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3. Air Canada suspends new seat selection fee policy

Days after implementing new seat selection fees on its flights, the airline reversed course due to a massive protest from travelers.

For Editorial contact |
May 8, 2024

For several years, customers benefiting from low fares on the company's flights could change their automatically assigned seat free of charge during check-in. However, this month, customers received a notice from Air Canada informing them that lower-level passengers who had not purchased a seat in advance would have to pay a fee to automatically change to their designated seat, effective from April 24.

The protests on social networks were immediate and caused the suspension of the new contract, the prices of which could exceed 50 dollars. However, the company does not plan to abandon this new policy, emphasizing “Given the limited time frame for the revised policy to come into effect, there has been very little feedback from customers. Instead, the decision to take a break was based on our own operational considerations. “This pause will allow us to better support our employees to ensure a smooth rollout in the future, which will ultimately benefit our customers. »

The temporarily suspended policy is the latest example of airlines' growing reliance on so-called incidental fees for previously bundled services, ranging from checked bags to in-flight snacks and Wi-Fi access.

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Most airlines charge customers with lower-tier tickets a fee to select their seats in advance. But Air Canada's next fare applies to passengers on a “basic” or “standard” economy fare who choose to change their assigned seats at check-in, shortly before their flight departs.