Air Canada has temporarily walked back its decision to charge a new seat selection fee for travellers booked on the lowest fares. Under the old policy, customers with fares that didn’t offer free seat selection prior to check-in would be randomly assigned a seat at the time of check-in, with the option to change that seat to another available seat for free. However, some Air Canada customers received notices earlier this month stating the airline would soon charge passengers with standard or basic fares to change their automatically assigned seats during check-in. A Facebook account belonging to Ontario-based travel agent Kerry Berlinquette shared an image(opens in a new tab) of a notice she received on April 18. “We’re introducing a new seating assignment process for Standard or Basic Fares,” the notice reads.“When customers enter the check-in flow, our system will automatically assign a seat free of charge for those who have not purchased a seat in advance … If they wish to change their automatically assigned seat, they can easily do so for a fee.”
The notice, which stated the change would take effect April 24, triggered a wave of complaints by angry consumers on Facebook, X and Reddit. That stinks. It was bad enough you had to fight for a seat 24 hours before flight. Just another money grabber,” one Facebook user wrote in a comment on Berlinquette’s post.
“It’s frustrating when traditional airlines behave like budget airlines,” a Reddit user wrote on April 24. “They have eliminated free checked baggage and now they have also removed the option of selecting seats for free during check-in. What will be next?” Air Canada would not be the first Canadian carrier to charge a fee for seat selection after check-in. However, the airlines that charge a seat selection fee, such as Flair and Porter, tend to be low-cost carriers that offer more affordable base fares than Canada’s flag carrier.
Source:www.gotquestions.org/
Wednesday, May 6, 2026
