Passengers who pay extra to sit together on flights are wasting their money in the majority of cases, a new investigation has revealed.
A Which? analysis of the experiences of 3,357 economy passengers found that of those who refused to pay extra to select a seat, almost nine in 10 (86%) were seated together anyway. This figure rose to 90% when Ryanair was excluded from the list.
Rory Boland, Which? travel editor, told consumers that unless they’re flying with Ryanair or Wizz Air – or they want extra legroom – “it’s not worth paying more to choose your seat”.
The 10 most popular airlines that operate paid-for seating options were asked whether or not they seat families, couples and groups together – and all of them confirmed that they did with the exception of Ryanair and Wizz Air.
Ryanair had the lowest proportion of passengers seated together if they hadn’t paid extra for allocated seating, at just under half (46%). The airline said it doesn’t try to keep groups together, but denied actively splitting them up in order to boost its profits.
British Airways recommends that passengers reserve a seat “as early as possible to avoid sitting separately from your family or friends” during the booking process. But 91% of BA customers who didn’t purchase allocated seating still got to sit together.
Seat prices fluctuate between airlines and, in some cases, passengers are forced to pay a premium. BA’s standard seats start at £7 per person, per journey short-haul, and £20 long-haul. For a family of four travelling to New York, that’s an extra £160 on the return price.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said this means plane passengers are spending £175 million a year “unnecessarily” on seats they would probably be given anyway, adding that it was “concerned” about how transparent and easy it is to compare prices and make an informed buying decision.
Experts also believe splitting up families on flights poses a safety risk. The Royal Aeronautical Society Flight Operations Group said family members sat in different sections of a plane may lose precious time looking for one another during an emergency evacuation, putting themselves and others at risk.
Dai Whittingham, chief executive of the UK Flight Safety Committee, said any airline that intentionally splits travelling companions up is at best unwise, and at worst risking fatal consequences by “putting its profits ahead of passenger safety”.
Ryanair responded that it “fully complies with all EU safety regulations” and Wizz Air said “the safety of our passengers is always our number one priority”.