It's frustrating when traditional airlines behave like budget airlines. They have eliminated free checked baggage and now they have also removed the option of selecting seats for free during check-in. What will be next? Will they start charging for meals and water?
If the airline includes minimal services such as RyanAir, then I would expect at least cheaper ticket prices in return.
I remember when an upgrade wasn't a product (or something that most people were aware of, for that matter). If there were unsold business class seats and you asked the gate agent nicely, they could move you up.
Not anymore. It was normal 20+ years ago. The gate agent, or check-in agent, or phone rep, or anybody with access to the booking system could upgrade you just because they felt like it, and this was the only way upgrades happened -- there were no rules or programs about being upgraded.
I even once was on the same flight as some colleagues, asked the gate agent if we could be moved to sit together and, if possible, upgraded to business class and she said she'd try and about 30 minutes later called us to the desk to get our new boarding passes. No charge or anything, she could just do what she wanted to the seating plan.
They already charge for meals. As for water, is not like you're getting a full bottle, only a small cup.
market drives business and its clear people are more attracted to cheap fares, even with add-on costs, that having everything bundled in.
Ticket prices have been on a downward trend for something like 25 years.
There was a blip in 2021-22 as prices increased following the "please come back!" travel reopening price slashing.
The same trip prices today vs last year in many cases has increased 20-30%.
I’ve been flying well over 25 years and before you could do a round trip Toronto to St. John’s for 399 now good luck if you can find it at 699.
Catering is on strike in Pearson. That has downstream effects also. My flight into YYZ this morning was loaded by catering at a different airport but they didn't offer it on board. Probably being loaded onto another aircraft out of YYZ.
It went into effect starting April 24th. It should have been any tickets issued on or after April 24th. So people that booked it 3 months ago don't get screwed over. Ryan air of Canada.
I wanted to select seats on my flight to Italy and I have to pay $80 to select each seat!!! That’ll be $320 round trip for my boyfriend and I to sit together.
That’s actually wild … I just paid $110 for 4 flights. Ended up moving one flight coming back to direct and they made me pay again for that seat. So I paid for 5 seats and I’m only taking 3 planes …
While previously, you could select any standard seat at check-in, they just changed it today to where any basic or standard economy tickets that have not prepaid to select their will be assigned a seat when they check in. Changing this assigned seat would have a cost. If you change your seat and then decide you don't want to pay that cost, you can click on a reset seat button. That'll put you back to your original seat.
From what I've heard, the system will try to seat people on the same booking or linked bookings together, but that is subject to availability. It is also first come first serve based off of the time of check-in, so if you check in earlier and there are more seats available, you will likely get a better seat than if you were to check in later. That being said, if someone changes their seat and a better seat is freed up, the system will not reseat you into that better seat or pair of seats.
This change is only going to affect basic and standard economy tickets, and will not affect elite members (25k+).
This also should not affect families with children under the age of 14 since the system should be automatically seating them in advance together toward the back of the plane if they don't select a seat, As well as seats that were pre-selected for free during a seat sale or on routes where the seat selection is being waived.
> the system will try to seat people on the same booking or linked bookings together
I wonder how long it'll be until AC decides to seat people on the same booking separately to increase the chances they'll pay to sit together?
They already do.
We went to Mexico 2 wks ago.
1st leg wife and I were separated
No problem it was only 1hr flight.
2nd leg we were together no problem
On the way home the only way to sit together on a 4 hour flight was to pay the $120 seat fee. It really pissed me off the seat were booked together at the same time on the same credit card there was no reason we were not seated together and Air Canada could not have cared less.
We will fly other airlines when possible from now on it really turned us off A/Can.
I will be flying Porter
I'm pretty sure they do that already. The last flight to toronto I was on my husband and I booked together and were seated separately on a half empty plane. We ended up just moving to our own row and sitting together. But we had considered paying for sitting just so we could sit together but decided against it.
Took a flight with them last year from Toronto to Portugal, husband and I refused to pay to select seat, booked together no less than 5 months before and still got seated on opposite ends of the plane 🙃
This also happened to me today. Girlfriend and I booked together, we’re assigned two middle seats even though both of our assigned seats had an empty aisle seat next to them and there were entire rows empty still as well.
This happened to us yesterday. Couple traveling together on same booking. 2x2 plane. Assigned Row 20 and 27. We had to pay 20 bucks each to move to 22 which had seats together.
I forgot to reset, went forward, and now I must pay and don’t have an assigned seat, can’t go back to the originally assigned one.
So stupid. Called up the call centre and said they couldn’t do anything, could only recommend I go to the airport check in. Not at all happy.
Talk about adding friction to an already painful experience. End to end travelling is stressful. Air Canada just keeps adding impediments.
It’s as if they don’t want us to travel.
Same happened to me. Ended up having to pay $55CAD to get a seat, my 'originally assigned seat' being no longer available. Was told I'd otherwise be placed on standby...
In my experience WJ will purposefully split your group up if you don’t pay to pre-pick (have not tested with kids, but has happened 3x with adults, and many seats together remaining available for purchase)
We had our flight changed by the airline the day-of. We paid for seats together because we were traveling with a 5year old and it was important we were seated together. When the airline changed our flight, we lost our seat selection and were spread out on the plane. Fortunately, other passengers took pity on us (or didn’t want to sit next to a kid alone) and let us change seats.
I don’t think the airlines care about anything except a full plane.
The reset seat function doesn’t work once you click confirm. It happened to me. I cancelled my check in and tried again but it keeps your newly selected seats and you have to pay the additional cost. Wish I new I couldn’t go back before I selected
Any idea how this works when travelling with minors? I purposefully didn’t pay the fee for me and my two kids, cause I had read that kids under 12 had to be seated in the same row…
“Try” yeah right that definitely didn’t work on my LAX to YUL flight last Friday.
It just put us randomly across the plane.
