Paying for seats review (2 issues)

[SirL]

22 minutes ago, jpmelville said:

Qatar still offers the seat selection for free after getting your reservation number. Can not fault their service. I doubt Emirates is better even if you have to put £100 for your preferred seats. You can have flights for 500€. paying over 100€ for seats for 4 legs is purely a robbery. Up to you if you want to pay that.

Starting from the position of an ordinary economy seat, I think 

(a) would I pay twice or four times this price for premium economy or business?  No.

(b) would I pay 20% more for essentially unlimited legroom in an emergency exit economy row?  Yes, I would, so €100 for 4 legs seat selection seems OK.

 

3 minutes ago, Iluvpattaya said:

So she asks if I would like to sit upstairs so that the guy can sitdownstairs near to his family.  I told her lady no because Ihad to pay £25 for the seat. 

Upstairs on an A380 Emirates is business/1st class I'd  of 100% swopped!!!

I don't know about Emirates, but Lufthansa's A380s have an economy section upstairs.

[Iluvpattaya]

6 minutes ago, SirL said:

don't know about Emirates, but Lufthansa's A380s have an economy section upstairs.

Thats why I stated Emirates 

[rickyroo]

29 minutes ago, Iluvpattaya said:

So sheasks if I would like to sit upstairs so that the guy can sitdownstairs near to his family.  I told her lady no because Ihad to pay £25 for the seat. 

Upstairs on an A380 Emirates is business/1st class I'd  of 100% swopped!!!

Emirates economy is also upstairs on the A380, seats are in pairs by the windows and located behind the business/ first bar area.

[Iluvpattaya]

2 minutes ago, rickyroo said:

Emirates economy is also upstairs on the A380, seats are in pairs by the windows and located behind the business/ first bar area.

Apologies. I stand corrected. Never new

[Kandinski]

41 minutes ago, SirL said:

Starting from the position of an ordinary economy seat, I think 

(a) would I pay twice or four times this price for premium economy or business?  No.

(b) would I pay 20% more for essentially unlimited legroom in an emergency exit economy row?  Yes, I would, so €100 for 4 legs seat selection seems OK.

 

I don't know about Emirates, but Lufthansa's A380s have an economy section upstairs.

https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Emirates_Airlines/Emirates_Airlines_Airbus_A380_Two_Class.php

[taylor1975]

1 hour ago, SirL said:

 

(b) would I pay 20% more for essentially unlimited legroom in an emergency exit economy row?  Yes, I would, so €100 for 4 legs seat selection seems OK.

 

Drawbacks with these too ....slightly narrower seat due to folding tv. Potential for screaming baby to be next to you or on the same row. Freezing from air con. Toilet cubicle in front of you and people loitering around you. 

If these seats were free, i wouldn't choose them.

[SirL]

23 minutes ago, taylor1975 said:

Drawbacks with these too ....slightly narrower seat due to folding tv.  Yes, that's why I have the right angle USB cable for power.

Potential for screaming baby to be next to you or on the same row. Only if you choose the kind of row that has a bulkhead ahead which is suitable for bassinets.  I avoid them, so no risk of babies in my row.  In front of you, you want a reverse-facing stewardess seat, not a bassinet bulkhead wall.

Freezing from air con. Can't see why this is more of a risk in the emergency exit row than anywhere else on the plane

Toilet cubicle in front of you and people loitering around you. Only if you choose the kind of row with a toilet right in front, and I avoid them so no problem.  I know the emergency exit seats of the Lufthansa A380 pretty well by now!

If these seats were free, i wouldn't choose them.  I'm a tall guy, and sadly ordinary economy seats for 10 hours aren't really an option.

I don't just choose any old emergency exit seat.  With research, you know some long legroom seats are better than others.  I've been on the Lufthansa A380 a dozen times by now, and I know exactly which seats work for me.  There are only four (economy) seats on the plane I'm willing to sit in, and if one of them isn't available I'll go another date.

[jpmelville]

2 hours ago, SirL said:

 

(b) would I pay 20% more for essentially unlimited legroom in an emergency exit economy row?  Yes, I would, so €100 for 4 legs seat selection seems OK.

