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Additional fees seem to be the way of air travel these days. The majority of major airlines have begun charging for a second checked bag, and other carriers offer a veritable a la carte menu of services including meals and curbside check-in. We’re also seeing additional costs for leg-room, with some airlines even considering charging extra for aisle and window seats. Midwest Airlines is the latest carrier to put a price on leg-room with their Signature Seating. They’re not sticking you in a middle seat if you’re not willing to pay, but they now offer a seating choice on their MD-80 aircrafts. You can purchase a standard airline ticket for Saver Seating, or you can kick in an extra $65 for Signature Seating, which will be “arranged 2-by-2 with exceptional legroom.” There will be 12 signature seats on select Midwest Airlines flights. Keep reading to see the routes that will be affected, and decide if extra comfort is worth an extra $65… |
Signature seating is available on the following routes:
Milwaukee to:
- Ft. Lauderdale
- Ft. Myers
- Kansas City (Flt. 918 only)
- Las Vegas
- Los Angeles
- Orlando
- Phoenix
- San Francisco
- Seattle/Tacoma
- Tampa
Kansas City to:
- Milwaukee (Flt. 921 only)
- San Francisco
For more on how airlines are charging you to stretch out, please read “How Much is Leg Room Worth?”
Your information about seating choices is correct, and thank you for publishing it. This began in September of 2007, and is the first phase of making a choice of seating available on all mainline aircraft, including our 25 Boeing 717’s, which will have 40 Signature Seats–with even more legroom than now–and 59 Saver Seats.
What’s new is that you’ll be able to purchase Signature seats in advance, rather than just at check-in. They’ll be included for no extra charge with certain business-type fares, and available for purchase in advance or at check-in.
Comment by Jim from Midwest — April 24, 2008 @ 3:58 pm
I purchased 5 one way Airtran tickets from Orlando to LAX on 12/13/07. I purchased 5 return tickets from LAX to Orlando on 01/15/08. Both sets of tix were purchased well before Airtran decided to charge a fee for the second checked bag. The contract of carriage in force at the time of purchase specifically called out that we were entitled to 2 checked bags at no charge. Since the COC in force at the time of purchase spelled this out, how can Airtran legally impose an addtional fee after-the-fact? I called their customer no service and was told that the COC is subject to change at any time and that we would have to pay for any checked bags after the first. I tried to argue that the contract in force at purchase should be honored. They didn’t care. With this logic, they could charge $500 per bag and we would have no choice but to pay it if we wanted to check a bag. I think this is an unfair way to raise the price of a ticket after the sale.
Comment by Tim Gruber — June 9, 2008 @ 8:09 am