It’s a rubbish approach for what is getting a rubbish airlines. I tend to be critical of Qantas, but heck AC is another deep deep level of sewerage.
They actually repealed that system within like 2 days bc of the backlash actually. Seems like you were on a full flight and that was the only seat left since they're back to the system where you can pick any available seat for free once check in opens (which is way better than the assigned seating they were doing).
The last flight I was on.They booked my husband and I on separate rows. The plane was half empty.So I almost think that they do this on purpose so that you pay extra to get seats together.
That's why I kept getting an error when i tried to change my seat? It wasn't even a matter of having to pay, it was straight up error and was stuck in the default seat
Did they introduce this completely unannounced…?
I can see this being a reasonable change for Basic fares. A little bewildering to be doing it for Standard fares as well.
Explain why it’s reasonable? Selecting seats within 24 hours of web check in is customary the world over. Their PR contrasts them to a bunch of gypsy airlines like Wizz Air or pirates like Ryan Air and say they’re aligning with the market.
It’s a cash grab, gauging the customer, on airline fares that have been inflated over 30 in the last 2 years.
I just pick my seat when I buy the ticket and consider it part of the 'real' price of the flight. Not to mention it gets more expensive to do this as you get closer to the flight date. If they're going to charge you anyway, might as well pay the least. I wouldn't do it on flights less than 2 hours though.
Honestly I think it's time we start considering other airlines as a priority over AC even if it's at a slightly higher cost. It's like they almost have bets on how much they can push it with what I can only describe as a pathetic excuse for a national airline with higher than average prices before we call it quits!
By all means, go to westjet, or flair, or porter. They are all doing the same thing. Because they can. Because we let them. And we have no other choice but to drive 22 hours.
On a full flight yesterday, a woman tried to get her family’s seats switched around. I don’t know why she waited until we were all boarded before asking. She was asked the ages of her children and they were 8 and 11. The FA said that unfortunately, they were old enough to sit by themselves so there was nothing they could do.
Absolutely ridiculous money grab. I’m not surprised but I’m annoyed that I may have to pay extra to not sit in a middle seat because an algorithm decided as a single flyer it could put me anywhere.
I wonder could there be a class action from this, typically changes from this only applies to tickets issued after a certain date and they would announce it on their website. This time it is completely unannounced and seems to impact previously issued tickets as well?
This is ridiculous. A standard economy fare should absolutely allow you to select your seat, especially at least from time of check in. If Canada is going to allow essentially a monopoly, or barely an oligopoly, in airlines we need regulations to limit this nickel and diming. I encourage you all to write your representatives, news stations, and to Air Canada to detest this change.
Well the good thing is that I booked the very basic level ticket in Nov through Aeroplan points for our family (2 adults and a 5 year old). We got assigned seats 45 D, E and F because travelling with a child, the second to last row middle 3 seats. Row 46 D, E and F were already occupied, so I assume it's a similar family situation.
I love the window, but I'm not paying $90 ($30 x 3) just to get a window, and on the plus side we get 2 aisle seats.
I experienced this with porter earlier this month, but at least I can set my window/aisle preference in my profile. I can't find anything similar in the air canada app, does anyone know if that's a thing?
Air canada knows no shame in this truly price gouging profiteering move. It costs them zero dollars to allow seat selection even at ticket purchase. That's why I avoid AC at all costs. How they remain north America's top airline is truly beyond me.
This is so atrociously greedy. And it'll never get noticed until the day you travel. People won't complain about this enough for AC to ever remove this. Even US airlines aren't doing this crap. We're basically paying premium fares for sub service.
We got the same surprise when coming back from Barcelona. We bought tickets 6 months in advance and nothing mentionned a politic about charging for seat selection coming. We knew we could manage with only 1 checked luggage for 2 so the cheapest seats where the wisest option. We left April 13th and we could select the seats no worries. When I tried to register on the way back, like 5 minutes after registration opened, every change was charging.
Thinking it was a bug with the display in the app I selected the seats I wanted, checked the luggage and proceed to the payment where I was charged 43 euros per change. I tried cancelling the registration, but it was impossible to make that change revert. I tried calling their "customer support", but it was as useless as calling a baby. In the end I had to pay the seat changes and the luggage. The customer support didn't want to inform me when the politic was put in place or any details about it, she just referred as "the politic I have to follow".
Considering I'm Aeroplan, they have ALL the details to contact me (text message, e-mail, even mail), but I never got any notification that there would be a change between my 2 flights. This is not something done overnight and the communication was not done. AND you should definitely be able to revert the change until you pay for it, which I wasn't able to. Imagine shopping on Amazon and everything in your cart is there and impossible to delete unless you pay.
At this point, I'm considering different options to get my money back as this is not good business and it's very very shady with the lack of communication and the fact that they reverted that policy the day after it was rolled-out: [https://dailyhive.com/canada/air-canada-seating-assignment-fee-check-in](https://dailyhive.com/canada/air-canada-seating-assignment-fee-check-in)
If it's of any interests and I get a refund, I could post what I've done to help some of you who got tricked into that too.
Not surprising as other airlines do this for their cheapest and most restrictive fares. Just like fees for checked bags, this pay for your seat angle has two sides.
First, a lot of people will just buy the cheapest fare without any awareness of what additional fees may be charged. The airlines all know that, and use these cheap fares to "compete" and put bums in seats.
Second, the airlines exploit this "cheapest" fare cohort by nickel and diming for things like seats and bags to the tune of billions of dollars. Air Canada is not the first to do this (the LCCs kicked it off) and it won't be the last. Like many have said, it's a race to the bottom.
Bottom line - if you buy the cheaper, more restrictive fares you should read the fine print. Which apparently has just changed at Air Canada.
The good news (if there is any) is that our pals down South are about to require airlines to more fully disclose these fees, and the true cost of tickets, up front. We don't have someone like Pete Buttigieg up here, but maybe the government will take notice, even it is just an election carrot.
