Daily Talker: Paying To Avoid The Middle Seat

The dreaded middle seat. Tight space, no view and no exit. According to the New York Times, it's getting harder and harder for fliers to avoid it. That is unless they want to pay. Airlines have been finding new ways to charge you if you want to avoid sitting in the middle. The NY Times article says "Southwest, which does not assign seats, raised the price of an early-boarding pass to $15 from $12.50… Delta's Basic Economy fare doesn't allow you to choose a seat until after check-in – when higher-paying customers have had a chance to claim window and aisle seats… American and United Airlines plan to introduce similar fares this year. Neither would confirm whether selecting a seat would be one of the perks eliminated." But some airline analysts say it's going to happen. Why? The big airlines are dealing with more competition from low-fare carriers. If paying more to avoid the middle seat weren't bad enough, many airlines are adding more seats onto planes. What do you think? Would you pay more to avoid the middle seat?

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