Emirates to charge extra for advance seat selection

Dubai - Emirates introduced a minimal charge for those looking to select their Economy Class seat in advance, for tickets issued on or after October 3, 2016.

Selecting your seat in advance is going to be costly for select economy class passengers in Emirates airline as the Dubai carrier will start charging at least Dh50 for advance seat selection from next month.

Emirates has confirmed to Khaleej Times that the airline would introduce seat selection charge from October 3 for those passengers who select economy class saver fare or book ticket for special fares.

The airline also confirmed that there would no charge on seat selection once online check-in opens 48 hours before the flight's departure. Flydubai already charges for seat selection. Emirates airline's Skyward members will be excluded from the charges if they are on silver or gold membership and higher, according to the airline.

Responding to a question regarding total tickets allocated for economy saver tickets in a month or year, an Emirates airline spokesperson said: "[This] information is commercially sensitive."

How to reserve seats for Emirates flights

You can reserve seats through their Manage a Booking page. After entering your Emirates booking reference, you will be able to select your preferred seating option.

Emirates offers three options for an economy class ticket -- economy saver, economy flex and economy flex plus. Economy saver is the lowest fare on every Emirates flight. All three options have different policy for refund, skyward miles and change in the date and time of the ticket after booking.

Khaleej Times checked Emirates website on Tuesday to compare fares for two different routes for the same travel dates next month and found that there is a Dh1,930 difference in fares between economy saver and economy flex for a Dubai-London-Dubai return ticket. The seat selection charges on this route will account for Dh100.

On another route, Dubai-Karachi-Dubai, the fare difference is Dh250. The seat selection charge for this route will be Dh50 for economy class.

"Emirates can confirm the introduction of a minimal charge for those looking to select their Economy Class seat in advance for tickets issued on or after October 3, 2016. The charge is only applicable on Special and Saver fares in Economy Class and will vary depending on the duration of the flight," an Emirates spokesperson said in a statement.

It added: "Children below the age of two and accompanying passengers on the same booking will be exempted from the fee. This charge is also not applicable once online check-in opens, which is 48 hours before flight departure. At this stage, seat selection is free."

Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StrategicAero Research, said: "These fees will be limited and, therefore, direct revenue generation will only impact those customers who traditionally look for the lowest fares or lowest cancellation costs."

"Emirates may also be looking to change passenger habits to use the free seat selection within 48 hours of departure instead -- although many passengers even today still tend not to do this and only do so at the point of checking in," Ahmad added.

abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com

Here's a list of other airlines that charge for advanced seat selection.

Airline Charges for seat selection

Air India Air India has introduced paid seat selection on all flights. Detailed info can be found here.