Is it worth it to pay for pre-booked seats on a 12 hour flight?

[Hannah]

I definitely prefer isle seats and would prefer dh to be sitting next to me on a 12 hour flight, but is it really worth the 10% additional cost it would add to our flights?

What would you do?

 

[Pam in CT]

Yes. 

I grumble (and where I can, I now choose to drive up to 8 hours to avoid flying, which gets more miserable and unreliable every year), but I pay for preselected seats and I pay a LOT (like, pretty much whatever it takes) for direct flights rather than connecting, which double the known time and hassle and triple the risk of potential further problems.)

I don't mind the psychological up-in-the-air part of flying at all; and I don't even mind too much the physical discomfort and lost sleep of it. But the hassle on both ends and the unreliability of arriving at destination within 2 hours of purported schedule has gotten out.of.control.

 

(It IS substantially better on international flights where at least IATA rules apply. I hope yours is international.)

[Bootsie]

It would depend upon how much the tickers were, how crowded I think the plane is likely to be, what airline it is, and what the plane configuration is.  If it is 10% of a $800 ticket, I probably would.  If it is 10% of a $3000 ticket, I probably would not.  

[Hannah]

11 minutes ago, Pam in CT said:

(It IS substantially better on international flights where at least IATA rules apply. I hope yours is international.)

It's an international flight.

9 minutes ago, Bootsie said:

It would depend upon how much the tickers were, how crowded I think the plane is likely to be, what airline it is, and what the plane configuration is.  If it is 10% of a $800 ticket, I probably would.  If it is 10% of a $3000 ticket, I probably would not.  

The plane is likely to be very crowded at the time of year and day of the week.

International tickets (converted - US$1500 for two).

2 - 4 - 2 configuration.

ETA: Lufthansa/ Swiss Air

Edited August 1, 2023 by Hannah

[CTVKath]

I would definitely pay for the pre-booked seats. We have kids but even without kids, I'd want my DH with me for that long of a flight. If it were a short jaunt, I might or might not (although my DH still would because he prefers the aisle seat).

My DH had to change a flight last week on Delta and while he prebooked his seat on the original flight, he wasn't able to prebook a seat on the changed flight. He ended up on the last row of the plane and in the middle. Not his favorite.

[ScoutTN]

Yes.

[Bootsie]

With that configuration, I would not pay the extra.  I would have plenty of time to spend with DH at the destination (and an extra $300 to enjoy).  I would also consider what type of seat DH prefers.  If I booked a window and an aisle because I prefer an aisle--then I would be deciding DH will have a window seat.  With a 2-4-2 configuration the worst case is that there is one person between me and the aisle.  I have also experienced a number of issues--change of plane, flight change, etc. that caused me not to have the seats I originally booked, and getting reimbursement is a pain.  

I don't know if it is an option in this case, but sometimes I have the option of paying more up front for a "pick your seat" ticket, or I can book and the pay to pick a seat--and that does not have to be done at the time of booking.  So, I can watch and see what the seating options are as we get closer to the flight and decide if I am likely to get stuck with undesirable seats and then I can pay for seat selection.

[Starr]

Every flight I’ve been on is full or only a seat or two is empty. If you don’t pay to reserve your seats you will likely be in a middle seat. 

[Pawz4me]

I would. But I despise flying, do everything I can to avoid it, and am willing to pay to lessen the irritation as much as possible.

[regentrude]

Yes. On flights that length, I would even consider paying for Economy Plus if it's feasible. 

[theelfqueen]

I absolutely would. Every time I've ever not paid I've regretted it.

[Toocrazy!!]

It depends on how much you care. Worst case scenario, you are both in separate middle seats. Would it bother you to fly like that? That’s probably what will happen. 
I went on a group tour this summer and the group booked our, I’m sure very cheap, tickets with no input on seat selection for me. I was in a middle seat for about 9 hours, but lucked out I was between nice people. I survived. 
Given the choice though, I would select my seats. 

[JustEm]

No. I would only pay for seats if I was flying with my younger kids. Even my 14, 13, and 10 year old could handle not sitting with me.

[Navymom]

Yes! 

 

[Hannah]

4 minutes ago, Toocrazy!! said:

It depends on how much you care. Worst case scenario, you are both in separate middle seats. Would it bother you to fly like that? That’s probably what will happen. 

