Why airplane seat selection fees are so ubiquitous

I am old enough to remember a time when you could pick your seat for free on every flight on just about every airline. That’s because those pesky fees we have now are relatively new. They started to gain traction among full-service carriers in the mid-to-late 2000s, and by 2018, the big three U.S. carriers were all charging them on at least some tickets.

There was a time when there were no Byzantine ticket structures where some fares included seat selection, and others barred you from choosing your location on the plane in advance, or at least from doing so at no cost.

But nowadays it’s different. Low-cost airlines like Spirit and Frontier, of course, charge extra for just about everything, but even the legacy carriers, American, Delta and United, have fare classes in economy class now that don’t include seat selection. Some charge extra depending on the seat’s location, even if you’ve paid for a ticket that includes selection.

British Airways takes things a step that is ridiculously far: charging business class passengers a fee on top of their ticket price to select their flatbed seats. For example, on a round-trip itinerary departing from New York on Feb. 22 and returning from London on March 6, it costs about $130 per person each way to choose a seat in business, on top of the $3,300 for the round-trip ticket. Keep in mind that pricing is also dynamic and will rise or drop depending on timing and the exact location of the seat, with seats in the center of the plane closer to the lower-class dividers costing less.

I’m afraid these fees are becoming a staple with airlines.

“These fees are beginning to rival what they collect for baggage at many carriers,” Jay Sorensen, president at the

airline consulting firm IdeaWorksCompany, told me. “The rapid embrace of assigned seating fees by all airlines has been a surprise to me. The extent to which they have been such powerful generators of revenue has been a surprise to me as well.”

Of course, there are ways to avoid paying the fees, from flying an airline that doesn’t charge them or buying a ticket that includes seat selection to having frequent-flyer status that gives you free seats as a perk.

Keep in mind that these fees are technically optional. If you buy a ticket, you’ll have a seat on your flight. In many cases, you just won’t have the option of choosing where that seat is without shelling out extra. Airlines will assign you an unclaimed seat when you check in if you haven’t paid to pick one in advance.

Here’s what to know:

How common are seat selection fees?

Most airlines charge seat selection fees one way or another, Sorensen said, whether it’s by selling lower-fare tickets that don’t include seat preferences or simply by making passengers pay for their seats individually. Even Southwest Airlines, which famously does not assign seats, has its ways of generating seating revenue.

“One could say, well, Southwest doesn’t have these fees, but Southwest does have an early boarding fee,” Sorensen said. “If you want to get a better seat, you’re going to have to pay a priority-boarding fee.”

If you’ve flown in the past few years, you’ve probably seen at least some of the ways airlines squeeze extra revenue out of their seats. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that economy seat selection fees were as high as $100 on some flights.

How can I avoid paying for a seat on an airplane?

Although the fees have become common across the industry, not every passenger on every flight pays them outright. For example, as a frequent flyer with Delta Air Lines, I have complimentary access to preferred seats in the main cabin – those closer to the front of the plane that other passengers would need to pay extra to select during booking. Sorensen said free seat selection for preferred or extra legroom seats is a valuable, if somewhat frustrating, perk for frequent flyers, especially now that upgrades are getting harder to come by.

For more casual travelers, however, avoiding seat selection fees can be difficult. Even if you don’t pay them directly, you may be compelled to buy a more expensive ticket that will let your entire travel group stick together on board. If you’re already paying extra, you may also be tempted to buy a higher-fare class, which can provide perks like more legroom or a nicer seat, though, of course, at a steeper price.

“If you want to get a better seat, you’re going to have to pay a priority-boarding fee.”

Jay Sorensen

President at airline consulting firm IdeaWorksCompany

What happens if I don’t pay for seat selection?

As I mentioned before, you don’t have to pay to select a seat, but you’re much more likely to wind up stuck between two strangers at the back of the plane if you don’t.