come is when I and over my hard earned money and if that is T330 why should someone who has not 'funded' the airlines cash flow until the last minute have their seat choice over mine. Airlines need the early bookers to survive and this is effective way to lure customers by offering them their seat choice. Plus the chaos that would occur trying to allocate seats a check in would cost the industry thousands. Note the delays and disruptions when there is a last minute aircraft type change and check in are trying to re allocate seats and keep the passengers happy. Long queues and frayed tempers

Definitely agree! When I want to go to the theatre, concert or sports fixture I look at the seats available and decide whether to go - the same thing should happen with airline seats.

If the fairest system is first com first served, then all seats should be allocated at checkin

Which of course is what used to happen and you got what you were given by the check-in staff, were told that all seats were 'good' and any argument would get you sat next to the toilets and the screaming baby.

Personally I wouldn't pay extra for a seat request and again personally I would go back to the previous system where you could request a seat when you booked.

But allied to this I would also re-write all the language regarding seat requests on the website to make it more consistent (VS mixes up 'request' and 'reservation') and clear so that people can understand the rules!

Definitely agree! When I want to go to the theatre, concert or sports fixture I look at the seats available and decide whether to go - the same thing should happen with airline seats.

It does - several airlines including Air Canada offer a preview of seat availability before purchase. It baffles me that people would think charging to pick a seat is a good thing. The cost of flying gets ever more expensive for no real change in experience, the least they cna do is let you pick a seat for free.

I agree that it should be when you hand over the money, the concert ticket analogy is a good one.

I wouldn't mind paying a small charge to reserve a seat, though while not a big proportion of a VS fare, for families going it could soon add up, so a smaller charge would be better.