I know I'd need to get up to go to the bathroom a few times during the flight and I'd feel awkward waking someone up to do so (it is a night flight).

[Kuovonne]

Hard to say. How full is the flight? Does paying more to select your seat come with other perks like getting to board a little earlier? How important is leg room or proximity to bathrooms to you?

Most of my recent domestic flights have every seat filled, and getting to board a little earlier than other ensured that I got to keep my carry-on with me. Other passengers who boarded at the end had to gate check their carry-ons and pick them up at baggage claim.

On the other hand, my daughter’s recent international flight was fairly empty. She got an entire row to herself, and other people did too.

I usually sleep on long flights, so sitting next to family on the flight itself isn’t a big deal.

From what I’ve seen of other people boarding, both choices (pre-selecting seats and sitting together, and not pre-selecting and sitting apart) are common.

Can you get the tickets now without paying more to pick a seat, then decide later?

[Hannah]

5 minutes ago, Kuovonne said:

Can you get the tickets now without paying more to pick a seat, then decide later?

We've bought the tickets.  I now need to decide if it is worth paying extra for a pre-booked seat.  The flight is in a few weeks, and so far available pre-booked seats are about 30% filled and I expect the flight to be full.  We have learned from prior experience that we will probably have to check-in at the airport rather than online 24 hours prior to present visas at the desk (so will be some of the later passengers booking in as making the trip to the airport and back the night before won't be feasible).  Dh is not being very helpful as he says he doesn't really care where he sits.

[Bootsie]

If your husband doesn't care where he sits, you could always just pick and pay for a seat for yourself.  You wouldn't be guaranteed that you would be sitting next to him but you would get a seat you are comfortable with.  If your husband is assigned a seat at least as desirable as the one next to you, he could always ask the person sitting that seat to switch.  Or, you can ask the person sitting next to your husband to change with you.  If your husband has an interior seat, you would be switching aisle for aisle with someone.  If your husband ends up with an aisle seat, it would probably be easy to get the person sitting in the interior seat to switch for your aisle seat.

[Toocrazy!!]

Maybe just pay for one aisle seat for you then. If you don’t care to be separated. 
 

I get the bathroom thing. It’s why I always pick an aisle seat. My aisle mate had a back issue so he was up a lot and I always just followed him out of the row. 

[Corraleno]

I would absolutely pay for assigned seats on a 12 hour overnight flight — or at least an aisle seat for you if your DH really doesn't care about being stuck in the middle of the middle section, with likely no overhead bin space for his carryon, which is where he'll be without an assigned seat. Ensuring that I have at least one armrest to myself, and not having to wake a sleeping stranger and climb over them in order to pee multiple times on a 12 hour flight, is well worth the extra money to me.

[MEmama]

No. I don't care who sits next me and all I do on flights is sleep or watch a show on my iPad. I'd welcome the opportunity to not have to talk.

[skimomma]

No, I would not.  The last few times I have flown, including internationally on FinnAir, our "pre-booked seats" were reassigned anyway.  In some cases, due to delayed/cancelled flights and in another it was because we had to check in at the airport like you are describing.  I also prefer the aisle but have found that it can be just as annoying to be in an aisle seat on an international flight and have the window seat person need to pee every 20 minutes.  So, really, it is all just misery and there is little point in spending extra money to try to minimize the misery.

Also, just a heads up, we had our special meal request ignored on the last international flight we took.  Luckily, I had snacks on hand to fill the gap but the days of assuming your requests have been taken seriously are apparently over.  We are vegetarians and were one of the last to be served a meal on our last trip and learned that earlier passengers had been served our vegetarian meals and we were just out of luck.  This happened BOTH ways.

[zimom]

12 hour flight?  Heck yeah.   That is a long time to be stuck next to someone that talks nonstop or just a million other things that can be annoying....  One can put up with inconveniences fairly easily for 2 hours, but 12???    

 

[Clarita]

I wouldn't pay extra for it, but it depends on your tolerance for complete strangers for 12 hours. I'm used to putting up with it all for 13-15 hours. (If you are going to spread into my seat space the bottom of my shoes will be what you are touching.)

[wintermom]

You could pre-pay, and then something could happen between booking and the flight, and your pre-booked seats might not be available. It's a risk. My friend and her family (4 adults all over 6 feet tall) pre-paid for seats with extra leg room, and then lost them with a plane switch. They managed to survive the 5 hr flight, but I'm sure it was uncomfortable.

