Select Seating

Old Mar 10, 2012, 7:00 am
  #1  
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Select Seating

New Seat Maps are now available offering Select seating in Rows 5-9 for an additional $5.00.


Apparently, all part of becoming a ULCC.

SELECT Seating
The rows just behind STRETCH seating and in front of the exit rows are SELECT seating, which features up to 31 inches of seat pitch. On our Frontier Express aircraft that do not have STRETCH seating, SELECT seating is available in the front rows and exit rows. SELECT seating offers the opportunity to sit nearer to the front of the plane, and you’ll be in the second group to board, known as “Zone 2.” An upgrade to SELECT seating varies in price based on the type of fare you purchase. If you choose not to assign a SELECT seat in advance, you can be assigned to any remaining SELECT seats at no additional fee when your flight opens for check-in 24 hours before the scheduled departure.

Last edited by RSVP; Mar 10, 2012 at 7:41 am
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Old Mar 10, 2012, 8:27 am
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Looks like they are furhter un-bundling their seating.

Before today, the forward rows behind the Stretch seats (or all forward rows on the ERJ/Q400) were unavailable for economy passengers until check in.

The only way to advance-reserve those seats (prior to today) would be to book Classic, or to be an Ascent member. (Actually booking Classic Plus or being Summit opens those seats up too, but those people can get Stretch.)

Now, they are letting people pay an extra fee to pre-reserve those seats before check-in. They're free at check in.

The place where I think this *may* generate some revenue is for people who book economy after the economy seats are already taken. Prior to today, if you bought economy and the economy seats were all assigned, you couldn't get a seat assignment until check in. Now, you have the option of paying to upgrade to the select section and getting a seat assignment ahead of time.

They've been reserving the first few rows after Stretch for quite awhile as only bookable at check in unless you had elite status or bought Classic / Classic Plus. This allows anybody to get those seats ahead of check in...for a fee.

On a related note, I really don't like the visual appearance of the new seat maps. The different symbols don't line up cleanly from top to bottom which makes the maps look messy. The colors (medium blue for an occupied seat, sky blue for an unoccupied Stretch seat, pine green with a visually-heavy star for an unoccupied select seat) are a very ugly combination in my opinion. But I'll get used to them.

For what it's worth, here's a breakdown of seats:

A319
30 Stretch seats (including exit)
24 Select seats
84 conventional seats

A320
36 Stretch seats (including exit)
30 Select seats
96 conventional seats

E190
15 or 20 Stretch seats (including exit)
20 Select seats
59 or 64 conventional seats
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Old Mar 10, 2012, 10:08 am
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It's a negative to me because before today as Ascent I could reserve those Select seats for my entire party at booking (whether they were Summit, Ascent, or nothing) but now I have to pay $5 per seat extra for that area or sit behind row 13. Oh well, at least I still get 2 free bags! I guess I can ask at check-in maybe to move up?
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Old Mar 10, 2012, 10:58 am
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I agree that the new seat selection UI isn't pretty. Wish they would run things through a design team before rolling them out, because the color scheme is a step backward from what they had before.

Heck, they could've redone the color scheme slightly and colored occupied seats the shade of blue they used before, economy the shade of blue they used before, SELECT a shade of green and STRETCH a golden hue. Nice and readable and i wouldn't look half bad either.

Besides, right now on first glance (since there are stars on SELECT and pluses on STRETCH) you'd think that SELECT might even be superior to STRETCH, when in fact it isn't..

I should take a look and see how much SELECT costs on longer-haul flights (e.g. DEN-FAI). STRETCH is $50 for those segments, so SELECT at $5 might be such a small portion of a person's ticket that they'd just buy up.

One big question I have is whether seat pitch behind SELECT will be tightened to increase passenger revenues...and increase the value of SELECT. It would be mildly entertaining to have a three-class all-economy layout in F9 birds (though they'd have to tighten pitch significantly to add another row without impacting seats closer to the front).
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Old Mar 10, 2012, 11:01 am
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Looks like SELECT is $5 in Economy even on a five-and-change-hour flight like DEN-FAI.
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Old Mar 10, 2012, 11:12 am
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Originally Posted by Wisconsin
It's a negative to me because before today as Ascent I could reserve those Select seats for my entire party at booking (whether they were Summit, Ascent, or nothing) but now I have to pay $5 per seat extra for that area or sit behind row 13. Oh well, at least I still get 2 free bags! I guess I can ask at check-in maybe to move up?
I think you should still be able to book your entire party in the Select section as long as you're still on the same confirmation code. I do that all the time with my SO who is not Summit.

What I don't like is that if there is a separate confirmation code, then the seating benefit does not transfer to your travel companion. If we're both traveling on a paid fare, or if we're both traveling on a free ticket (using miles from one account or the other) we can book on the same itin/confirmation code. But if I pay for my ticket and use my miles for a companion ticket, or if we each book our own free ticket using our own miles, we have to be booked on separate itins and thus my F benefits don't transfer. What I've done to get around this is book one way travel. If we're both using miles, for example, I'll book two one-way tickets using my miles (on a single intinerary) and then book two return tickets (on a single itinerary) using my SO's miles. Then I call into the elite FF line and ask to be re-seated on that return trip. Even though it wasn't my miles used for that return trip, as a Summit I can be pre-reserved in Stretch and so can my travel companion.