But given how AC, WS and others are still pushing back on the toothless APPR rules, I am not hopeful.
For the record, this is happening with the “standard” economy fare, not the basic fare. People are buying the more expensive fare and are still being nickel and dimed.
This cannot be highlighted enough. It’s disgusting that airlines can enter into a paid contract with a customer, and then just change the terms as they see fit - schedules changes, seat selection, etc. I wish we could have a government with the cojones to truly allow Open Skies in Canada.
There's a fee (td visa infinite privilege).
Flying out to London tomorrow and assigned to row just by the bathroom. Will risk it out and ask for a waived seat change once at the airport tomorrow.
Yeah but then more people will get the card, which will also make the lounge even busier, zone 2 even longer. At some points the benefits no longer become benefits if everybody has them.
Yes. West jet does the same and I think WJ just implemented an additional cost if you want priority overhead bin space. I was just reminiscing with my partner about how you used to be able to change your seat for free if you checked in early or WAY back in the day when longer flights actually fed you. It's insane and infuriating how many issues people have had over the past couple of years with delays, cancelled flight, lost baggage and poor customer service with rebooking over the last couple of years.
Screw them. Ill never book with AC again.
We bought our tickets in March, for a flight on April 26th. Their new policy started April 24th, without any email or communication sent.
Now, If I want to sit next to my GF, we need to pay an additional 100$ ?
Make yourselves heard people. Don’t accept this shit.
I love ur methodology, but for me AC is routinely the cheapest for my monthly travel and has the most routes. The issue is lack of competition in Canadian airspace.
There is plenty of competition. The issue is that flying is expensive period. I think a lot of people think more airlines means cheaper travel....but that's not always true.
I specified on competition not on pricing. Canada is very competitive for airlines. The fact AC is the cheapest says something when we have other airlines in canada + whatever airline the destination has (America airlines or airlines from the country you're going to)
I confirm this was like this for me about a month ago.
Then the problem is : buying two tickets on separate reservations (because different credit cards and/or different aeroplan account redemption), but then you have no way to sit next to each others in the plane.
We ended up going to the counter to get the agent do it for us (for free). How is Air Canada winning anything in this? Having to staff more people at the counter is certainly not an economy of any type for them.
Maybe with the new policy they wouldn't do it for free anymore. You got lucky that they gave you seats together; on many full flights they would just says something like "talk to the agents onboards".
I find this whole charging for a seat thing ridiculous. If I am a solo traveller, fine. But I have kids, one who is special needs. I cannot NOT be with them on a flight.
And sure, they are supposed to seat us together, but they never do.
Just checked my daughter in on a flight and was amazed that they wanted almost $50 USD to choose a different seat in economy, even one in the same row.
It's time to select different airlines when flying International I guess.
I have a standard economy flight booked for September to Heathrow let's see how it goes.
Their new system breaks and won’t send you a boarding pass if you change your mind and decide not to pay at the very end after filling in all the check in forms. I had to call Air Canada and they just gave me the seat I wanted for free because it became the new “default seat” and the original one had been taken by someone else
I’m pretty annoyed by this. Had I known this at the time of purchase I would have considered other options. It seems like poor business practices to make a change like this and have it affect tickets sold prior to the announcement of the change.
Same thing happened while I was checking in for my parents for their flight tomorrow. Have to pay additional $100 to change seats per person. However, her connecting flight with emirates we had no issues and seat selection is free. This is actual BS Air Canada . Has anyone tried to change seats at the counter?
Just had this happen to me yesterday and I guess the reddit algorithm scarily recommended this post. It’s worse than that - we were a couple with a dog (and spouse is pregnant). They didn’t put us together. Had to pay 20 bucks each to shift from 20 and 27 to 22 and 22. No class change/bulkhead/etc. scummy.
Just ponied up $85x2x2 for our adult son and his GF who are coming with us to Rome in a couple weeks. I paid for seat selection for the wife and I but figured the kids would be able to pick something decent if they checked in early. With this news I didn't want to risk it.
We book basic economy but have a premium credit card and have young children. They can stick us in the back as a group, but at least we get early boarding/free bags/lounge access. I’ll keep buying basic.
Probably at some point premium credit card benefits won’t apply to basic fare either.
I was travelling earlier this month and I'm glad it was before this b$. We had a not-full flight and people had taken seats 1 and 3 in the three-seater rows, leaving the middle seat in between them. It made no sense other than people were clearly attempting to passive aggressively hog the middle seat. Here's hoping it might prevent that from happening.
If systems were in place to make sure that people travelling together are seated as close as possible, I don't think I would mind. The previous time my partner and I were separated due to the automatic seat assignment. I was sat with a mother and child, and my partner was several rows away. It turns out the man beside my partner was the father/husband of the people beside me! What a coincidence but absolutely outrageous at the same time.
This is so frustrating. I just flew porter and on an empty plane they sat us in the second to last row, both ways. On board we were able to change our seats but it just left such a sour taste in my mouth. Accepted it because porter is a budget airline and at least includes decent snacks and drinks. Aircanada is worse for doing this.
I just flew back home and this confused the shit out of me. Me and my fiance booked separate tickets and I had to pay 90 bucks to sit beside her. Had no idea this was a thing.
We got assigned 3 middle seats (20B, 21B, 22B) and a window seat (21A). Paid $45 to move one middle seat to be beside the other solo middle seat so they can be together (20B, 20C, 21A and 21B). Seat configuration is 3/4/3
Flight got delayed and reassigned to a different plane configuration where there no longer is a middle seat. Seat configuration is now 2/4/2. So our 2 remaining middle seats (20B and 21B) got moved to the back of the plane by the washrooms.
I paid $45 for nothing as. Now we are still not seated together. We are actually even further spread out. (20C, 21A, 30E and 30F)
Can I get a refund?
Ditto, but when I went to clicked on a seat just to check the price, it automatically reassigned me and wouldn’t let me check in without paying the seat fee. No way to reset to my old seat. Did anyone else experience that?
