The best views on airplanes perhaps come at the pointy end. For others, it is the view from the wing that makes the perfect Instagram shot of their travel. But how to get those seats allocated is a mystery in itself. Except, now it won’t be.
Back in the day, Air Deccan of 2004 used to advocate free seating. So, everyone used to hang around at the gate to be able to get the best seat possible. No more, you can now pre-book your seats, and make sure you get the best available seat for yourself before you fly.
Since 2015, India’s aviation regulator has allowed airlines to sell all seat assignments for money. This has been inferred differently by different airlines, all of whom have taken to charging their fliers one way or another. Some carriers leave one-third of the plane at the back for free assignment and others charge money for everything till the second-last row. (In the process adding to their own work at the airport since people wait the last minute to get a free seat assigned.)
If your organisation has a corporate contract with the airlines, it may be a wise idea also to book tickets through your corporate agent, since these tickets would get you a free seat assignment as well. Another way to get a good seat allocated for free is to call the airline or use the manage-booking feature to pre-assign any free open seat. Let’s go over the seat assignment policies to see how they work.
Jet Airways
On Jet Airways, you can pre-assign seats from 331 days to 12 hours before your travel begins. On their Boeing 737 planes, charges for a seat can vary between Rs99 to Rs950, depending on the route you fly. They charge Rs899 for the bulkhead economy seat for most routes, and Rs699 for the exit rows. Most seats in the back of the plane are available free of cost for pre-assignment. Business Class seat assignment is free of cost. The full schedule of charges is here.
Pro tip: Full-fare economy tickets booked in Y & M fare class get free seat assignments. JetPrivilege Platinum members get all their seat assignments free of cost, and Gold members get seat assignments for certain fare classes. Make sure to add your loyalty number before you select your seats. For guests travelling with infants, you can take the bassinet seats 10B and 10E free of cost.
Vistara
Vistara, in their bid to be more customer friendly than other airlines, does not charge for seat selection as yet, except for the exit rows. This comes at a fee between Rs500 to Rs1,000, payable at the airport, depending on the length of your flight. All other seats are free to be assigned after you have booked your ticket.
Pro tip: Elite members of Club Vistara (Gold/Platinum) and Singapore Airlines Kris Flyer (Silver/Gold) get the exit rows free of cost as well.
Air India
Air India only recently decided to ask for payments for seat selection on domestic flights. Now, all the seats in the front and middle section of their planes are payable for pre-assignment till four hours before departure. Even having status on Air India or Star Alliance does not allow you to pick these seats for free. For emergency exit and front row seats, both with extra leg-room, you could be shelling out Rs500 per passenger. For window and aisle seats, the charges are Rs200.
But Air India’s process in this regard, is broken, so try it at your own risk. Air India has tied up with a website called OptionTown for processing these preferred seat assignments. (OptionTown is a platform that partners with about 30 airlines around the world to offer people the option to travel better using upgrade bidding, empty seats next to you and so on.) For pre-assigning your seat with Air India, even if paid, you can’t just pull up the seat map, select a seat and pay for it. You pay up for the seat selection, and if the seat is assigned to you, you will find out 24 hours before the flight. So, if you paid for an aisle seat, for instance, it could be in Row 5 or Row 11. Also, the T&C clearly state that the airline reserves the right to break up your group to seat you. Head to flightservices.airindia.in if you would still like to try your luck for a better seat.
Pro tip: With Air India, the best way continues to be the human touch. Arrive at the airport early if you’d like a good seat and ask nicely. Otherwise, check in 48 hours prior to see if you can get any open seats for free.
IndiGo
India’s biggest airline by market share, IndiGo has a straightforward process to help you allocate your seats on their website. On their A320 jets, you pay Rs600 per passenger for extra leg-room seats marked as XL seats, or Rs200-300 for sitting in the front or middle section of the plane (through row 20). Seats at the back of the plane are free to pre-assign, but usually run out quickly.
On their ATR routes, where everyone boards from the back of the plane, you pay Rs100-200 to assign a seat at the back of the plane. They do have four XL seats right in the front of the plane, facing each other 2×2, and these are priced at Rs300 each. Check all the details here.
One of the best ways to get a free seat assignment however, is to let IndiGo automatically check you in when the ticket is issued. This helps you get a free seat assigned on board. If you’d like a better seat, just ask at the airport or use the kiosk that prints your boarding pass to get a better one, since at that point all seats except for XL seats are free.
