By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com Travel Editor
Flying today is a lot like buying a car. There’s the basic model but also all kinds of options for upgrades, all of which add to your final bill. So the question the modern-day traveler must ask is this: do I just want to get to my destination or do I want to may more for (potentially, but not guaranteed) a little more comfort?
As a seasoned traveler who has flown half a million miles and to some 40 states and more than a dozen countries, I don’t like to fall into the trap of all the add-on airline expenses.
These so-called “junk fees” include paying more to board early, to check a bag, to secure a particular seat and can easily add 20% to the price of your ticket. It is such a profit center for the carriers that in 2023, the airlines pocketed $12 billion seat selection fees alone, according to a Congressional report. And Congress, in one of the few things it can agree on, is looking into cutting or eliminating those fees. Tho frankly, I’ll believe it when I see it.
Now I can expect to pay for certain things on certain budget airlines. For instance, I had no choice but to pay a ridiculous $60 fee each way to take my carry-on bag abord an EasyJet flight. That’s a European (supposedly) budget airline, akin to Frontier, Jet Blue and Spirit in the States.
But when I fly one of the “big boys,” I don’t expect to be nickle and dimed to death. Which is why I have sworn off American Airlines for the moment because, in addition to the price of your ticket, it requires you to pay to reserved your seat in advance. Going back to the automobile analogy, that’s like having to pay for the seat in your new car. Well not me!
Getting Around The Pay For Your Seat In Advance Fee
I got caught having to do this one time because I saw no way out of it. I was booking a flight with a connection on the American Airlines website and could not for the life of me figure out how to get tot he next flight without reserving a seat. And you can’t reserve a seat without paying for it. Three months out before my departure, all the aisle and window seats were gone and the only option was – and this really set me off – to pay for a middle seat. Most were going for a whopping $35. Had I done tht for all four flights it would have added $140 to the price of my ticket. And you thought D.B Cooper was the best skyjacker of all time.
I managed to find one for 10 bucks but still was not happy. For the connection, I was able to get around the fee by, well, not doing anything. In other words, not reserving a seat.
American Airlines Dirty Little Secret
Upon arriving at the airport, I stopped at an American Airlines Customer Service desk and asked the kind ladies – in the very friendly, upbeat way of mine – about the fee. And they told me that if a passenger does not reserve a seat in advance then a seat is automatically assigned to them with no fee. Ahh, hack #1.
American Airlines Seat Fee Hack #2
With this bit of knowledge, I realized it’s a waste of money to reserve a seat the smaller planes used for short trips or ones that go into small and mid-sized airports. That’s because most of those planes don’t have middle seats. They only have window and aisle seats so you’re guaranteed to get a window or aisle seat without paying extra for it. To those who do, I say “suckers!:
Seat Fee Hack #3: Is Coach Plus Worth The Extra Price?
A travel agent friend of mine told me to never, ever pay the extra fee for coach plus, or whatever an airline calls this “premium” coach option. It’s coach; there is no “premium.
Conclusion
If everyoue would simply not pay for a reserved seat on American Airlines – or any airline for that matter – in advance, then there would be no fee. So my travel hack on avoiding the fee is not to pay it and let American assign your seat. And you know what – you may wind up with a window or aisle seat anyway, which is what happened to me on a long return flight from a trip.
Kevin Wilkerson has flown more than a half a millon miles on several different airlines and has been publishing this travel blog since 2002.
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