jerry_greece

Seats-related, they have added one more row in the 321s (they feature 207 seats i/o 201). I flew yesterday in row 28 on a domestic flight and situation was almost unbearable given the fact the recline is non-functional in many seats and they cannot be in the "upright position".

Regarding seat selection, apparently for all flights from ATH all seats are for free 50 min before the flight. Whatever that means...

headingwest

OK, after my recent flights and first hand experience of the new system I'm going to have a *G DYKWIA moment....

I absolutely despise this policy. It's quite obvious that a lot of the passengers up front have not paid extra, but have just been allocated seats that would otherwise be vacant. Recently on EDI-ATH I was in 14A with the row fully taken, but in front of me was a lady strewn out over all 3 seats. It niggled me no end, and if there is anything that I hate about Aegean, this ridiculous seating policy has to be it. It feels like they're sticking their 2 fingers up at me.

GBobon

I think I sent you a message a couple of weeks ago about how to trick their system... there are many ways to get the seat you want, for free... the most common one is to board the last one and pick any empty seat you like (be patient and listen for boarding complete). on my last flights with A3 I tried 3 methods, all of them worked just fine

nldogbert

All I can say is complain to Customer Care, this should wake them up.. hopefully it does not take too long for them to wake up or improve their system so that at least A3 *G members are not screwed in this way.

Cheers!

KLouis

I find it strange that you always seem to get very bad seats assigned on your flights as *G while I get aisle seats up front. Is there a possibility that their seat-assignment software somehow looks at the heavily discounted price you pay (re: your post elsewhere) in contrast to my non-discounted tickets?

East_and_West

That's what I thought at first too @KLouis but unfortunately it doesn't work this way... Half a year and roughly 22-24 A3 flights into this great new A3 policy my experience so far is as follows (percentages are approximate):

• 65% of the times I ve been given an upfront seat, and in particular

• 30% percent of the times stowed in the high 20s
• 5% percent (just once) I ve been assigned an extra legroom seat

Things that don't seem to matter:

• Fare class/price: I ve been given upfront (and my only extra legroom) seats on promo U and P tickets. I ve been thrown in 24D on M or H tickets.
• Check-in time: It appears that your seat may be pre-assigned whatsoever (?)

Anyway, as an 1.9m tall barbarian I end up buying my upfront/extra legroom seat, especially for longer flights on the A321s. Pitch on the seats in the back is among the tightest I ve seen in a full-service carrier, my legs literally can't fit unless I turn my knees facing sideways And I am not even unusually or extremely tall...

Advice in case you decide to buy a seat: Go for rows 1 to 5 or an emergency exit row. Although rows 6-10 are marketed (and priced) as "up-front" seats, they offer no extra legroom compared to the seats in the rear. (On a couple of planes -A321s I think- also row 6 offers some extra legroom.) Most likely in Greek destinations you won't get to get off quickly either since either there are no jetsteps (smaller airports) or they avoid using them. (Oh well, technically you will board the bus among the first and wait there for the rest of the pax, but that's not my idea of getting off the plane first ) So if this is what you are interested in (and not comfort) the last five rows work equally well.

What I moreover find annoying (but that's more personal) is this 2 euro charge for booking a seat in Greek domestic flights. Especially in flights booked by my employer, I have to retrieve the booking, select a seat, enter my full card details, and hope that their website is not "temporarily unable to process the payment" so that I need to "please try again later", and all this hassle for 2 euro on a 130 euro ticket...

headingwest

I'd selected the most upfront seats that were available for free months ahead of the flights. That's simply because I'd rather know that I have a window seat than play the seating lottery.

Once you've selected a free seat the system doesn't allow you to choose extra legroom or upfront seats, even if you want to pay, which is bizarre. It's absolutely nothing to do with the fare purchased, it's just their stupid software.

Anyway, the whole thing stinks. Next year it's most likely that I will only fly the minimum A3 flights necessary in order to requalify. The system screws you, you screw the system!

GBobon

i didnt have this issue on my flights...

headingwest

This is what I always see. No option to change to up front or extra legroom seats, the system simply does not allow me to change to anything other than standard seats. I can't even cancel a seat selection, I have to choose another free seat.

GBobon

thats weird, last month I didnt have any problems when I tried to choose an upfront seat on my ath-krk. is not possible even after the checkin opens?

headingwest

No, I tried to change the seat every time, but I get the same choice...standard seat only.

FlyerTalker688786

Although I am thoroughly against this move in principle. I have to admit that yesterday I bought two Up front seats for €14. The only reason I did that was due to the fact that I bought a cheap fare that I can not use coupon to upgrade and I am on a tight connection so I want to exit the plane fast in case for one in million chance that my flight arrive in Athens with a jet bridge rather than the bus...

blackball

This was my experience as well. Last time I called up Aegean and asked them to cancel my seat selection manually, after which I was able to select any seat, including paid.

GBobon

something weird is happening with A3 IT system.
I made a booking, OTP-ATH-XXX-ATH-OTP, ATH-XXX-ATH is in J (ugpraded with vouchers), and now when I click Add seats for OTP-ATH-OTP (which is in Y) it shows all seats as FREE but when I click Submit is going to the payment page where is asking for 8EUR.
should I give them a call? will they give me front row seats for free as is stated on the website?

Xandrios

Its likely a mistake in the system - you did not upgrade those segments so you have no 'right' to get better seats. I don't think they will give you those seats for free.