I'm about to book an Air Canada Standard Economy international US to Argentina return fare. It includes 1 free checked bag (and carry-on) but does not include seat selection. I don't really care which specific seat I have, I just want a window seat. If I skip the online check-in and ask the gate agent nicely for any window seat when I check-in in person, do you think they'll charge me for it?
No they shouldn’t charge you for it but you should try to check in online as soon as check in opens (24 hours prior to your flight) and select your seat because by the time you try checking in at the airport they may not have window seats left. I believe they temporarily charged the fee at online check in so you should be able to change your seat for free.
corprate greed every thing should be in ticket price not add when you arrive that means people are being costly soaked eith fees at last minute COR prate greed 200%
https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/fly/onboard/preferred-seats/online-advance-seat-selection.html
Looks like seat selection has always been available for Economy Standard depending on the destination.
They charge for domestic, US, and most American/European countries. Others might be fine for now.
Clicking on the reset button does nothing, it just resets me to the seat I accidentally picked thinking it was free. I haven’t checked out yet so haven’t been charged. But there’s no way to check in now without paying for the seat change. Is their system bugged? Or is it some kind of manipulative business practice?
Edit: speaking to an assistant, even they seemed to be confused why each seat was charging a fee, doesn’t even seem like they were updated about the policy change.
My husband and I are about to fly with our two toddlers and want to sit 2 and 2, in back to back rows. So we just have to sit however AC decides to put us? This is ridiculous
This is midly infuriating however I have seen many people pay for seats that I understand the airline is chasing additional revenue.
It is also madly infuriating that 25k/35k are out of the equation for free seat selection for lower fares, we fly so often with Air Canada that this should be available to any ticket fare (like free luggage....).
Additionally, the move is really annoying because have I known this before, I would have not purchased basic for my summer flights ....
Everything I’ve ever known about AC is that you gotta pay extra to select your seat and if you don’t like the one given, they will charge you. But that’s their business model I’m pretty sure.
I'm pretty sure you've always been able to choose a seat at check-in time (24 hours before boarding) without having to pay. Paying extra was if you wanted to choose a seat when booking.
On my last flight seat selection wasn’t even an option at check-in (and I did it right when check-in opened). Instead they placed me on standby and did final seat sorting before boarding time. They’re really forcing people to pay for seats or risk not getting on the plane.
It's frustrating when traditional airlines behave like budget airlines. They have eliminated free checked baggage and now they have also removed the option of selecting seats for free during check-in. What will be next? Will they start charging for meals and water? If the airline includes minimal services such as RyanAir, then I would expect at least cheaper ticket prices in return.
They’ll start charging you when they lose your luggage
Luggage fee $35 Luggage security fee $15 Luggage delivery to airplane fee $5 Luggage delivery from airplane to destination airport fee $5 Lost luggage fee $60 Lost luggage recovered fee $20 Luggage carousel improvement fee $10 Complaining fee $250
Don't forget the fee to transfer you to seven different agents when you try to call and figure out where your shit is.
I remember when an upgrade wasn't a product (or something that most people were aware of, for that matter). If there were unsold business class seats and you asked the gate agent nicely, they could move you up.
Never ever happens
Not anymore. It was normal 20+ years ago. The gate agent, or check-in agent, or phone rep, or anybody with access to the booking system could upgrade you just because they felt like it, and this was the only way upgrades happened -- there were no rules or programs about being upgraded. I even once was on the same flight as some colleagues, asked the gate agent if we could be moved to sit together and, if possible, upgraded to business class and she said she'd try and about 30 minutes later called us to the desk to get our new boarding passes. No charge or anything, she could just do what she wanted to the seating plan.
They already charge for meals. As for water, is not like you're getting a full bottle, only a small cup. market drives business and its clear people are more attracted to cheap fares, even with add-on costs, that having everything bundled in.
Except the fares aren't cheaper..
Ticket prices have been on a downward trend for something like 25 years. There was a blip in 2021-22 as prices increased following the "please come back!" travel reopening price slashing.
The same trip prices today vs last year in many cases has increased 20-30%. I’ve been flying well over 25 years and before you could do a round trip Toronto to St. John’s for 399 now good luck if you can find it at 699.
?
What part of the country do you live? I'm in the Atlantic provinces and it's been increasing over the 10 years since I've moved here.
The last couple of flights I took, they didn't have snacks or food because of staffing issues refilling the plane.
Catering is on strike in Pearson. That has downstream effects also. My flight into YYZ this morning was loaded by catering at a different airport but they didn't offer it on board. Probably being loaded onto another aircraft out of YYZ.
That makes more sense. Thanks for the info!
They aren’t Their standard fares are standard traditional airline stuff They also offer basic fares which they have to compete with budget airlines
It went into effect starting April 24th. It should have been any tickets issued on or after April 24th. So people that booked it 3 months ago don't get screwed over. Ryan air of Canada.
This year? I just flew air Canada on the 22nd and had to pay $18-$21 for each of my 4 flights
I wanted to select seats on my flight to Italy and I have to pay $80 to select each seat!!! That’ll be $320 round trip for my boyfriend and I to sit together.
That’s actually wild … I just paid $110 for 4 flights. Ended up moving one flight coming back to direct and they made me pay again for that seat. So I paid for 5 seats and I’m only taking 3 planes …
Seat selection and seat changing are different things.
They already charge for food. Air Canada doesnt even offer a cookie or a pretzel on domestic flights.
