Aeroflot is finalizing preparations for introducing paid advance seat selection in Economy Class on its aircraft. The service will become available in the coming days, according to Travel.ru.
At the same time, free advance selection of standard seats will remain available for passengers holding tickets in the Optimum and Premium fare groups, for members of all three Aeroflot Bonus elite levels and both elite levels of the SkyTeam alliance, passengers who have purchased a second seat on board (for themselves or for carry-on baggage), and unaccompanied children.
Other passengers (those flying on Promo and Budget fare groups and without elite status) will now be able to reserve their preferred seat in advance for a fee. As a reminder, for the past few years, they have been unable to choose their seat at all before check-in. The cost of this seat selection has not yet been announced; it will vary depending on the flight duration and the seat location (at the front or other part of the cabin, as well as window, aisle, or center). Seats cannot be purchased using Aeroflot Bonus miles.
Space+ seats (with increased space in front) will be available for an increased fee. However, only Aeroflot Bonus Platinum members, the highest level, will be able to select them in advance free of charge. Gold and Silver members will receive a discount. Members of other SkyTeam loyalty programs do not appear to be eligible for discounts.
It's unclear whether free standard seat selection during check-in for all passengers (and Space+ seats for Gold members) will continue, but it's likely to continue.
The advance seat selection service will be available no later than 24 hours before departure (i.e., before check-in opens). However, if free seat selection at check-in remains, the new service will provide a convenient way to check the availability of various seats in advance. The advance seat selection service is not available to passengers with unconfirmed reservations or those traveling on group tickets.
Aeroflot has promised to refund seat selection fees in all cases where a passenger is unable to use their chosen seat. This applies to both cases where Aeroflot is at fault (flight cancellation, flight change, passenger transfer for safety reasons, etc.) and cases where the passenger is at fault (ticket refund, flight change, seat cancellation, subsequent purchase of a more expensive seat, upgrade using miles).
In all these cases, the passenger receives a refund, but must reselect a seat on the new flight (if the seat is changed). Aeroflot, however, has promised to automatically reassign passengers to a similar seat on another aircraft if the flight or aircraft changes, but in this case, the passenger should check whether the new seat is suitable.
Source: travel.ru