US: Avoiding the dreaded middle seat may now cost you

The middle seat is getting harder to avoid. As planes fly at record capacity and new cabin configurations squeeze in ever more passengers, airlines are, intentionally or not, nudging fliers into paying extra to avoid drawing the proverbial short straw. Southwest, which does not assign seats, raised the price of an early-boarding pass to US$15 from $12.50 last month. For those who do not pay up, it is a mad rush when online check-in opens 24 hours before the flight. Delta’s Basic Economy fare does not allow seat assignments to be made until after check-in, when higher-paying customers have had a chance to claim window and aisle seats. American and United plan to introduce similar fares this year. Neither would confirm whether selecting a seat would be one of the perks eliminated, but one airline analyst said it was likely, given the competition legacy airlines face from low-fare carriers. <br/>