When flying, would you pay more for a roomier seat ONLY? (compare, charge)

[lenny8000]

it does depend on the length of the flight...when i flew to china non-stop from ny for 14.5 hours i would have gladly paid that extra 100 bucks...however if im flying to florida for example...i would not

[Sudcaro]

Originally Posted by Moonlady

So, $50 for first class, heck yeah. $100 for more leg room - nope. I just wish the airlines would make it so people couldn't recline their seat all the way into your face. Other than that, I don't mind coach.

[43north87west]

Originally Posted by BergenCountyJohnny

Would you be willing to pay more money for airfare to get a roomier seat?

Not First Class or business class. I mean a roomier seat, probably smaller than a First Class seat but more roomy than a standard coach seat (kind of like a "business class" seat on some airlines), but with none of the other amenities that First or Business class would offer; you would only get whatever everyone in coach is getting, but you'd have a roomier seat.

It would not cost hundreds more, like a First or Business Class seat would; it would cost around $75 to $100 more (to help make up for the loss of the seat they could have sold to accomodate the roomier seats).

Is this something that you would gladly pay for? Or would you rather save the money?

Midwest Airlines used to do this. There were no additional services, just a better seat. The cost was something like $65. It was a reasonable price but not good enough to cover for the potential revenue of an additional seat per row (2x3 aircraft, MD8x and 717) when competing with other airlines.

I don't know if the seat upgrade was a successful experiment, but the whole airline fell apart and got sold. I don't know what their unique market segment is now, but there probably isn't one anymore.

[chilaili]

I considered it for an upcoming flight to New Zealand but when the airline said my ticket would go up by $300 I decided I'd risk the narrower seating. I'm only 5'4" so it's not that big a deal for me. If I were taller I'd be more likely to bite that bullet.

[missionhome]

Originally Posted by 43north87west

Midwest Airlines used to do this. There were no additional services, just a better seat. The cost was something like $65. It was a reasonable price but not good enough to cover for the potential revenue of an additional seat per row (2x3 aircraft, MD8x and 717) when competing with other airlines.

I don't know if the seat upgrade was a successful experiment, but the whole airline fell apart and got sold. I don't know what their unique market segment is now, but there probably isn't one anymore.

Right, Midwest tried this and failed. It won't work on the domestic front really that well. United's economy plus and JetBlue's roomier seats are probably the best performing roomy seats for slightly more on the domestic market. However they are just economy seats with a few more inches (like 5 inches) of legroom.

On the international market, several airlines have done well with slightly roomier coach seats usually called something like Premier Economy. British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Air New Zealand, Singapore, United, etc.... all have some product like this. It isn't that revolutionary of an idea.

[M3 Mitch]

I would be more willing to pay for better food, I love to get upgraded but for me it's more about the better food, or at least a hot meal, and free booze, than about the room.

I'm 5'10" and weight proportional to height, so *most* domestic coach seats are OK for me, size wise, so long as I'm not wedged in between 2 fat guys I'm fine.

European (and Asian, I have heard, but don't personally know) flag carriers typically have a little more room in Coach. I distinctly remember a flight back from Kiev to Seattle on KLM, one of their 747s - I had a coach seat, one of the ones where it's a single seat next to a window with no other seats next to it - anyway this was probably my best-ever flight in coach - good food, free beer, the default beer was Heiniken, "real Champagne you have to buy but Frexinet is free" - my idea of "roughing it".

[k374]

Originally Posted by chilaili

I considered it for an upcoming flight to New Zealand but when the airline said my ticket would go up by $300 I decided I'd risk the narrower seating. I'm only 5'4" so it's not that big a deal for me. If I were taller I'd be more likely to bite that bullet.

last time I priced premium economy on British Airways for a international flight it was double the price. Regular economy was something like $1,250 for LAX-BOM and premium was $2500 The only search engine I know that offers Premium economy as a selection is Vayama.com.

[chilaili]

Originally Posted by k374

last time I priced premium economy on British Airways for a international flight it was double the price. Regular economy was something like $1,250 for LAX-BOM and premium was $2500 The only search engine I know that offers Premium economy as a selection is Vayama.com.

Ouch! For that price you might as well pony up for Business Class. As I plan on sleeping most of the way to NZ I hope to save my $300 for other things. Like lots and lots of Marlborough Cabernet Sauvignon

[doggiebus]

Originally Posted by BergenCountyJohnny

Would you be willing to pay more money for airfare to get a roomier seat?

Not First Class or business class. I mean a roomier seat, probably smaller than a First Class seat but more roomy than a standard coach seat (kind of like a "business class" seat on some airlines), but with none of the other amenities that First or Business class would offer; you would only get whatever everyone in coach is getting, but you'd have a roomier seat.

It would not cost hundreds more, like a First or Business Class seat would; it would cost around $75 to $100 more (to help make up for the loss of the seat they could have sold to accomodate the roomier seats).

Is this something that you would gladly pay for? Or would you rather save the money?

I just took a trip and bought the extra legroom seats on Jet Blue for $30 a flight extra (great BTW), so $60 roundtrip extra than the regular tickets. I don't think I would pay $100 though extra, $75 is probably my limit.

[jtur88]

Conversely, I'd stand up all the way, for half fare.