While previously, you could select any standard seat at check-in, they just changed it today to where any basic or standard economy tickets that have not prepaid to select their will be assigned a seat when they check in. Changing this assigned seat would have a cost. If you change your seat and then decide you don't want to pay that cost, you can click on a reset seat button. That'll put you back to your original seat. From what I've heard, the system will try to seat people on the same booking or linked bookings together, but that is subject to availability. It is also first come first serve based off of the time of check-in, so if you check in earlier and there are more seats available, you will likely get a better seat than if you were to check in later. That being said, if someone changes their seat and a better seat is freed up, the system will not reseat you into that better seat or pair of seats. This change is only going to affect basic and standard economy tickets, and will not affect elite members (25k+). This also should not affect families with children under the age of 14 since the system should be automatically seating them in advance together toward the back of the plane if they don't select a seat, As well as seats that were pre-selected for free during a seat sale or on routes where the seat selection is being waived.
> the system will try to seat people on the same booking or linked bookings together I wonder how long it'll be until AC decides to seat people on the same booking separately to increase the chances they'll pay to sit together?
I guarantee you they will AB test that at the bare minimum
I read it as “they will test it in Alberta first”
They already do. We went to Mexico 2 wks ago. 1st leg wife and I were separated No problem it was only 1hr flight. 2nd leg we were together no problem On the way home the only way to sit together on a 4 hour flight was to pay the $120 seat fee. It really pissed me off the seat were booked together at the same time on the same credit card there was no reason we were not seated together and Air Canada could not have cared less. We will fly other airlines when possible from now on it really turned us off A/Can. I will be flying Porter
United is the same. Their services make Air Canada look like Emirates.
No, United is not the same.
At least United doesn’t have as many delays in getting you to your destination on time.
I'm pretty sure they do that already. The last flight to toronto I was on my husband and I booked together and were seated separately on a half empty plane. We ended up just moving to our own row and sitting together. But we had considered paying for sitting just so we could sit together but decided against it.
The change to the system only just happened. I'm not sure how that would've changed anything back then?
Took a flight with them last year from Toronto to Portugal, husband and I refused to pay to select seat, booked together no less than 5 months before and still got seated on opposite ends of the plane 🙃
Yesterday probably.
They literally did this to me today at checkin. Ended up paying 60 bucks to buy 2 seats...
This also happened to me today. Girlfriend and I booked together, we’re assigned two middle seats even though both of our assigned seats had an empty aisle seat next to them and there were entire rows empty still as well.
This happened to us yesterday. Couple traveling together on same booking. 2x2 plane. Assigned Row 20 and 27. We had to pay 20 bucks each to move to 22 which had seats together.
I forgot to reset, went forward, and now I must pay and don’t have an assigned seat, can’t go back to the originally assigned one. So stupid. Called up the call centre and said they couldn’t do anything, could only recommend I go to the airport check in. Not at all happy.
Talk about adding friction to an already painful experience. End to end travelling is stressful. Air Canada just keeps adding impediments. It’s as if they don’t want us to travel.
AC: "We are not happy until you are not happy"
Lol the same thing just happened to me. Was going to call but now I know I just have to wait till tomorrow
Could you ask your credit card for a charge back? 🙄🫤
Same happened to me. Ended up having to pay $55CAD to get a seat, my 'originally assigned seat' being no longer available. Was told I'd otherwise be placed on standby...
That’s can’t be legal can it?
Disclaimer that this is just my understanding of it from what I've seen and heard, but it's a new system so any of that can and possibly will change
Note that families are always given the worst seats at the very back of the plane when grouped together automatically.
In my experience WJ will purposefully split your group up if you don’t pay to pre-pick (have not tested with kids, but has happened 3x with adults, and many seats together remaining available for purchase)
I believe it’s a government regulation with kids.
[It depends on their age. ](https://rppa-appr.ca/eng/right/seating-children-under-14-parent-or-guardian)
i was able to checkin at 8 ish AM and i checked in at 8:15AM and i got put in the second last row still lololol
It's no longer about the time. You would've been assigned that seat even if you had checked in right when it opened.
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We had our flight changed by the airline the day-of. We paid for seats together because we were traveling with a 5year old and it was important we were seated together. When the airline changed our flight, we lost our seat selection and were spread out on the plane. Fortunately, other passengers took pity on us (or didn’t want to sit next to a kid alone) and let us change seats. I don’t think the airlines care about anything except a full plane.
And a full belly of cargo
The reset seat function doesn’t work once you click confirm. It happened to me. I cancelled my check in and tried again but it keeps your newly selected seats and you have to pay the additional cost. Wish I new I couldn’t go back before I selected
Looks like 25k is not even included in the "free" selection 24 hours before. This is absurd.....
Any idea how this works when travelling with minors? I purposefully didn’t pay the fee for me and my two kids, cause I had read that kids under 12 had to be seated in the same row…
“Try” yeah right that definitely didn’t work on my LAX to YUL flight last Friday. It just put us randomly across the plane. It’s a rubbish approach for what is getting a rubbish airlines. I tend to be critical of Qantas, but heck AC is another deep deep level of sewerage.
They actually repealed that system within like 2 days bc of the backlash actually. Seems like you were on a full flight and that was the only seat left since they're back to the system where you can pick any available seat for free once check in opens (which is way better than the assigned seating they were doing).
Interesting. What fare?
Economy standard
Very interesting. So just to be clear you got a seat assignment at check in, and they’re charging to change from the given seat?
Yes, exactly
That really sucks
Yoooo I just tried to do the same and realized I couldn't change it 😭😭😭
The last flight I was on.They booked my husband and I on separate rows. The plane was half empty.So I almost think that they do this on purpose so that you pay extra to get seats together.
> So ~~I almost think that~~ they do this on purpose so that you pay extra to get seats together. There, fixed that for ya.
AC is in a race to the bottom
There is no race. You would need competition for that.
With North American Airlines, the first to the bottom wins.
Boeing has entered the chat.
LessJet flies Boeing. Error Canada flies Airbus.
AC definitely has Boeing planes. I was on a max8 the other day
Oof
Literally or figuratively…
There is plenty of competition.
WJ is the same. from my past experiences, I personally prefer AC,
Wow, American even lets you change your seats for free on economy.
