Lefly

Sorry if this was already answered, but I didn't find it.
I have a booking on one of the lowest Y fare for BRU-ATH and back. I went to MMB to check for the seats after having found this thread, and it seems I can pay for the extra legroom or front seat, but I can't select any standard seats. Is this the norm for non (A3) status passengers?

Cide

Yes. You are able to select a standard seat at the time of check in. Only status passengers are able to select Standard seats prior to check in.

johnirvine

Yes, this is now the norm. In my view, paying for an upfront seat is very good value for money. Try to get a seat as far to the front as possible, particularly if the flight is with an A320.

Lefly

Thank you both. Seat selection not free across alliance partners is one of the things of *A gold I really don't like...
Mh... no, not for me I usually have no hurry and I find 16eur/seat a waste.
In this particular case, with 4 people travelling, I think the amount can be spent on something more nice

johnirvine

I just looked at upgrading a future UA flight from EWR-FLL (a similar distance to ATH-BRU) from standard economy to E+ (similar to A3 upfront). The price quoted was four times that charged by A3. From this perspective, the Aegean offer could be seen as good value, although whether people take up the offer depends on their budget and spending priorities. I think we are all going to have to get used to product differentiation in economy cabins, with the service offered depending less on FFP status and more on price paid. Of course, I would strongly prefer the status quo where A3*G holders got early free access to what are now upfront seats. United still give their status passengers free access to E+ seats but this will probably change in the near future when they introduce a separate revamped E+ cabin.

GUWonder

When companies cut the benefits for their loyal customers of sorts, then that is a race to the bottom in competing on price more than ever before, a race to be won by the lowest cost provider or providers spending OPM.

KLouis

I took four flights over the last few days, the first ones after the "new system". I decided to buy seats up front to protect my... knees, of course I did not do it happily. Two of the flights (domestic) were absolutely full in coach, while two (non-Schengen) had free seats in the front section. I was able to do some stats on one of them (if there is a statistician reading this, please excuse my calling this statistics )

I counted 21 people pre-boarding through the C/Gold lane. Of them, 8 sat in business and 9 upfront. This means that roughly 3 out of 4 M+B golds pay a bit more to have more legroom (that was an A321). On both of the non-full flights I had the seat next to me free. Since I was not planning of having food, this was almost like flying C on those.

MrArkadin

Last weekend I had my first couple of flights under the new scheme, ATH-LON and return. The outbound trip was pretty straight forward: I paid for 5F, up front seats only 2/3 full so my middle seat was empty. I also felt the legroom increased. I mean, I'm not happy for having to pay for a seat that was free until now but I did enjoy the online seat booking process and overall experience was more than ok.

The inbound flight was another story. When booking, I only got availabilities for seats behind the second doors. I ended up in 11F, not too bad but definitely less enjoyable; standard seats were cramped. What was weird is that the up front seats where again only 2/3 full; so why didn't I see any available seats when booking? I called Aegean to find out, they said I should have called them prior to the flight. Indeed I should have, but at the time I thought it was one of these LHR-ATH with 8+ rows of business. Anyway, my best guess is the booking system is still being optimised.

johnirvine

So you also feel that the upfront legroom has increased. And like K.Louis you felt that the overall experience was 'more than OK'. Once more Flyertalk posters have actually experienced the difference between upfront seating and the new downgraded standard seating (in my view), I believe that the modest extra charge for A3*G cardholders will be seen as good value for money.

Xandrios

This very much depend on the load of the flight though. Yes, on flights that have low(ish) load you can almost be guaranteed that the middle seat will be kept empty up front (nobody would pay for a middle seat). However most of my recent flights between ATH and AMS/DUS have been packed to the brim (overbooked in Economy even), meaning that even if you do pay for up-front seating...most of the people around you will be upgraded, and, the middle seat will be taken. If they guarantee the middle seat to stay empty that would be another matter, but that is not the case.

If they indeed have changed the seat pitch then that is a project that takes many months to complete for the whole fleet. This month I have flown them twice (in business) but the legroom has been the same as before. The first rows of economy have always had the same legroom as business class (which has always been very generous). I cannot imagine that in less than one month they have been able to reconfigure seat pitch on all these aircraft and that they would not even advertise this as a feature. If the extra leg room is increased for up front seats, wouldn't they list that in the benefits?

MrArkadin

Even if they adjusted the pitch, the experience was more or less the same as before: A3 is more than ok, most of the times. That's why I'd much rather fly with them and in that context charging me for the same seats I've been using over the years for free, is a step back.

johnirvine

Please read the Aegean advertising about 'upfront seats'. They explicitly state: 'would you like a bit more legroom to rest?'........if so, upfront seats are for you. Such advertising would clearly suggest that the seat pitch is less in standard seats.

FlyEurope

It is. But it has always been like that.

johnirvine

Yes, in rows up to 4 or 5. Not in rows 6 up to 8. At least in my experience.

wyvern

So I emailed A3, and included 'I understand that....' and points from f their standard response in my email, and stated that most carriers offered their top tier members access to free premium seating, and I expected this from A3. I received the following in reply:

"We would like to note that, by launching this new service, our goal is to facilitate our members and passengers and offer them the choice of preselecting the desired seat. This kind of service is offered by many International Air Carriers already and we do follow this example, hoping to provide extended care and a completely new level of information and control of our regular customers’ journey. n the Miles + Bonus program, at the moment, the top tier is Gold. However, considering the course and development of the Program so far and of course with your support, we believe that in the future we will be able to offer more and more opportunities matching your expectations and growing needs of our individual members like you."

So maybe a new top tier is coming which will then get access to these seats for free? I guess devaluing gold and adding platinum or similar would avoid putting up the qualification thresholds if they feel they have too many gold members. But I am not sure if I would be motivated to achieve a new top tier (most of my *A miles are going into Asiana as the moment as I am mid way to lifetime status).

As others have said, I think one of the worst things about *A is the lack of premium seating benefits for gold alliance-wide. The others are the basing of codeshare earning on the operating carrier's codes, and the the growing number if *A carriers using their own non *A LCC for connecting/regional flights.