V-Flyer

Never had a poll for a long time, so thought, given the recent topic, I'd start this one.

Decided to keep it simple , either yes or no.

Might make for interesting reading ):

David

Of course my first choice would still be the ability to choose my seat when I book but if I can't then I would be prepared to pay -which plays into the hands I guess of those making a case for passengers being willing to pay ....

I would be prepared to pay a "nominal" fee when placing the booking.
Then dont have to set an alarm for T-90 lol

Yes, only if it wasn't too expensive and in what class.Otherwise No. :#

It would depend on what the cost was though so I don't think it's as simple as a Yes or No answer.

Having only ever used BA's paid seat selection system for domestic flights (before I had status with them), I really didn't see any point paying for a seat on a 40min domestic flight. I always managed to grab the front bulk-head row at OLCI without needing to pay anyway.

I also wouldn't pay for a seat on a VS Little Red flight for the same reason, though I probably would consider it for a VS long-haul flight in economy, possibly Premium but not in Upper.

Yes but only if it were a small fee!

My thoughts are the same as James, It would depend on the cost but my head says no ! I would never bother on domestic flights for sure. I would be annoyed at having to pay extra to reserve a seat on a paid upper flight but would I do it .... Probably not - even if it meant being separated from hubby !

Agreed, it would depend on the price.

BA charge £80 for the coveted CW seats in the bubble and £60 elsewhere which strikes me as taking the p*** when you've paid upwards of £2k for your ticket. Although I guess you could argue that anyone who's happy to fork out £££s for CW can probably afford another £80.

One suspects VS would try and undercut that but who knows. Maybe they'll do what BA have done with luggage at LGW and market it along the lines of "get a £50 discount if you don't want to select a seat" (while, of course, quietly putting up the fares by at least £50).

I would be happy to pay if it secures your choice of seat! That way you know your guaranteed that seat! I have done the reserve your seat through a ba flight!

I think they should do the pay to reserve seat options as many people would be happy to do so! No one wants to keep refreshing there web page to pre assign lol I don't!

Poll to pass and be put into force!

Fordie wrote:I would be happy to pay if it secures your choice of seat! That way you know your guaranteed that seat! I have done the reserve your seat through a ba flight!

But here's the thing - and I suspect many people aren't aware of this - paying to request a seat on BA DOESN'T guarantee it.

You'd think it would but just like VS, BA's T&Cs state that seat requests may not be honoured for operational reasons. Of course, in that case you'd get the fee refunded but your choice of seat is never guaranteed, even for £80.

But only a nominal fee of say £15 to £20 per seat per flight!

gumshoe wrote:

Fordie wrote:I would be happy to pay if it secures your choice of seat! That way you know your guaranteed that seat! I have done the reserve your seat through a ba flight!

But here's the thing - and I suspect many people aren't aware of this - paying to request a seat on BA DOESN'T guarantee it.

You'd think it would but just like VS, BA's T&Cs state that seat requests may not be honoured for operational reasons. Of course, in that case you'd get the fee refunded but your choice of seat is never guaranteed, even for £80.

Oh well that's a kick to the teeth! Haha! Well on my experience the seat was honoured which was good but I didn't lay £80 for the seat. I think it would be a system they would need to implement for a short time and monitor how it works out for them but virgin being a very popular airline now would need to make the seat fees very competitive and worth while for passenger. The 90 day pre assign rule means everyone goes online at the same time causing issues with the site not working for them so it could work for some people

If you were to pay £80 to reserve a seat, then they would need to increase the fee for extra leg room seats in economy as well as exit row seats... ?

If I had to, but I wouldn't be happy.

No from me. Not if I were the one paying at least!

But - and I admit this is an extremely selfish sentiment - I wouldn't necessarily object as strongly to the practise if it were operated similar to BA where it was free for status pax and even offered at different times relative to departure. As you may have guessed, the T-90 scrum is starting to get a bit tiresome for my leisure travel. Yes, I know there are a lot of AUs out there, but it might at least improve the odds of getting something half decent.

I would pay, but like others, as long as it wasn't silly money.

We paid to go BA CW with 4 of us, £120 each extra return. That's a lot of money on top of the tickets.

