Originally Posted by
NickB
This is a perfect example of a non-starter. The fact that a policy might have been worse in the past tells us absolutely nothing as to whether the present one is a good one.
The fact that a cook used to use rotten eggs and tomatoes and now no longer uses rotten tomatoes but still uses rotten eggs does not mean that what is now provided is a sound and healthy meal on a par with those that contain neither rotten tomatoes nor rotten eggs..
Either the policy is a good and sensible one on its own merits or it is not. Whatever policy might have been there before does not have one iota of relevance in determining whether it is a good policy or not.
On the contrary, the current policy gives a choice to those who hitherto didn't have one. Before this policy was introduced those without status or who booked tickets from the lower fare buckets had no choice, they could only select their seat at check-in. The new policy provides those passengers with the option to choose their seat in advance, where before they could not.