Seat selection at a price: Flying with family to burn a hole in your pocket

Airlines to levy extra charges to select seats of you choice

Airlines have come up with another idea to squeeze additional money out of your pocket. Major domestic and international carriers including national carrier Air India are now charging for seat selection,  including the dreaded middle seat, reported Indian Express.

Jet Airways, IndiGo, Go Air and Spice Jet are the four carriers that levy a seat selection fee even for the middle seat onboard their domestic flights, while Air India and Vistara levy a seat selection fee only for middle seats that are located in the front or exit rows where a passenger gets extra leg room. 

 

This brunt of this move will be felt the most by families travelling together. It is obvious that families travelling together would want to sit together. But for doing this, you will have to pay extra, even for the most hated middle seats. Also, you'll have to shell out more money for leg-room seats.

If one opts out of seat selection, it depends on the airline officials whether they will book tickets for them that put their family together or far apart on the plane. 
 

The provision to implement such charges had not been enforced earlier. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation has till now not released a revised set of rules that govern how much airlines can charge for such ancillary services.

Airlines have looked towards seat selection fee to boost their revenue. Air India and Jet Airways are already following the model rigorously and other carriers are expected to follow suit.