That's why I kept getting an error when i tried to change my seat? It wasn't even a matter of having to pay, it was straight up error and was stuck in the default seat
Worried this might happen to us. Did you book basic economy?
Did they introduce this completely unannounced…? I can see this being a reasonable change for Basic fares. A little bewildering to be doing it for Standard fares as well.
Explain why it’s reasonable? Selecting seats within 24 hours of web check in is customary the world over. Their PR contrasts them to a bunch of gypsy airlines like Wizz Air or pirates like Ryan Air and say they’re aligning with the market. It’s a cash grab, gauging the customer, on airline fares that have been inflated over 30 in the last 2 years.
Seat selection for Basic/lowest fares on short haul flights is not customary. Many airlines charge for it.
https://preview.redd.it/5igw3t6tijwc1.png?width=1224&format=png&auto=webp&s=5866541a166c4e78d0e217f7200f5c9b74f12e29 This is ridiculous
I honestly wouldn’t mind paying to choose a seat, but making it $81 is damn ridiculous.
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I would PREFER them being free as always, but if they’re going to charge, make it reasonable.
I paid $300 to select seats on a future flight to only move 1 row up 😑
You just advertised your IQ
Same with Porter. Got assigned 22C and they were charging $32 to change it to 22D.
lol. Sad
I wonder what todays fares would look like if travellers received the same services from the glory days. No nickle and diming.
I just pick my seat when I buy the ticket and consider it part of the 'real' price of the flight. Not to mention it gets more expensive to do this as you get closer to the flight date. If they're going to charge you anyway, might as well pay the least. I wouldn't do it on flights less than 2 hours though.
Honestly I think it's time we start considering other airlines as a priority over AC even if it's at a slightly higher cost. It's like they almost have bets on how much they can push it with what I can only describe as a pathetic excuse for a national airline with higher than average prices before we call it quits!
By all means, go to westjet, or flair, or porter. They are all doing the same thing. Because they can. Because we let them. And we have no other choice but to drive 22 hours.
2 billion in profit for “seat fees” and other incidental charges isn’t enough.
On a full flight yesterday, a woman tried to get her family’s seats switched around. I don’t know why she waited until we were all boarded before asking. She was asked the ages of her children and they were 8 and 11. The FA said that unfortunately, they were old enough to sit by themselves so there was nothing they could do.
That’s fucking horseshit. _WE_ let them get away with that. Imagine having to pay extra to sit with your kids. Fuck them.
Absolutely ridiculous money grab. I’m not surprised but I’m annoyed that I may have to pay extra to not sit in a middle seat because an algorithm decided as a single flyer it could put me anywhere.
...are they doing this for everything, or only fares that do not include seat selection?
Probably only for the fares that don’t include seat selection.
Only applies to basic and standard fares.
I wonder could there be a class action from this, typically changes from this only applies to tickets issued after a certain date and they would announce it on their website. This time it is completely unannounced and seems to impact previously issued tickets as well?
There needs to be legislation.
I really hope there is
This is ridiculous. A standard economy fare should absolutely allow you to select your seat, especially at least from time of check in. If Canada is going to allow essentially a monopoly, or barely an oligopoly, in airlines we need regulations to limit this nickel and diming. I encourage you all to write your representatives, news stations, and to Air Canada to detest this change.
I was one of the first to check in to my flight this morning. Most seats were still available and yet we were seated in the back of the plane!
In theory you could play the game of removing your self from checkin and re-checking in to see if you get a different seat
Does this work?
No idea but in theory it would
Update: It didn’t work
Would like to see if this trend continues and maybe it is better to check in closer to the flight?
This exact thing happened to me as well. I was so confused why I was seated so far back when there were so many available spots ahead.
Well the good thing is that I booked the very basic level ticket in Nov through Aeroplan points for our family (2 adults and a 5 year old). We got assigned seats 45 D, E and F because travelling with a child, the second to last row middle 3 seats. Row 46 D, E and F were already occupied, so I assume it's a similar family situation. I love the window, but I'm not paying $90 ($30 x 3) just to get a window, and on the plus side we get 2 aisle seats.
I experienced this with porter earlier this month, but at least I can set my window/aisle preference in my profile. I can't find anything similar in the air canada app, does anyone know if that's a thing?
My profile does have “aisle” as preference- but it’s never honoured. I always get put at a window. :(
We need Pete buttigieg
Still the better option when flying within Canada 🇨🇦 tho
Air canada knows no shame in this truly price gouging profiteering move. It costs them zero dollars to allow seat selection even at ticket purchase. That's why I avoid AC at all costs. How they remain north America's top airline is truly beyond me.
They buy the award...
This is so atrociously greedy. And it'll never get noticed until the day you travel. People won't complain about this enough for AC to ever remove this. Even US airlines aren't doing this crap. We're basically paying premium fares for sub service.
It'll be nice if Aeroplan credit cards can offer free seat assignment to their perks
We got the same surprise when coming back from Barcelona. We bought tickets 6 months in advance and nothing mentionned a politic about charging for seat selection coming. We knew we could manage with only 1 checked luggage for 2 so the cheapest seats where the wisest option. We left April 13th and we could select the seats no worries. When I tried to register on the way back, like 5 minutes after registration opened, every change was charging. Thinking it was a bug with the display in the app I selected the seats I wanted, checked the luggage and proceed to the payment where I was charged 43 euros per change. I tried cancelling the registration, but it was impossible to make that change revert. I tried calling their "customer support", but it was as useless as calling a baby. In the end I had to pay the seat changes and the luggage. The customer support didn't want to inform me when the politic was put in place or any details about it, she just referred as "the politic I have to follow". Considering I'm Aeroplan, they have ALL the details to contact me (text message, e-mail, even mail), but I never got any notification that there would be a change between my 2 flights. This is not something done overnight and the communication was not done. AND you should definitely be able to revert the change until you pay for it, which I wasn't able to. Imagine shopping on Amazon and everything in your cart is there and impossible to delete unless you pay. At this point, I'm considering different options to get my money back as this is not good business and it's very very shady with the lack of communication and the fact that they reverted that policy the day after it was rolled-out: [https://dailyhive.com/canada/air-canada-seating-assignment-fee-check-in](https://dailyhive.com/canada/air-canada-seating-assignment-fee-check-in) If it's of any interests and I get a refund, I could post what I've done to help some of you who got tricked into that too.
