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And that’s basically it!
"The use of the word 'window' in reference to a particular seat cannot reasonably be interpreted as a promise that the seat will have an exterior window view," the airline's lawyers wrote.
If you are charging extra for this seat, it certainly can be interpreted this way.
Then a payment method doesn’t need to have a payment.
For the sake of argument, what would you call a seat that was not next to the aisle? I'm not defending them but at the same time I'd understand window seat just means 'against fuselage', yet I agree this is a confusing term.
Wall seat or outer seat, I would think.
It was only because of airlines' decision to change seating layouts that made it out of alignment with the aircraft's windows to maximize capacity, and since then they have been attempting to redefine the what a window seat is.
“Outer seat” is good. Of course I think that after reading this whole article and having all the nuances in my head. Anyone who sees that term in a booking interface will not know what it means.
I've thought it over again after reading your comment, if airlines really wanted to weasel out of offering a window, and didn't want to call it an 'outer wall seat' for clarity, they could call it a "window-side seat", "window-adjacent seat", or "window-end seat". That would be like the American product saying "chocolate-flavored candy", where it's technically true and only misleads enough not to be afoul of the law.
Yeah, that’s closer to the mark. It’s so subtle. Can you call it a window-adjacent seat if it isn’t adjacent to a window? I’m sure a marketer somewhere can find the right weasel-word :D
Just don't charge extra and when customers pick a seat indicate the lack of a window. You'll find a passenger who doesn't care.
Just don’t charge extra
Exactly. That's literally the salient point.
They don’t. Aisle seats sometimes cost extra due to the slight bit of extra room to wiggle around in, but window seats never do (as far as I’m aware) - because it’s not actually an advantage to sit by a window. This is a nothingburger of an article.
They don’t. Aisle seats sometimes cost extra due to the slight bit of extra room to wiggle around in, but window seats never do (as far as I’m aware) - because it’s not actually an advantage to sit by a window. This is a nothingburger of an article.
"As far as I'm aware", nice save. Maybe read the article before you dismiss it?
Both airlines were accused of unfairly charging extra for some window seats without warning that there wasn't actually a window there.
Aviva Copaken, a plaintiff in the United suit, said she paid as much as $169.99 to choose a window seat, only to find out upon boarding that she only had a view of the cabin wall.
While American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and Ryanair are among the airlines that warn customers about this in the booking process, United and Delta do not, the suits say.
How nice of you to play for big corpo that habitually rips off customers by always skirting the extent of what the law allows them to get away with. They must be called out - to the fullest extent of the law - whenever they overstep, however little.
I'm sure multiple lawyers and countless plaintiffs decided to go to court over a "nothingburger".
Fair enough! I’m always happy to be corrected.
That's a fair point!
Wall seat. It's not hard. If window seat just means next to a wall that may have a window, it's a still a wall seat, even if there's a window. A window seat is always next to a window because that's literally what defines it as a window seat.
I’d call it bulkhead, but that term’s already used by seats in the front row of the section. Wall seating? Hullside?
For the sake of argument, what would you call a seat that was not next to the aisle?
Cabin view.
But it doesn't have a view of a cabin. Not even of the woods!
It was just a plane or something
Exterior, medial, interior?
The reality is that yes they are “against fuselage” seats which almost always means a window, but due to aircraft design, has a small chance of being up against a solid wall. They are saying that “window seat” is a descriptive term but not a guarantee because of this. I’m sure that in most cases where this has ever caused real concern, flight crews were able to reseat people to adjust or airlines compensated the aggrieved flyers or I don’t know people fucking sucked it up and moved on with their lives.
Just say "window/wall". And if customers ask "well why are you charging extra" say it's bc some people like to sleep while leaning against the wall. (true!)
Lil Jon intensifies
There's also people who don't give a f about the view but just rather not sit next to more than 1 stranger.
Window seat refers to the position: next to a window. If it just means wall, then call it a wall seat.
They should start calling it a wall seat then and I'll not choose that
Then it wouldn't sell for as much
I hope they use that as their defense lol
This is why they should've let covid kill companies that couldn't handle capitalism under stress but no we have to deal with communism for the rich instead.
Of all the horrible things capitalism does, this is the least concerning. Of course they’re going to categorize the one seat in the plane that doesn’t have a window but is on the window side of the plane as “window”. It’s more confusing to invent an extra class of seat for “window side but you’re all the way in the back behind all the windows”.
Sure, this is "boring dystopia" material. But a boring dystopia is still dystopia.
It’s only dystopian if they charge extra for window seats. They do not, as far as I’m aware. Occasionally aisle seats will be extra though, since those have a tiny bit of extra room.
I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if they have a standard discount they’ll offer to anyone who complains about this. But if they get dragged into court over it, they’ll fight it in principle.
Smells like fraud
Does it still have a seat though?
I always thought of them as "outer seats". Aisle, center/middle, and outer was always what I called them
Call it “priority seating”, let them board the plane early, and charge extra for it. Based on the kindergarten-level aggression in the boarding lines I think people would still be fighting over them even without a window.
A sad display. For a 2h flight. I prefer to hang back and enter the plane last.
Especially since no seat on the plane will be as roomy as the one in the waiting area.
Southwest was the only airline to do non-assigned seating and they just gave that up.
As if they could have resisted all the extra money they can now use to lower their prices
There was a change in corporate leadership after the collapse of Southwest's IT due to a snowstorm. New management built a new IT system which allows them to sell the kinds of add-ons that other airlines can sell.
I’ve never understood that. The plane leaves at the same time for everyone. Why hurry up to wait?
Overhead storage, usually. The earlier people get their pick of overhead storage. Later people either get a worse spot for their carry-on or the plane fills up and they have to check it.
Absolutely this. The gate check is the main concern. As a business traveler, I'm usually running on a tight schedule, and dealing with a checked bag is an extra 30 minutes minimum in my day. And if they lose my carry-on, I'm kinda fucked.
The overhead storage location can also be a hassle -- if I have a tight connection at ATL, I don't want to play leap frog for 20 minutes to get to my bag if the last open bin is in row 35 and I'm up in 15.
So yeah, I'm going to make sure I get to the head of my boarding group.
Plus if they double-booked and don't realize until you start loading, then whoever got the seat first wins.
Yeah, the isle seat is better anyway.