Chart: What it costs to select your seat location

After checked baggage fees, probably the most disdained airline fee is the one for selecting your seat. Long a perk that came without charge--and one that costs the airline nothing extra to provide--it's now just another profit center. Here's what several airlines charge, if anything, for advanced seat selection.

	Earliest available	Charge?	Can you pre book an exit row?	Premium Services
Airtran	During booking, before purchase	$6-$20	$20, book anytime	Upgrades to business class available at set prices
Alaska	During booking, before purchase	No	Yes	Some seats at front of economy section and aisle seats for premium customers
Allegiant	During booking, before purchase	$4.99 to $24.99	Yes, for a fee	No
American	During booking, before purchase	No	Reserved for premium customers	Some seats at front of economy section and aisle seats for premium customers
British Airways	Free at check in or from 24 hours before departure	Depends on class of service; For international economy and domestic UK, £10/$15 to chose seats from time of booking up to check-in, 24 hours before departure up to £60/$90 for other classes of service (First Class free)	£50/$75 for economy/World Traveller Plus	N/A
Continental	During booking, before purchase	No	Request at check in	Some premium seats available for a fee (including exit rows), book within 24 hours of departure online only
Delta	During booking, before purchase	No	Reserved for premium customers	Some seats at front of economy section and aisle seats for premium customers
Frontier	During booking, before purchase	No	Request at check in	First few rows with extra legroom free to some frequent flyer members; $15-$25 for others
Hawaiian	During booking, before purchase	No	Request at check in	No, but upgrades available for sale
JetBlue	During booking, before purchase	No	Yes, from $10, depending on flight length	“Even more room” includes exit row and more spacious seats at front, from $10
Midwest	During booking, before purchase	No	Request at check in	Some roomier front seats sold for a set fee which depends on flight length
Southwest	At boarding	No	No	$10 for preferred boarding (“Group A”)
Spirit	During booking, before purchase	$5 and up depending on route	Yes, for a fee	Upgrades to “Big Front Seat” from $25 per flight
United	During booking, before purchase	No	Request at check in	Economy Plus offers more leg room from $9 per flight
US Air	During on line check in	No	Request at check in	Some aisle and front of plane seats $5-$20, buy online from 24 hours in advance
Virgin America	During booking, before purchase	No	Sold as “Main Cabin Select” seats for hefty fees	Exit rows and bulkheads sold as “Main Cabin Select” for variable fees, includes free premium TV and meals

Categories: Air Travel

Avoid and beware of British Airways. I paid over $4,500 for tickets to Budapest. Only to find BA wants to charge me each flight (4 total flights x 3 tickets) for early seat assignments - up to 30 bucks an assignment! Outrageous! I booked months in advance. This was never disclosed. Never again, BA, will you get my business - I could have picked another airline, paid a little more and saved in the long run. I have children - we would like to sit together. I hope you go bankrupt! Any class action suites for an unfair disclosure policy, count me in! However, if we are forced to sit apart, I will sue deep pockets if any stranger touches my 11 year old daughter or son on the flight! Obviously I, like hundreds of other passengers, will try to get assi

by Sonya on Thursday, May 06, 2010

It is sad to see how what once was an adventure, has now been demoted to a supermarket experience. And a bad one at that. Inflight service has gone done the tube with many airlines, from having to pay extra for everything which when you get it isn't always that good either. Flight attendants who have gone from friendly and helpfull to grumpy and sometimes even rude. Ground staff more into cattle herding than receiving guests. And now seat charges!? First the airlines tell us that it is in our best service intrest if we as customers "check in" asap and now they charge you for it so many people will leave it until check in day.. But no the airlines will surely put a much higher fee on checking in on flight day to force you to pay the "lower" additional costs of checking in days in advance. And seating is not the only problem, in Europe a balloon was let up for charging to use the lavatory!!? So how will seat charging work for those traveling with kids? Do airlines want us to pay for the privelidge to travel together?

by jans on Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Customers can send a message. When possible don't fly airlines that charge for seats. US Airlines are slipping into chaos with these practices and one can hope they do not follow European airline trends - where you pay to check-in and a fee for paying using a credit card!

by Bermuda Guy on Sunday, April 04, 2010

i recently flew with united and at the gate they were announcing that for $69 you could get an extra 5 inches of room. thats right people. 5 inches more for 69 whopping dollars. what a rip off. if people would just stop paying extra for these seats then customers would get em for free.

by norwegianvkng on Monday, March 29, 2010

I am disabled and require special seating for myself and my service dog. Why should I (or anyone, for that matter) have to pay for this?

by J15491 on Monday, March 29, 2010

It isn't bad enough you have to pay for your seats on BA BUT... I just noticed that you only get ONE free bag now too (since 10-09)unless you fly on higher fare tickets. Guess that's the way it is...

by too-tall-me on Friday, March 26, 2010

We were also shocked to have to pay for seats on BA, especially when the only two seats offered together were at the back, 3 months before departure. And now with the strike we may end up walking from Chicago to Heathrow.

by frustrated-flier on Thursday, March 25, 2010

Ummm, Southwest allows on-line check-in 24 hrs before the flight, and at that time you get your boarding pass. I went SEA to MSP recently on SW, did not pay the extra $10, and still got 'A' boarding passes. Sat in row 4, aisle seat, all 4 legs of the trip! I'm too old for exit rows....

by Traintraveler on Wednesday, March 24, 2010

I was shocked that I had to pay for seat selection both on my flight from the US to London on British Airways and for my onward flight to Rome. It's really too much.

by Suse_inPHX on Wednesday, March 24, 2010

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Chart: What it costs to select your seat location

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