I am looking for 4 seats on a trip to Germany. I have check multiple sights and all show Air Berlin flights as the best route and fares. However, when I go to Air Berlin's site, to have assigned seats, it is about $67 more per person that going through expedia, Kayak, etc. If I book now through the other sights would I get assigned seats or would I have to wait and get the luck of the draw. Or would the airline still charge extra for the seats?
thanks,
David
Is this for a flight from Miami to Germany? Where in Germany? What time of year? I always check ITA Matrix Search for the best fares. If you haven't, you might try it. I experimented with RT Miami to Frankfurt in January, and Air Berlin with one stop was 50% higher than some others who had non-stop flights. Here's the link to check things out: http://matrix.itasoftware.com/.
You can play with the search boxes until you get an option you like. It will spit out an itinerary with all the pertinent details and code numbers to make reservations with whatever airline you choose. Print it out to refer to. Then you get to make the reservation with them. If you don't see the same options when you search their database, call them. And if Air Berlin is your choice, you can find out about the seat charge when you talk to them.
We flew Air Berlin from Florence to Stuttgart in June, 2011. We got assigned seats at no extra charge, but that was 2.5 years ago and within Europe. I made the reservations online from here before we went. For what it's worth, maybe nothing, I never book through a 3rd party. It's just gets too complicated if something goes wrong.
I bought tickets through Vayama for an Air Berlin flight SFO RT to Dusseldorf back in 2011. I was able to choose my seats but did have to pay extra for doing so. I don't know if it is still the same now.
Many airlines are charging extra for being able to select your seats or board early. Southwest does this for early boarding as they don't have reserved seats. More and more airlines seem to be doing this for that extra cash. Not sure if Air Berlin is doing this but they are a "budget" airline.
I took Air Berlin roundtrip Chicago - Berlin this spring. I didn't pay extra for seat assignments. We were assigned seats when we checked in at the airport. The seats were fine (as in, we had two seats next to each other on the aisle.) We were in economy. I liked the airline a lot, though they make you check your bags (even what would normally be a carryon on other carriers they make you check).
When I flew Air Berlin in September 2012, I had to pay extra to pick seats in advance (my mother and I wanted to be sure we were seated next to each other). If we had not paid, we would have been assigned seats at check in.
If you want to pick seats in advance, just think of it as part of the ticket price (so you can factor it in when comparing airline prices). The other potential snag was the low maximum carry-on weight. Our bags weren't checked carefully, but some others were.
Everything else about the airline and the flight was fine, and I'd definitely fly them again. They also offer Economy Plus seating, if you want/need more legroom.