Turkey's voting for Christmas.. ii)

Hi all

Being a wheelchair user, Mrs Cloudscudder and I normally get allocated the seats by the bulkhead with more leg room but when travelling with other family members we are often split up so, but being able to arrange to sit as close as possible to the rest of the party ,IMHO, is worth a "few bob" being spent

Cloudscudder

What I think would be an innovation is when selecting a particular flight the seat map appears with individual/groups of seats priced at different rates similar to booking theatre or concert tickets.

It would overcome the problem of no hidden charges mentioned earlier and give complete freedom of choice.

For me it would depend on the class of travel - in UC I probably wouldn't be sufficiently fussed. In the other cabins I'd certainly (if begrudgingly) pay to ensure I avoid the middle seat.

The above said about UC, I do feel that for a product marketed on its luxury with typically high ticket prices I'd be disappointed to see an additional charge payable for seat selection on such a ticket-would seem to my mind to detract from the brand (to the extent that if I ran the airline I think I'd just quietly increase fares a little). For PE too, having free seat selection could be a further premium benefit over EC, though I appreciate this would all hit VS's earning potential if indeed such a policy is introduced.

Have voted No on this.

By removing the added bonus of selecting a seat without charge would be yet another 'perk' over BA that VS would be losing.... their financial situation aside they need to focus on retaining their client base as well as marketing themselves to new customers with the goal of showing that they are doing different and offering more than BA.

With the cutbacks currently in play, they would be cutting off their nose to spite their face in my view - agreed the fact you can select a seat would not draw people exclusively, but it is yet another nail in that metaphorical coffin.

Will be looking to new developments regarding the Delta deal with great interest though

I don't think people always see the bigger picture. My last two flights to dubai in CW were £1,000.00 cheaper than VS wanted. I didn't have to pay for the seat reservation in the bubble as I have status, but it dosent matter whether an airline charges for seat reservations or not, is the final price at the bottom of the invoice that matters and the ability to make the choice to reserve or not. VS pricing in my recent experience has lost my business free seat reservations or not.

joeyc wrote:Have voted No on this.

By removing the added bonus of selecting a seat without charge would be yet another 'perk' over BA that VS would be losing.... their financial situation aside they need to focus on retaining their client base as well as marketing themselves to new customers with the goal of showing that they are doing different and offering more than BA.

With the cutbacks currently in play, they would be cutting off their nose to spite their face in my view - agreed the fact you can select a seat would not draw people exclusively, but it is yet another nail in that metaphorical coffin.

Will be looking to new developments regarding the Delta deal with great interest though

I voted yes
But I agree too in a way.
Having a browse at the weekend I saw what both BA and Singapore do that VS don't
I like VS a lot and have been my preferred airline for a number of years but I think there is more they can do

I wish there had been a third option such as "It depends"

When having the option of paying for seats, I both have and haven't chosen that option depending on the circumstances. Aer Lingus offers the option of choosing seats on its short haul routes and generally speaking I have avoided it on the London/Paris/Amsterdam routes. By and large I have got the seat I have wanted at T-30 OLCI and on occasion I have waited for bag drop at the airport and got window seats in rows 1-5. On the rare occasion where I haven't done OLCI and been allocated somewhere at the back of the bus, it really hasn't really mattered for an hour long flight.

Paying for a seat on long-haul has been confined to BA. On my first occasion I sweated it out till OLCI opened and nabbed the only window seat left but on my South American jaunt I wasn't prepared to take that risk on a 13 hour flight so I stumped up!

I didn't have to pay on SQ and my seats on my forthcoming EK flights are already selected free of charge. y) At the moment, for the first time I am watching for the 90 day opening for a VS flight and it is irritating me big time! v(

When I book a flight I will look at all the airlines and generally choose my flight based on the cost. For the routes I fly its usually between BA and VS, with be preference being VS which I am willing to pay slightly more for (ie less than £100-200 more). I usually fly upper of club so as I take into account the price to choose a seat on BA when comparing the pricing as I think that makes it like for like. If virgin started charging would I pay for a seat in Upper, probably not if I was flying on my own but would probably pay if was with the family. However if I was in economy I would definitely pay!

So I would like to say I am against seat reservations but in certain situations I would be forced into paying!

The postive of introducing such a system could mean than seat requests would in theory very rarely get changed, lately for about 1 in 2 flights I haven't recieved my requested seats.

One of the things that bugs me with VS is that if they change the aircraft fairly late to the same type of aircraft they loose all of the original seat requests, I really don't understands why??!