This is more disturbing than southwest/ryanair style open seating...

Makes sense to me...
 

It is either the guy in the exit row pays $15, or every passenger on the plane pays $1. Which would you prefer?

Couple of observations. First, this is going to be a killer on a segment mileage run. An 8-segment run could be as much as $120 more for a "decent" seat. Second, if a passenger pays for the exit-row and is not eligible, there is going to be a big scene on the aircraft when the FA attempts to reseat the customer.

OMG - that link is almost the FUNNIEST thing I have read in a while! (The NW announcement being one of the SADDEST things I have read in a while...)

Are they not coming through, or are the seats just not available to upgrade PLATS into?

Hope is fares as well as the pay for food experiment.

So what happens if Y is booked almost full and all that's left is exit row?
I guess you get pay the extra fee for being a late booker.

Curious as to my philosophical friend's (socrates) opinion re this.

If the flight is full, you don't have to pay the fee to sit in a restricted seat. I don't imagine that will be a big problem once most frequent customers take their business elsewhere.

Now the kicker...if you're an elite, and you selected one of these seats, paid for it, and then get upgraded...you don't get your $15 back.

I think the biggest travesty is that a First Class seat is free, but what could be a regular coach seat (not just Exit rows subject to this scheme) up front could cost an extra $15. Bass-ackward pricing if there ever was. NW (and CO) should just start charging for all elite upgrades, a la AA/UA. (duck! :) )

I guess the $15 is really just an insurance policy...

Let's hope no-one at NW gets ahold of the webpage you linked to. At this rate, I could see them rolling out the same charges verbatim!

For the record, not all exit row seats are being held back. About 50% are still available to Elites for free. Also, none of the bulkhead seats are being held back for purchase (in my experience, these seats are often snapped up by elites before the exit row seats).

Right...the exit rows that don't recline. They wouldn't want to charge for an inferior product, would they? Oh that's right....they charge for an inferior product in the ticket price

The bulkhead seats were suppose to be held for disabled customers, or those needing assistance - those seats (much like the first row of coach on CO) were held for airport assignment anyway and any elite who chose one in the past was subject to reseating if it was needed for either a wheelchair customer or the rare FAM who sat in coach. There was no altruism in their decision - just avoiding extra refunds when the seats were needed at the last minute.

How long do you think those bulkheads will last now that we elites that previously preferred the exit rows are also competing for them to avoid this ridiculous new surcharge?

Check out how bizarre and irrational NW's apportionment of $15 seats versus still free seats is: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showp...&postcount=260

:confused:

You should have heard my hoots of laughter at the checkin desk when I asked for an aisle seat and they asked me for five quid... I told them no, so they put me in a middle seat but the aisle was unoccupied, so I just moved over in flight.

There were lots of us in those middle seats...

OK, so a Plat pays the $15 for the exit row 36 hours prior. Subsequently, the Plat is upgraded. The seat is then sold to another passenger for $15. The original Plat does not get his $15 back, and NW has collected another $15 for a total of $30. This could actually add up to a minor but significant amount if multiple passengers pay for the seat and are upgraded...