TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Westjet flights

That's a cool coincidence. I was in 2F, so just a couple rows in front of you if there was no row 4! Flying in Premium on WestJet, or Business or Signature Class on Air Canada, does put SOME of the fun back into flying, but definitely at a cost. For shorter flights, especially under 2 hours, I often just do extended comfort economy, as you did.

I did luck out by booking the right side of the aircraft. The first 3 rows on our side had 35" pitch. Those who paid for Premium seated on the left side of the aircraft were in economy seats with only the regular 29" or 30" of pitch. They got totally screwed by WestJet, IMO. The whole thing was a complete schmozzle!

Avion's flat rate chart will cover up to $450 per flight segment in any class. You can apply additional Avion points to pay all or part of the difference, but it usually takes a LOT more points, so I normally just pay cash. My cash outlay is often only a little more than the cost of a non-basic economy seat and the points essentially pay for the upgrade. Plus I get free checked bags, priority security, priority boarding, no seat fee, and free food and drinks. That helps offset some of the additional cost.

My late wife and I made a decision to build the cost into our travel plans about 10 years ago, when three flights in a row were sold out, so the middle seat ended up being occupied. Prior to that we would book a window and aisle seat about 3/4 of the way back in the aircraft. 90% of the time the middle seat was empty. That strategy worked well for a few years. Then they reduced the pitch further in economy and figured out algorithms to fill the flights up. We had had enough of cattle-car air travel.