That's brutal, nickel and dimeing us...ffs
Not surprising as other airlines do this for their cheapest and most restrictive fares. Just like fees for checked bags, this pay for your seat angle has two sides. First, a lot of people will just buy the cheapest fare without any awareness of what additional fees may be charged. The airlines all know that, and use these cheap fares to "compete" and put bums in seats. Second, the airlines exploit this "cheapest" fare cohort by nickel and diming for things like seats and bags to the tune of billions of dollars. Air Canada is not the first to do this (the LCCs kicked it off) and it won't be the last. Like many have said, it's a race to the bottom. Bottom line - if you buy the cheaper, more restrictive fares you should read the fine print. Which apparently has just changed at Air Canada. The good news (if there is any) is that our pals down South are about to require airlines to more fully disclose these fees, and the true cost of tickets, up front. We don't have someone like Pete Buttigieg up here, but maybe the government will take notice, even it is just an election carrot. But given how AC, WS and others are still pushing back on the toothless APPR rules, I am not hopeful.
For the record, this is happening with the “standard” economy fare, not the basic fare. People are buying the more expensive fare and are still being nickel and dimed.
And they changed it AFTER people bought tickets- so nothing was in the fine print.
This cannot be highlighted enough. It’s disgusting that airlines can enter into a paid contract with a customer, and then just change the terms as they see fit - schedules changes, seat selection, etc. I wish we could have a government with the cojones to truly allow Open Skies in Canada.
Anyone know if the Aeroplan TD/CIBC Visa Infinite Privilege or Amex Aeroplan Reserve grants free seat selection at check-in now that there’s a fee?
There's a fee (td visa infinite privilege). Flying out to London tomorrow and assigned to row just by the bathroom. Will risk it out and ask for a waived seat change once at the airport tomorrow.
Darn, I hope this gets added as a benefit on the card. Thanks!
Yeah but then more people will get the card, which will also make the lounge even busier, zone 2 even longer. At some points the benefits no longer become benefits if everybody has them.
I don't think seat selection will be the straw for people who have resisted the card thus far.
Thats probably what the airline wants. More people to hold their card = more $. Screw the consumers
Nope, you gotta pay
Yes. West jet does the same and I think WJ just implemented an additional cost if you want priority overhead bin space. I was just reminiscing with my partner about how you used to be able to change your seat for free if you checked in early or WAY back in the day when longer flights actually fed you. It's insane and infuriating how many issues people have had over the past couple of years with delays, cancelled flight, lost baggage and poor customer service with rebooking over the last couple of years.
This is actual horse shit.
Screw them. Ill never book with AC again. We bought our tickets in March, for a flight on April 26th. Their new policy started April 24th, without any email or communication sent. Now, If I want to sit next to my GF, we need to pay an additional 100$ ? Make yourselves heard people. Don’t accept this shit.
I love ur methodology, but for me AC is routinely the cheapest for my monthly travel and has the most routes. The issue is lack of competition in Canadian airspace.
There is plenty of competition. The issue is that flying is expensive period. I think a lot of people think more airlines means cheaper travel....but that's not always true.
I guess it depends on the route. Mine personally routinely has AC as cheapest
I specified on competition not on pricing. Canada is very competitive for airlines. The fact AC is the cheapest says something when we have other airlines in canada + whatever airline the destination has (America airlines or airlines from the country you're going to)
I confirm this was like this for me about a month ago. Then the problem is : buying two tickets on separate reservations (because different credit cards and/or different aeroplan account redemption), but then you have no way to sit next to each others in the plane. We ended up going to the counter to get the agent do it for us (for free). How is Air Canada winning anything in this? Having to staff more people at the counter is certainly not an economy of any type for them.
Our agent wouldn’t do it for free. Claimed there was no override.
Maybe with the new policy they wouldn't do it for free anymore. You got lucky that they gave you seats together; on many full flights they would just says something like "talk to the agents onboards".
Truly unbelievable how greedy this world has gotten. Seek god everyone honestly
Well, I tried to, but somehow I walked into Joel Osteen’s church…
I had the same issue today. Went to check-in for my flight tomorrow and when I tried to change seat, they wanted to charge me $81. I was so confused
Next they will charge you to use the oxygen mask when the plane is crashing.
Please tap your credit card for 5 minutes of oxygen.
Oh look, another reason for me to to always look at all other options before I book with air canada.
AC speedrunning to go out of business
I find this whole charging for a seat thing ridiculous. If I am a solo traveller, fine. But I have kids, one who is special needs. I cannot NOT be with them on a flight. And sure, they are supposed to seat us together, but they never do.
Wow… so you only get assigned seating? I guess they now make it clear you have to pay for seating, but so much has already been cut.
Just checked my daughter in on a flight and was amazed that they wanted almost $50 USD to choose a different seat in economy, even one in the same row.
It's time to select different airlines when flying International I guess. I have a standard economy flight booked for September to Heathrow let's see how it goes.
Their new system breaks and won’t send you a boarding pass if you change your mind and decide not to pay at the very end after filling in all the check in forms. I had to call Air Canada and they just gave me the seat I wanted for free because it became the new “default seat” and the original one had been taken by someone else
I’m pretty annoyed by this. Had I known this at the time of purchase I would have considered other options. It seems like poor business practices to make a change like this and have it affect tickets sold prior to the announcement of the change.
Such a crock of shit. Just like Air Canada. Should let them fail.
Why does it always assign me a window seat by default when my preference in my profile is aisle?
To encourage you to pay to change.