Unless I'm missing something, you should still be able to pre-reserve your whole party in the Select section when you book as long as you're on the same booking.
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Old Mar 10, 2012, 11:26 am
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Originally Posted by iansltx
I agree that the new seat selection UI isn't pretty. Wish they would run things through a design team before rolling them out, because the color scheme is a step backward from what they had before.

Heck, they could've redone the color scheme slightly and colored occupied seats the shade of blue they used before, economy the shade of blue they used before, SELECT a shade of green and STRETCH a golden hue. Nice and readable and i wouldn't look half bad either.

Besides, right now on first glance (since there are stars on SELECT and pluses on STRETCH) you'd think that SELECT might even be superior to STRETCH, when in fact it isn't.
Glad I'm not the only one who thinks it's hard on the eyes. And I'm totally with you that Select looks better than Stretch in terms of the color / symbol / visual weight.


Originally Posted by iansltx
One big question I have is whether seat pitch behind SELECT will be tightened to increase passenger revenues...and increase the value of SELECT. It would be mildly entertaining to have a three-class all-economy layout in F9 birds (though they'd have to tighten pitch significantly to add another row without impacting seats closer to the front).
That's a really good question. We've heard another row is coming to the A320, and likely to the A319 after that. Without any added space, the upgrade fee of $5 seems about right in my book because sitting closer to the front and boarding earlier isn't all that valuable. Or course Southwest charges $10 to get in an early boarding group, yes? If so, $5 is a bargain.
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Old Mar 10, 2012, 11:55 am
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Originally Posted by knope2001
Glad I'm not the only one who thinks it's hard on the eyes. And I'm totally with you that Select looks better than Stretch in terms of the color / symbol / visual weight.
I'm with you there. You'd think they could have just added a few colors to the full filled seats they had before. Now it looks like someone photoshopped symbols into the seat outlines (like they couldn't find the original artwork and went off a screenshot).

Originally Posted by knope2001
That's a really good question. We've heard another row is coming to the A320, and likely to the A319 after that. Without any added space, the upgrade fee of $5 seems about right in my book because sitting closer to the front and boarding earlier isn't all that valuable. Or course Southwest charges $10 to get in an early boarding group, yes? If so, $5 is a bargain.
I like this new seating area. They are opening opportunities for extra revenue that doesn't offset benefits that anyone else had before, which is win win to me. Like the pancakes, I like them adding features to gain extra revenue versus taking away features that were previously "free".

I could see them taking an inch from STRETCH and giving some extra pitch to SELECT. I love STRETCH but I doubt I'd miss an extra inch. Maybe they increase the benefits of STRETCH and make it more like Airtran's business class, and then make SELECT the new STRETCH.
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Old Mar 10, 2012, 12:03 pm
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Siegal did a brief interview on Fox Six last evening. He mentioned more changes in the coming months along with fees similar to those on Spirit and Alleigiant.

He said LCCs like Southwest and Jetblue are really low cost once you take a look at their fares.
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Old Mar 10, 2012, 7:37 pm
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Originally Posted by RSVP
Siegal did a brief interview on Fox Six last evening. He mentioned more changes in the coming months along with fees similar to those on Spirit and Alleigiant.
He's been making the media rounds, since the beginning of the month.

http://business-news.thestreet.com/d...hy-do-list-6/1

Denver's NBC affiliate states "As for job cuts, Siegel doesn't expect there to be many as he looks for other ways to save money.

In fact, he continues to negotiate bringing 500 jobs back to Denver if the company can secure some tax breaks from the city and state."
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Old Mar 10, 2012, 9:40 pm
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Originally Posted by mke9499
He's been making the media rounds, since the beginning of the month.
"About 40 percent of our customers book through our online website," he said. "If we could get that to 60 percent, that could mean $15 (million) to $20 million."
A fully functional website might help him achieve his goal.

Of the three trips I booked in the last few days, two did not require a call to customer service to complete the booking. As we all know, these problems date back some time.

Last edited by RSVP; Mar 11, 2012 at 4:28 pm Reason: insert quote
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Old Mar 11, 2012, 8:02 am
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I agree that the new seat maps are very unclear. For a customer going through the seat selection process, it might appear that only the white-shaded seats are available for selection, even for those booking a Classic or Classic Plus ticket, or for those with elite status.

It looks like not much thought was put into the format, or that it was revised very quickly to start generating the additional rev immediately.

http://www.frontierairlines.com/flig...eating-options
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Old Mar 11, 2012, 1:07 pm
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Originally Posted by RSVP
SELECT Seating
The rows just behind STRETCH seating and in front of the exit rows are SELECT seating, which features up to 31 inches of seat pitch.
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
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Old Mar 11, 2012, 4:08 pm
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Originally Posted by DenverBrian
Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Dare I ask why? Is the crystal call foresee 28' of leg room?
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Old Mar 11, 2012, 9:09 pm
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Originally Posted by runnigel
Dare I ask why? Is the crystal call foresee 28' of leg room?
Why else would they say "up to"?
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