Air travel was a miserable experience for many travelers this summer because of airlines overscheduling flights combined with the fact that they were understaffed. The same can be said about airports.
It was especially miserable for those delayed on a plane in economy class. Because as you probably know by now, legroom in coach is getting tighter and tighter. You can thank airline executives for squeezing more seats into planes to try and make more money. That’s one reason why Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently launched a review into the airlines.
According to Afar Magazine: “On behalf of passenger legs and backs across the United States, the Federal Aviation Administration announced on August 3 that it was seeking public comments on whether the agency should set minimum dimensions for airplane seats—not only the space between rows, or seat pitch, but the width and length of the seat itself. The FAA is focusing on the safety of these layouts, mainly the ability of fliers to get in and out of their seats in the event of an emergency. Under current rules, airplane makers must prove that a full planeload can be evacuated in 90 seconds.”
If you don’t want to get stuck in a too-small seat or pay money to upgrade to one that has better legroom, you can use points from the Capital One Venture or Chase Sapphire Preferred credit cards.
RELATED: How to Get the Exit Row For Free
Some airlines (ahem, American) charge extra for a regular coach seat but disguise it as a “Preferred Seat.” How’s that? Take for example this 737—800 flying from Los Angeles’ International Airport (LAX) to Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD).
The Economy section has 114 standard seats with just 31 inches of pitch (legroom) and the seats are 16.9-inches to 17.3-inches wide. There are also 30 Main Cabin Extra seats that have 34-40 inches of legroom. The seats are still 17.1-inches to 17.3-inches wide.
You would think by looking at American’s seating chart (above) that these Preferred Seats are special since they cost extra to reserve. But after closer review (see SeatGuru’s seating chart below), the only thing special about them is that they are towards the front of the plane.
So: If you want to sit in an economy seat with extra legroom on this flight (or one with a similar 1,700-mile distance), then you’ll have to pony up at least $41 for Main Cabin Extra or have elite status on American.
FYI: The plane also has 16 recliner First Class seats that have 40-42 inches of legroom and are 20.4-inches wide.
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Just got taken by the American Airlines scam were they are now charging extra for the Seats. When I got in the plane (Dallas to Detroit), there were plenty of seats open that had originally been marked as being used. Will never fly American Airlines again..
Took me almost an hour to book my American flight (including a call to customer service just to triple check I wasn’t setting myself up for a problem) using some miles. Haven’t flown in a few years so not up on all the new schemes and strategies. Certainly award (miles) travel is not what it was even a few years ago. And the paranoia I had while choosing a seat, since many have extra cost but yet appear available without extra charge when booking with awards. Didn’t want to select the wrong seat today and end up with a middle seat (or worse, bumped) situation months from now because of some technicality on what seat assignment options were actually available to me without paying extra. Ugh, my stomach is in knots trying to figure it out. Can’t risk screwing it up for this flight I must be on, and is a five hour duration. Such a shame this is the air travel environment now. So glad I did a lot of my bucket list travel when I was younger. Carried on a massive backpack through dozens of flights and carriers all over the world years ago. Those were the days…
You might want to have a travel agent do it. They should only charge $25 and would be worth it.
I just checked to see if I could switch to an emergency row that is empty… attendant said I would have to pay extra. I asked what if no one wanted to pay extra… she “oh well, That’s the way it goes”… how sad?
Someone explain to me why I pay 80 dollars for an exit row seat but when the door closes everyone walks over to an open exit row seat and gets it for free.
Total scam
Wow, so much hate and fear of something new.
I have flown American form LAX-MIA-REC and back 4 times. I look at the seating charts, and check out Seat Guru to see if the MCE are any different. On the MIA-REC route, it is because plenty of extra leg room on an 8 hour flight for another $100. on the LAX MIA it depends on what they are flying. some planes it is and extra $25-$40 for nothing but the front of the plane and priority boarding. I only want the leg room, so I don’t upgrade on those trips. Not a scam at all.
I don’t usually comment on this sort of thing, but I’ve been looking into MCE for an upcoming trip and there’s a lot of pretty misleading info on here.
While I don’t think Seat Guru’s maps are the most accurate indication of legroom, however if you do look at AA’s 777-300ER seat map on Seat Guru you would see that MCE definitely offers extra width on that widebody plane as the seats are 3-3-3 in MCE, but a much more squashed 3-4-3 in standard Economy, so perhaps MCE is worth considering when taking a longer haul trip?
Also, the amount you are charged for MCE depends on your status with AA or One World. For example, you can get 50% to 100% off of the price depending on your level. I have also been able to select MCE seats at counter check-in for free without any status. So, yes it is a bit cheeky to charge for the seats, but I suspect a lot of MCE passengers did not pay that full supplement.
I agree that on AA’s single aisle planes the benefit is not so obvious, and exit seats are not always worth the money, but I recommend checking the plane type for long haul, and add in your AAdvantage or One World flyer number before selecting seats online to see how much you have to pay, if at all.
:-)
I agree: it’s a total rip-off. Where I live, in Brazil, companies started doing that. It’s infuriating, to say the less.
But they have a way to force you to choose preferred seats. My wife e and I are going to NY in December. I bought the tickets last month and decided I’d reserve the seats already. Guess what? On the flight back, from New York to Sao Paulo (that’s a 10 hour flight) the only seats available are the 2 midlle ones on a line with four. That’s stranger-me-my wife-stranger. I’m about to give up and pay the extra 150 bucks to have slightly better seats. Should I resist?
Well done AA! I just tried to checkin online fpr a flight from ZRH to JFK. I had to coose a seat for check-in. But then there are only seats available which costs extra charge. Only one single standard seat is available. Your first thought is “overbooked” and then booked a “preferred seat” for 69 USD each for me and my wife. Later on I recognized that the “single left standard seat” is randomized on different locations everytime when you restart the process. The trick has worked but I will talk seriously tomorrow at the airport!!!
I booked our tickets a month ago AND selected our seats — only to find out today that selecting them on Travelocity didn’t mean diddly. In order to actually be SURE of getting two seats together to attend our mother’s memorial service, I had to fork over more $ for BS preferred seats, or risk getting to the airport to find the flights sold out. I am royally pissed. I have never had that problem with United. You book a seat, you get that seat. (I’m short. Why would I upgrade?)
It makes me so so sad to see these rip off schemes. It’s hard enough to afford to fly, to add on extra costs. Why can’t the government regulate this? Our airline industry is going down the toilet.