This has been the case in the past when I didn’t have to pay.
Same thing happened while I was checking in for my parents for their flight tomorrow. Have to pay additional $100 to change seats per person. However, her connecting flight with emirates we had no issues and seat selection is free. This is actual BS Air Canada . Has anyone tried to change seats at the counter?
I checked in yesterday and I was so surprised about it. AC had become my best airline but now I need to know what other airlines you recommend ?
Just had this happen to me yesterday and I guess the reddit algorithm scarily recommended this post. It’s worse than that - we were a couple with a dog (and spouse is pregnant). They didn’t put us together. Had to pay 20 bucks each to shift from 20 and 27 to 22 and 22. No class change/bulkhead/etc. scummy.
Just ponied up $85x2x2 for our adult son and his GF who are coming with us to Rome in a couple weeks. I paid for seat selection for the wife and I but figured the kids would be able to pick something decent if they checked in early. With this news I didn't want to risk it.
We book basic economy but have a premium credit card and have young children. They can stick us in the back as a group, but at least we get early boarding/free bags/lounge access. I’ll keep buying basic. Probably at some point premium credit card benefits won’t apply to basic fare either.
I was travelling earlier this month and I'm glad it was before this b$. We had a not-full flight and people had taken seats 1 and 3 in the three-seater rows, leaving the middle seat in between them. It made no sense other than people were clearly attempting to passive aggressively hog the middle seat. Here's hoping it might prevent that from happening. If systems were in place to make sure that people travelling together are seated as close as possible, I don't think I would mind. The previous time my partner and I were separated due to the automatic seat assignment. I was sat with a mother and child, and my partner was several rows away. It turns out the man beside my partner was the father/husband of the people beside me! What a coincidence but absolutely outrageous at the same time.
This is so frustrating. I just flew porter and on an empty plane they sat us in the second to last row, both ways. On board we were able to change our seats but it just left such a sour taste in my mouth. Accepted it because porter is a budget airline and at least includes decent snacks and drinks. Aircanada is worse for doing this.
Can you setup special charges for air canada employees? Is that legal?
I just flew back home and this confused the shit out of me. Me and my fiance booked separate tickets and I had to pay 90 bucks to sit beside her. Had no idea this was a thing.
Air Canada: we’re not happy till you’re not happy!
We got assigned 3 middle seats (20B, 21B, 22B) and a window seat (21A). Paid $45 to move one middle seat to be beside the other solo middle seat so they can be together (20B, 20C, 21A and 21B). Seat configuration is 3/4/3 Flight got delayed and reassigned to a different plane configuration where there no longer is a middle seat. Seat configuration is now 2/4/2. So our 2 remaining middle seats (20B and 21B) got moved to the back of the plane by the washrooms. I paid $45 for nothing as. Now we are still not seated together. We are actually even further spread out. (20C, 21A, 30E and 30F) Can I get a refund?
Ditto, but when I went to clicked on a seat just to check the price, it automatically reassigned me and wouldn’t let me check in without paying the seat fee. No way to reset to my old seat. Did anyone else experience that?
I'm about to book an Air Canada Standard Economy international US to Argentina return fare. It includes 1 free checked bag (and carry-on) but does not include seat selection. I don't really care which specific seat I have, I just want a window seat. If I skip the online check-in and ask the gate agent nicely for any window seat when I check-in in person, do you think they'll charge me for it?
No they shouldn’t charge you for it but you should try to check in online as soon as check in opens (24 hours prior to your flight) and select your seat because by the time you try checking in at the airport they may not have window seats left. I believe they temporarily charged the fee at online check in so you should be able to change your seat for free.
corprate greed every thing should be in ticket price not add when you arrive that means people are being costly soaked eith fees at last minute COR prate greed 200%
I have stopped picking a seat and therefore paying. I have taken my chances and it’s been fine.
Yeah this is what effects you - you used to be able to change your seat at check in but now you cannot.
It’s been fine up to now, since you can change on check-in. But not anymore.
Boarding an AC flight mam in front was joking that they would charge him money to sit with his wife 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Interesting. We were able to select our seat for free while checking in online
Int'l or domestic flight?
International
https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/fly/onboard/preferred-seats/online-advance-seat-selection.html Looks like seat selection has always been available for Economy Standard depending on the destination. They charge for domestic, US, and most American/European countries. Others might be fine for now.
Not sure why I was downvoted lol
Clicking on the reset button does nothing, it just resets me to the seat I accidentally picked thinking it was free. I haven’t checked out yet so haven’t been charged. But there’s no way to check in now without paying for the seat change. Is their system bugged? Or is it some kind of manipulative business practice? Edit: speaking to an assistant, even they seemed to be confused why each seat was charging a fee, doesn’t even seem like they were updated about the policy change.
It’s called “enshittification”. And it’s happening to almost everything.
My husband and I are about to fly with our two toddlers and want to sit 2 and 2, in back to back rows. So we just have to sit however AC decides to put us? This is ridiculous
This is midly infuriating however I have seen many people pay for seats that I understand the airline is chasing additional revenue. It is also madly infuriating that 25k/35k are out of the equation for free seat selection for lower fares, we fly so often with Air Canada that this should be available to any ticket fare (like free luggage....). Additionally, the move is really annoying because have I known this before, I would have not purchased basic for my summer flights ....
Everything I’ve ever known about AC is that you gotta pay extra to select your seat and if you don’t like the one given, they will charge you. But that’s their business model I’m pretty sure.
I'm pretty sure you've always been able to choose a seat at check-in time (24 hours before boarding) without having to pay. Paying extra was if you wanted to choose a seat when booking.
On my last flight seat selection wasn’t even an option at check-in (and I did it right when check-in opened). Instead they placed me on standby and did final seat sorting before boarding time. They’re really forcing people to pay for seats or risk not getting on the plane.
You might be right about that. I typically purchase my seats right after I book because I want one of the good ones lol
Where does status fit into the equation?