I usually don't bother pre-paying for seats as I'm not a fan of giving the airlines extra money when it's a complete money grab and don't care that much. I also know that I'd be pissed if I paid and my expected seat wasn't available. 

Edited August 1, 2023 by wintermom

[Amira]

We’ve sometimes not been able to choose our seats without paying more up front on long international flights.  It’s never turned out to be a problem.  We check in online as soon as we can (often 48 hours in advance) and choose our seats then, knowing that we’ll still need to check in again at the airport with our visas.  I’d much prefer to sit next to dh, but it’s not that bad if we can’t sit together. And I don’t worry about asking people to move if I need to use the restroom.  That’s part of the deal of being in an aisle seat and everyone knows that people get up several times on a 12-hour flight.  With a 2-4-2 arrangement, the worst you’ll have is one person to climb over.  

In the end, it would come down to how much extra it cost and whether we could afford the extra fee and how many of us are flying. 

[rebcoola]

No but I would be taking drammine and basically passes out the whole flight.

[Sneezyone]

Oh yeah. We have a mere 8hr flight next year and our seats have already been claimed.

[Arcadia]

7 hours ago, Hannah said:

It's an international flight.

The plane is likely to be very crowded at the time of year and day of the week.

International tickets (converted - US$1500 for two).

2 - 4 - 2 configuration.

ETA: Lufthansa/ Swiss Air

I would pay up because I am used to paying more than US$1k per person for a flight back to see parents and relatives. I would also want to have a two seater if I am traveling with my husband because my husband also prefers not to have strangers seating next to him if possible.    
 

I would have picked an aisle seat for being able to walk up and down the aisle when I get legs cramps from a long haul flight. I can’t fall asleep on planes and I can’t sit put for long hours, so even if I don’t need the restroom, I would still need to get up and stretch.

[Jann in TX]

For that long of a flight I would want to sit next to DH-- I tend to 'lean' when I sleep and would not want to bother a stranger sitting next to me!

While I am sort of an introvert-- I have been on long international flights sitting away from the group-- I was not fond of that (head of group thought I would appreciate leg room over company-- nope!).

with 2-4-2 seating  I would definitely pay to sit with one of us on isle... then we could trade off as needed and not have to crawl over strangers-- or have strangers crawl over us!

[chocolate-chip chooky]

How common is it to have to pay extra to choose your seats?

I'm a very inexperienced traveller, but I've never had to pay extra to choose our seats, and we've never had them reassigned. I've only flown with QANTAS. 

 

[Catwoman]

Yes, I would absolutely pay extra. 

[Sneezyone]

43 minutes ago, chocolate-chip chooky said:

How common is it to have to pay extra to choose your seats?

I'm a very inexperienced traveller, but I've never had to pay extra to choose our seats, and we've never had them reassigned. I've only flown with QANTAS. 

 

It is typical for U.S. based carriers.

[Miss Tick]

1 hour ago, chocolate-chip chooky said:

How common is it to have to pay extra to choose your seats?

I'm a very inexperienced traveller, but I've never had to pay extra to choose our seats, and we've never had them reassigned. I've only flown with QANTAS. 

 

It's typical for low-cost carriers (think Ryan Air types). The major airlines will have a chunk of seats in the back that you can choose when you check-in, and then offer seats with more legroom or larger seats or closer to the front, for a premium. I don't regularly pay those premiums, but I'm not terribly picky about where I sit or sitting next to strangers. Usually I can sit with our near my companions by picking seats when I check in.

[J-rap]

On a shorter flight, no, but on a longer, international flight -- yes.  

FYI:  On major airlines, if you have some points with the airlines, you can book your economy ticket with money but then do an upgrade with points, so that you can get better seats.  I often do that.  

[QueenCat]

I won't book a flight that I can't choose my seat on. 

[2squared]

We are a family of 7 with one aisle seat person, 5 window seat people, and 1 who doesn’t care as long as he doesn’t sit by strangers. I always select seats for everyone in the family, and most of us prioritize our preferred seat type over sitting by family. The seven of us are usually in the same section of the plane, and if possible, I get seats in adjacent rows. 

My boys have long legs, so I buy the seats with more legroom for them. Regular seats are fine for the girls and me, but the boys have a difficult time with their knees jammed against the seat in front of them.