Pro tip: If you arrive at the airport and want an XL seat, you’d be charged Rs800 for the privilege, and you can upgrade onboard (against payment) as well if they still have XL seats left.
SpiceJet
SpiceJet has allocated five rows of extra legroom seats, three in the front and two in the middle of the plane. They charge up to Rs1,000 for these seats, labelled as SpiceMax. But they also provide a host of services on buying SpiceMax, including a meal on the plane, priority check-in and baggage handling. For other seats, they make you pay Rs99-300 for seats all the way till the second-last row of the plane. The only way to get a free seat without paying for it, is to arrive at the airport and get one. If you are a SpiceClub member (SpiceJet’s rewards program), you can get into a queue which is almost empty all the time, and hence get you a shot at better service and seat assignments.
Pro tip: SpiceJet frequently sells their SpiceMax packages at a 50% discount, in tie-up with various banks, on a promotional basis. Check their website to see current offers. SpiceJet also sells Seat + Meal combinations, which are priced at a flat Rs399 for domestic legs, and get you a meal and seat assignment.
GoAir
GoAir sells the first two rows as Business Class, but row 3 onwards, if you’d like to select a seat, you would have to pay ahead. Emergency Exit rows are charged at Rs600 online, and Rs800 if booking at the airport. All their seat selection charges are here. Other seats can cost anything between Rs99 to Rs300. It is best to arrive at the airport to get a good seat at no cost.
Pro tip: The last couple of rows are always assigned free of cost. But there may be a window missing on the window seat due to the structure of the plane. Best to stick to row 29.
Air Asia India
Air Asia India sells you a Hot Seat (extra leg room seats or emergency exit rows) when you are flying domestic. Seat charges range from Rs660 for the Hot Seats to Rs100 for the standard seats at the back of the plane. All the charges are here.
Pro tip: If you pick your seat while booking tickets, you get a 10% discount on seat selection charges. For instance, the first row Hot Seat comes at Rs600 if you book during the initial booking session.
In a nutshell, as ticket prices drop, airlines are trying to charge you via other routes to keep up their revenues. But this is not a bad thing at all. With some smart planning, you should be able to get your window seat without having to pay for it.
07/05/18 Ajay Awtaney/Conde Nest Traveller
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Back in the day, Air Deccan of 2004 used to advocate free seating. So, everyone used to hang around at the gate to be able to get the best seat possible. No more, you can now pre-book your seats, and make sure you get the best available seat for yourself before you fly.
Since 2015, India’s aviation regulator has allowed airlines to sell all seat assignments for money. This has been inferred differently by different airlines, all of whom have taken to charging their fliers one way or another. Some carriers leave one-third of the plane at the back for free assignment and others charge money for everything till the second-last row. (In the process adding to their own work at the airport since people wait the last minute to get a free seat assigned.)
If your organisation has a corporate contract with the airlines, it may be a wise idea also to book tickets through your corporate agent, since these tickets would get you a free seat assignment as well. Another way to get a good seat allocated for free is to call the airline or use the manage-booking feature to pre-assign any free open seat. Let’s go over the seat assignment policies to see how they work.
Jet Airways
On Jet Airways, you can pre-assign seats from 331 days to 12 hours before your travel begins. On their Boeing 737 planes, charges for a seat can vary between Rs99 to Rs950, depending on the route you fly. They charge Rs899 for the bulkhead economy seat for most routes, and Rs699 for the exit rows. Most seats in the back of the plane are available free of cost for pre-assignment. Business Class seat assignment is free of cost. The full schedule of charges is here.
Pro tip: Full-fare economy tickets booked in Y & M fare class get free seat assignments. JetPrivilege Platinum members get all their seat assignments free of cost, and Gold members get seat assignments for certain fare classes. Make sure to add your loyalty number before you select your seats. For guests travelling with infants, you can take the bassinet seats 10B and 10E free of cost.
Vistara
Vistara, in their bid to be more customer friendly than other airlines, does not charge for seat selection as yet, except for the exit rows. This comes at a fee between Rs500 to Rs1,000, payable at the airport, depending on the length of your flight. All other seats are free to be assigned after you have booked your ticket.
Pro tip: Elite members of Club Vistara (Gold/Platinum) and Singapore Airlines Kris Flyer (Silver/Gold) get the exit rows free of cost as well.
