Preferred Seat Selection
 

It looks like there is a new option when booking flights - Preferred Seat Selection. Here are the rules - http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelin...rredseats.html.

Basically, the preferred seats are exit rows, bulkheads (minus the bulkhead middle seat on narrowbodies) and other oddball seats with extra legroom (i.e. 19C on a 777).

Latitude - complimentary for E and SE
Tango Plus - complimentary for SE only (E will now have access to non-exit row seats as they did previously)
Tango - available for an additional fee

Here is the price structure:

Canada and US
0- 350 miles - $25 (T) $14 (T+/Lat)
351 - 1000 miles - $30 (T) $20 (T+/Lat)
1000 miles - $35 (T) $25 (T+/Lat)

International
Caribbean & Mexico - $25
Europe & Middle East - $50
South America - $50
Asia & Pacific - $75
International to International (via Canada) - $100

Cool. It'll be nice being able to book an exit row seat before the 24-hour check-in rush.

Just noticed this too, if you have a seat assigned already, they don't consider it "PREFERRED" ... I just moved around in the first row and now it's PREFERRED ...

We gain Exit Rows ... We lose exclusitivy on the first row ... Once people know this I would figure a big percentage will pick "PREFERRED" seats and this will be bad to S/E and E ... :mad:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2593/...6eae7aa6_m.jpg

!@#$%!@#$!#@$#!@!@$!@#$!@$ :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

The system doesn't work I just moved around in the first row, now it gives me an error every time and lost my bulkhead seats!!!

On the phone with Air Canada, he's reading the instructions for this new PREFERRED SEATS option ... gimme back my seats!! :p

This pre-selecting an Exit Row seat will now be a problem for CSA's at Check-In and the Gate, and of course the Flight Attendants, because money is involved. Even now, we have folks checking in and selecting an Exit Row (even if they are aren't physically fit or travelling with an infant, etc). We are easily able to change their seats now, but you get people paying upto $75 per seat and people (understandably) won't be happy.

Now, I just tried this and it wanted to charge me for the seat selection so I did some digging and SE/E only bypass the fees on Latitude fares, on Tango Plus fares only SEs bypass the fees (see below). I might be a touch biased as an E but that's moving in on ridiculous. Quite disappointing... Haha, for exit rows all the way through my intinerary (which on a 77W some of which I could pick for free a few days ago) they wanted over $200..

Anyway, it is what it is.

http://www.aircanada.com/shared/en/c...tangoplus.html

Preferred seats offer extra legroom and are usually located in bulkhead and exit rows.

A bulkhead is a physical partition, typically a wall, but sometimes a curtain or screen. Bulkhead seats are located directly behind such partitions.

You can select your Preferred seat after you've confirmed your booking.

If you're a Super Elite customer, you and your travel companion(s) on the same booking can enjoy complimentary Preferred seat selection.

$75 is a considerable chunk of change for someone to spend and then have to be moved (even with a refund) - the whole must be able in case of emergency part is going to escape a lot of people now.. yikes!

It already does. For what ever reason our system doesn't block ineligible people (people with wheelchair requests or infants) from choosing Exit Row seats (it just gives the Gate Agent a message that there is a passenger in the wrong seat). Whether the folks have paid for it or not, if they can't handle that Emerg. Exit Door/Assist with the possible evacuation, they are not going to sit in any one of those Exit Row seats.

I feel your pain and while I'm S/E I still feel that on a 300+ passenger plane, at least a FEW PEOPLE without status buying tickets for their once-a-year trip in 6 months will pay the extra few dollars for the bulkhead ... This will leave S/E who fly every 2 weeks and book almost ALWAYS at the last second with only 2nd row or middle seats in the front !!!

Just an update on my situation: the system is definately buggy, right now after waiting 20 min on the line they assured me that while my seat assignment for my g/f says "NO SEATS" she will have a seat beside me ...

I better hope so!! :(

This is something IMO that should be complimentary for P/E AND SE..

Nice of the system to give you that message...at least the internal IT systems are as lacking as the public facing ones :)

Oh for the once a year flier it's not a huge deal.. but when you fly often enough that would really add up.. ah well.. looks like row 13 for the next while..

The biggest pain is that even checking in early isn't going to help getting the aisle exit row (which has always been a favourite of mine) since someone will likely have paid for it (or an SE taken it).

As for the g/f's seats.. good luck there!!

Edit: Just had a thought.. can you still book these preferred seats within the 24 hour check in window for free? or are they always charged?

So far even US doesn't do this to their Golds. I can select an Exit seat at any time without fee. Preferred Seats have been for sale for around a year with them following the now-defunct NW lead.

So glad I left in 2002!:cool:

The occasional flier buys on price, so the likelihood is nil that the majority of them will opt to pay. It will be Es and Ps on T+ fares who might (only SEs get free access on T+, Es and SEs on LATITUDE fares) and Ps on LAT fares...but then most of those elites flying LAT will be using an upgrade and generally find R inventory in early bookings.

We were told of this at the SE gathering but at the time everybody would pay and it would only be if the flight was full in back that an SE or E could be opup'd into the seat for free. Looks like AC paid attention to the grumbling and have given it free to SEs on both T+ and LAT fares, and Es on LAT fares.

US agent gave me one of these Preferred Seats at check-in at no charge when I asked to be moved into the forward part of Y ex-LAS last month. I had my credit card out to pay the $15 but she said, put it away.

Well, I just did this for my flight tomorrow, before OLCI opened, and the system automatically knew that this was complimentary for me :) And I had looked yesterday afternoon and this option wasn't available, so I am happy I noticed this posting before OLCI opened in 45 minutes.

Even better news was that I was allowed to do this for our holiday flights in December as well :) My 6'5 tall spousal-equivalent unit (SEU) will be quite happy with the extra leg room.....