I stand corrected. I thought you have to pay £25 for ordinary seats and did not realise exit seats are also available for that price. Usually extra legroom seats are closer to £100/flight. I don't need extra legroom. Aisle seat is enough for me and with Qatar that is completely free of charge. Also I like Doha airport which is smaller than Dubai and everything is easier to reach.

[SirL]

1 hour ago, jpmelville said:

I don't need extra legroom. Aisle seat is enough for me and with Qatar that is completely free of charge.

I'm tall and so I do need extra legroom.  10-12 hours in an ordinary seat with the guy in front reclining his seat .... well I'd prefer to pay the supplement.  Let's just say that attitudes to paying that supplement depend upon the height of the individual, or more accurately the length of his thighs.

I prefer a short leg within Europe to get to a hub, and then one long leg during which I can settle in and sleep a bit.  The Middle Eastern airlines involve two flights of about equal length, which doesn't suit me.  Plus the Frankfurt connection allows me a day visit to a FKK like Sharks or Oase, that's a good side benefit.

Fact check: I think the sort of seats I go for on Lufthansa are roughly €60-80 extra for 1 intercontinental leg.  IMO much cheaper than premium econ and ordinary seats aren't an option.  I wrote "€100 for 4 legs" a few posts above this because that's what jpmelville had written.

[taylor1975]

2 hours ago, SirL said:

I don't just choose any old emergency exit seat.  With research, you know some long legroom seats are better than others.  I've been on the Lufthansa A380 a dozen times by now, and I know exactly which seats work for me.  There are only four (economy) seats on the plane I'm willing to sit in, and if one of them isn't available I'll go another date.

Fair enough, you've got to know the plane and the airline rather well. As you mentioned, those seats are more expensive. I think £75 on emirates. 

I'm 6 foot and i'm fine with normal seats, but i see +6'2" guys looking a bit squashed!

[sabato]

On 08/01/2019 at 05:53, snowy34 said:

i had the same as the OP issue 2. i had paid extra for 2 seater at the back of the plane. It turned our the seat beside me was vacant and i was asked to move so someone could sit beside his wife. I refused which caused a bit of a scene. I just said why dont you ask someone in business to move. Its the same thing just more money involved.

Surprised it caused a scene, I mean it's a bit cheeky to even ask that in the first place. You're effectively asking someone to downgrade so they can upgrade. Doubly so when it's obviously not *that* important to them, otherwise they would have paid for adjacent seats.

At the very minimum, the couple should be reimbursing the persons fee for seat selection.

[jaynewcastle]

I'm 6'2", and have no problem whatsoever sitting in Emirates normal economy seats leg-wise

Now the seat width is much more of a issue, my shoulders are wider than the seat is, which is why I always choose an aisle seat, and hope for an empty seat next to me 

[SirL]

2 hours ago, jaynewcastle said:

Now the seat width is much more of a issue, my shoulders are wider than the seat is, which is why I always choose an aisle seat, and hope for an empty seat next to me 

A pro tip is, if you are righthanded, to choose an aisle seat on the left hand side of the plane when looking forward.  That would mean your right elbow, the one that juts out when you are eating, juts out into the aisle so has unlimited freedom of movement, rather than being very limited jutting out on the other side because it would be entering the middle seat's space.

[blue1878]

Last week I booked my flights with Emirates for my trip in December.  And again I have paid for my seats.  I've booked 42C again on all 4 flights.  I could have waited till  48 hours before my flights are due to fly to book my seats but I doubt I'll get the seats I want.  So I am willing to pay the 4 X £25 for the 4 seats.  When I was booking the seats Emirates put in a disclaimer saying that even though I've paid for a particular seat on each of my 4 flights I might not get them.  This is down to the fact that they might have to change to a different A380 plane on one or more of the flights.  And the configuration of the seating will be different.  And it will be down to a computer not a person what seat I'll get.

My last trip I was OK for 3 of the 4 flights.  I had a problem with the Manchester to Dubai flight.  The funny thing is the configuration of the seating on the plane may of changed but the seating at the very front was the same on both the original plane and the replacement plane so because I got to the airport early I managed to get Emirates to give me the seat I wanted . The seat I had paid for.

This is the problem a computer not a person allocates you your seat when they change one A380 plane for another A380 plane.  If a customer has to pay £25 for a seat then Emirates should make more effort to give the customer the seat he wants. so leaving it to a computer is not acceptable