Air India
Air India only recently decided to ask for payments for seat selection on domestic flights. Now, all the seats in the front and middle section of their planes are payable for pre-assignment till four hours before departure. Even having status on Air India or Star Alliance does not allow you to pick these seats for free. For emergency exit and front row seats, both with extra leg-room, you could be shelling out Rs500 per passenger. For window and aisle seats, the charges are Rs200.
But Air India’s process in this regard, is broken, so try it at your own risk. Air India has tied up with a website called OptionTown for processing these preferred seat assignments. (OptionTown is a platform that partners with about 30 airlines around the world to offer people the option to travel better using upgrade bidding, empty seats next to you and so on.) For pre-assigning your seat with Air India, even if paid, you can’t just pull up the seat map, select a seat and pay for it. You pay up for the seat selection, and if the seat is assigned to you, you will find out 24 hours before the flight. So, if you paid for an aisle seat, for instance, it could be in Row 5 or Row 11. Also, the T&C clearly state that the airline reserves the right to break up your group to seat you. Head to flightservices.airindia.in if you would still like to try your luck for a better seat.
Pro tip: With Air India, the best way continues to be the human touch. Arrive at the airport early if you’d like a good seat and ask nicely. Otherwise, check in 48 hours prior to see if you can get any open seats for free.
IndiGo
India’s biggest airline by market share, IndiGo has a straightforward process to help you allocate your seats on their website. On their A320 jets, you pay Rs600 per passenger for extra leg-room seats marked as XL seats, or Rs200-300 for sitting in the front or middle section of the plane (through row 20). Seats at the back of the plane are free to pre-assign, but usually run out quickly.
On their ATR routes, where everyone boards from the back of the plane, you pay Rs100-200 to assign a seat at the back of the plane. They do have four XL seats right in the front of the plane, facing each other 2×2, and these are priced at Rs300 each. Check all the details here.
One of the best ways to get a free seat assignment however, is to let IndiGo automatically check you in when the ticket is issued. This helps you get a free seat assigned on board. If you’d like a better seat, just ask at the airport or use the kiosk that prints your boarding pass to get a better one, since at that point all seats except for XL seats are free.
Pro tip: If you arrive at the airport and want an XL seat, you’d be charged Rs800 for the privilege, and you can upgrade onboard (against payment) as well if they still have XL seats left.
SpiceJet
SpiceJet has allocated five rows of extra legroom seats, three in the front and two in the middle of the plane. They charge up to Rs1,000 for these seats, labelled as SpiceMax. But they also provide a host of services on buying SpiceMax, including a meal on the plane, priority check-in and baggage handling. For other seats, they make you pay Rs99-300 for seats all the way till the second-last row of the plane. The only way to get a free seat without paying for it, is to arrive at the airport and get one. If you are a SpiceClub member (SpiceJet’s rewards program), you can get into a queue which is almost empty all the time, and hence get you a shot at better service and seat assignments.
Pro tip: SpiceJet frequently sells their SpiceMax packages at a 50% discount, in tie-up with various banks, on a promotional basis. Check their website to see current offers. SpiceJet also sells Seat + Meal combinations, which are priced at a flat Rs399 for domestic legs, and get you a meal and seat assignment.
GoAir
GoAir sells the first two rows as Business Class, but row 3 onwards, if you’d like to select a seat, you would have to pay ahead. Emergency Exit rows are charged at Rs600 online, and Rs800 if booking at the airport. All their seat selection charges are here. Other seats can cost anything between Rs99 to Rs300. It is best to arrive at the airport to get a good seat at no cost.
Pro tip: The last couple of rows are always assigned free of cost. But there may be a window missing on the window seat due to the structure of the plane. Best to stick to row 29.
Air Asia India
Air Asia India sells you a Hot Seat (extra leg room seats or emergency exit rows) when you are flying domestic. Seat charges range from Rs660 for the Hot Seats to Rs100 for the standard seats at the back of the plane. All the charges are here.
Pro tip: If you pick your seat while booking tickets, you get a 10% discount on seat selection charges. For instance, the first row Hot Seat comes at Rs600 if you book during the initial booking session.
In a nutshell, as ticket prices drop, airlines are trying to charge you via other routes to keep up their revenues. But this is not a bad thing at all. With some smart planning, you should be able to get your window seat without having to pay for it.
07/05/18 Ajay Awtaney/Conde Nest Traveller
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