Air Canada has changed its check-in seat selection policy for certain fare classes.
As of this week, economy class pax who don’t book a seat online prior to check-in face new regulations.
Instead of being given a choice of seats at check-in, passengers will automatically be assigned a seat by Air Canada. If they wish to move to a different seat, the standard economy class fee paid for seat selection will apply.
Air Canada said the price that customers pay depends on the seat they choose, “but whatever the price is for seat selection before check-in will be the same during check-in.”
“Air Canada sells a variety of branded fares at different price points, such as Basic, Latitude and Business Class, each of which has different attributes that customers can choose to pay for or not, depending on the branded fare they buy,” the airline said in a statement sent to Open Jaw. “The ability to select your seat ahead of your flight is one such attribute (an extra bag, refundability are examples of other such attributes).
“For our branded fares that do not permit free seat selection, customers have always had the option to choose a seat prior to check-in and pay a seat selection fee, or wait for us to assign a seat at time of check-in for no fee,” Air Canada said. “What has changed, and is consistent with our branded fares, is that after seats are assigned at check-in for no fee, customers who now wish to change to a different seat from the one we assigned them will have to pay the same fee they would have paid prior to check-in.
“This is the practice at other airlines, including some in Canada,” the Air Canada statement said.
The carrier said pax who are travelling with children “can rest assured that we continue to assign seats to ensure families on the same booking are seated together for no fee.”
For more details about Air Canada's branded fares and the options available with each please see: https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/book/fare-options-and-fees.html#/
