Continental to charge for Exit Row Seating

From this story in USA Today:

Continental (CAL) has become the latest airline to start charging coach passengers for seats with extra legroom.


Starting March 17, passengers in coach can buy a seat in the exit row and grab at least 7 more inches of space. Passengers who belong to Continental's frequent-flier program and fly at least 25,000 miles a year, and those traveling with them, will continue being able to select those seats at no additional cost.
"Our customers want more choices," Jim Compton, Continental's executive vice president and chief marketing officer said in a statement. "Seats with additional legroom are higher-value seats, and we want to offer them to customers who recognize that value."


Passengers can buy the seats when they check in online or at the airport up to 24 hours before their flights. The costs will vary. Such a seat on a flight from Newark Liberty to Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston might cost an extra $59, for instance, while additional legroom might be available on a holiday at a discount, the airline says.

Interesting...I like the extra legroom, but $59 extra from Newark to IAH? Never really understood why the airlines couldn't just raise fares back to a place where they make money. Guess this sort of stuff isn't news in Europe though. Didn't EasyJet or Ryan try to charge for visits to the lav?

No need to worry for Non-revs! There will be no charge for us but that will only be if no one else decides to purchase them first.

Which I haven't seen so far. They go empty until we have to assign them at the gate!

That doesn't suprise me...I remember a few years ago when NW led the way in charging for seats, we had the NW contract and it always happened that way!