Empty Middle Seat
 

With the upcoming AA/US merger, greater difficulty in earning and utilizing points and airlines status, and growing disparity between coach and first class, there is a room for an in-between class. There is another thread discussing whether frequent flyers care more about being treated special or just having extra room, and it seems many are after more comfort than anything.

So, simple question: How much more would you be willing to pay over what you pay on average for your typical narrow-body 3-3 aircraft to guarantee that the middle seat between two passengers is not filled. Would you pay more? how much more - 25%? 50%? 100%? What if you were also offered free drinks - how much more would you pay then?

We are flying WestJet SXM-YYZ next week because of the timing and convenience. They do not have Business class. I have booked three seats at the price on offer at the time. So yes I would pay the available rate for that comfort. May sound a bit over the top to most people but its worth it for me

That's what's called European Business Class ;)

Since the bulk of my flying is for work, and they have no interest in paying for empty seats, my answer is $0.

And free drinks are not an enticement for me. Not sure why people consider that such a big deal. It's $5 or so. I could not care less.

I would not pay for this for 3 reasons:

1. The seat is still cramped and the service is still nothing worth mentioning while in Y (most times).
2. The seat doesn't get any more spacious if I get drunker.
3. AA gives this to all elites for free right now on their 738s.

For me, the first class seat provides so much more comfort and space than what will ever be offered in coach that I wouldn't pay for a mediocre upgrade in the Y cabin.

I would not pay.
We don't need another abuse by airlines to squeeze more money.

Sure it does. If you're passed out you won't notice if you're stuffed in the closet ;)

True, but there are only 4 of those on each plane, and they're not the most desirable seats to me on the 738s anyway.

Agree, but nowadays airlines have E+ as an "upgrade" in the Y cabin. Lots of people pay for those, but I'm pretty sure airlines aren't going to start keeping middle seats empty. Remember, airlines are adding seats into planes..

Airlines are able to sell an e+ product quite successfully. So we know there is some interest in more room. This is another type of e+ product - but width instead of foot room. Except that it is not fully a room issue - the seat cushion is still economy size, we would probably be talking European business class where there is a small table in between the seats. But you do get more shoulder room. You would still be getting economy level service.

From an airline view, selling the two adjacent seats at %150 would in theory make up for the cost of the "lost" middle seat. Obviously there are a few other factors to consider, but I am trying to determine if there is enough market, and how much market, there would be if an airline were to offer say 5 rows of Economy Wide.

I pay for leg room, that's it.

What I think you'd have in mind would be something like using the same seats that are used in the first class cabin on CRJ 700s and placing a few rows of them between first and coach. I'd love for there to be some real economy plus cabins like that on domestic flights, but I don't see the business case for it outside of a handful of transcontinental routes like JFK-LAX.

Not even thinking of changing seats. Same as the current planes. Only, if you purchase the economy additional seats, the airline (or consolidator) blocks the middle seat from sale.Maybe you have a little table that fits over the arm rests, maybe not. Essentially this is what sells in Europe as Business class.

So someone who can't afford first because the price difference is usually so high over what they pay for economy, this will give them some extra space but be priced more reasonably.

I dislike the principle. You may get an empty seat next to you anyway (especially towards the back of the plane). If the loads are light you can move to an empty row or a row where only the window seat is taken.

Airlines disallowing free movement in order to monetize the free empty seats next to you is a low move. I would not pay for this out of principle.

The old BD system (also honoured by LH and OS among others) was quite decent - they used to block seats next to *G passengers as long as the flight wasn't full, so middle seats were kept free as long as they weren't keeping a passenger from the flight. It worked over 50% of the time on the flights I used, and was extremely welcome.

However... The European system is much less orientated around booking-time seat assignment than the US, although this is gradually changing (not least as airlines realise they can squeeze a new revenue source out of this).

Several years ago I paid for an empty middle seat ($65) on Air New Zealand from SFO-AKL. They offered this if the flight was close to full occupancy (forgot the percentage they told me). Their 777 is a 3 3 3 configuration in coach, so I chose the center section aisle seat and paid for the middle. It was great to use that seat's tray table and seat to store things for both me and my isle row mate. I didn't have to disturb him if I had to get up to stretch, etc.

The down side, the arm rests do not completely raise up so there was no extra width in the seat.

I tried to purchase the middle seat on my return, but because they were not close to capacity I didn't have that option. Instead, they gave me a complete row to myself.

Back in the days when domestic flights weren't so close to capacity that was common -you could find at least a seat somewhere on the plane where you had no one next to you. I could do coach in those days easily. But I think I may have only had two flights like that in the past year, and that was actively watching the seating chart and switching seats several times to make that happen. I guess I was curious of other people would pay a premium to make sure that it did happen, but i guess not.