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A “non-smoking” seat on USA3000? What is this, the 80s?

March 22, 2010

When Betty Lees booked a flight from Philadelphia to Cancun, Mexico, recently, her confirmation contained an odd relic from the past: a request for a “non-smoking” seat.

It also contained a nasty whiff of the future — a $9 charge for the seat.

“Very curious,” she told me. “Since you can’t smoke on the plane, why is there a fee for a non-smoking seat?”


I couldn’t believe any airline would sell “non-smoking” seats, since the Transportation Department banned smoking on flights decades ago. (It first limited passengers from lighting up on April 23, 1988, when it banned smoking on U.S. airline flights of less than two hours.)

But alas …

I tried to contact USA3000 for an answer. No response.

Here’s what might be going on: All seats on USA3000s flights are non-smoking, so passengers like Lees can breathe easy. Like other misguided discount carriers, USA3000 charges passengers extra for seat reservations — according to its Web site, however, that is $7 per seat.

What does USA3000 charge $9 for? According to its site, it used to charge $9 per bag for domestic checked luggage. It now charges $15.

Maybe the airline upped its prices and forgot to update its site. Maybe the reference to “non-smoking” was just a relic from a legacy reservations system. Maybe no one really knows.

But one thing is certain: Lees must pay the $9 if she wants her seat. Plus all of the other silly little extras that airlines like USA3000 throw her way.

That’s the price you pay to fly today.

(Photo: pilotmadden/Flickr Creative Commons)

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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27 comments

  • Dang

    I can imagine the answer of USA3000: “Of course, if you don’t pay a surcharge for a non-smoking seat, you will fly standing.”.

  • Sharon Pomerantz

    Hey Chris – where will this nickel and dime effort ever end? I am familiar with the industry all too well…but I think airlines will need to come full circle and just raise rates and give an “all inclusive” offer – right?!

  • Joe Farrell

    “USA3000 has reacted to the preferences if its passengers and now offers non-smoking pre-selection of seats for a nominal charge of $9.00 US. We understand that our passengers do not like paying extra, but they like the convenience of pre-selecting their seats and being guaranteed a seat without smoking.”

  • Peter

    I called the carrier. There is no $7 fee to select a seat – the fee is the same $9 one listed on the ticket. It is badly labeleed, but it appears to be a legacy caption for seat selection, and not an additional charge for the right to sit in a non-smoking seat.

  • david

    Lets not just pick on tourism…… maybe I missed something but alot of businesses nickel and dime you…. 1. Banks – ATM fees, Cashing a Check Fee 2. Auto – Destination Fee 3. Pizza Delivery Fee!! 4. Heck, I bought tickets to a RAYS game…. and was charged a convenience fee for using my credit card!!! Convenient for who?? Me?

    I remember when you could take your money from the bank for FREE and buy a pizza delivered in 30 minutes for FREE on the way to see a baseball game with tickets at Will Call for FREE!

  • Scott

    Their software probably doesn’t have a field for a checked bag fee, or a get to pick your seat fee, so they just reuse the non-smoking field for something else. Otherwise they would have to pay someone to update the software. Maybe when they run out of obscure fields in their software, they will stop thinking up new fees.

  • http://http/aol.com barbie45

    Sigh, I would gladly pay a hundred dollar sextra for a smoking seat. It is probably just my imagination but there seemed to have been fewer altercations all around. Oh well thank goodness for Atlanta with their grungy smoking lounge. Still seems a popular place.

  • Liz

    Hey Dang, I think the convesation would go more like this:

    “Why am I being charged for a non-smoking seat? The entire plane is non-smoking”

    “Well, if you don’t want to pay we can put you in the smoking section”

    “THERE IS NO SMOKING SECTION”

    “Guess you’ll have to pay then”

  • Bill

    I’m sure back in the day, they had smoking seats and non-smoking seats. When smoking was banned, they would have merely removed the smoking seats from inventory. Kind of gives one an uneasy feeling about how old the computer system might be.

    If Atlanta does indeed have a smoking lounge, I hope it is not “leaky” like Denver’s is. You can smell the smoke out in the main area, surprise surprise.

  • Heather Collins

    To “David”….no US merchant can charge a fee for the using a credit card (or
    state that a minimum amount be billed before a credit card can be used).

    It violates the agreement the MERCHANT signed..which stated that by
    signing the agreement, the merchant agrees to the “no charging fees for using
    a credit card” or “requiring a minimum before a credit card can be used” rules.

    And in case you want to check, go to any credit card web site….this information is easily confirmed. (This same agreement also bars the merchant for offering a ‘discount’ if payments are made in cash).

    I’ve reported a number of merchants to the my credit card company.

    In addition, I’ve actually patronized a few places that try to get away with minimum purchases or adding on credit card ‘usage’ fees. When I tell
    the cashier, or whoever, that they aren’t allowed to do this, AND that it was clearly stated as such in their agreement that they signed with the credit card company, there has NEVER been a problem. It’s the “oh I didn’t know” or some mumbled explanation. They fold like a cheap accoridian. They know they got ‘busted’. I also report them because I don’t trust them to stop the practice for ignorant customers.

    I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again….a dishonest merchant’s worst customer is an ‘ignorant’ one.

  • J C

    If it is an outdated computer system as several posters have suggested, I would have to wonder what else is outdated. I don’t think I would want to take the chance.

  • Eric

    Maybe the $9 is to guarantee that your seat will not be on fire. Makes about as much sense as some other things travel companies have done.

  • MeanMeosh

    Whenever I hear “smoking or nonsmoking”, I always think of that scene on Airplane! where Striker gets the ticket that’s literally smoking. Maybe that’s what you get for $9. That might be kind of cool, actually.

  • Mollee

    The $9.00 per person charge is for pre-assigned seats, and it’s optional. Betty and Thomas could have saved themselves the $18.00 and gotten their seats at the gate, and you could have saved some time on this blog by doing a bit more research.
    http://www.usa3000.com/seat_assignment.htm

  • Christopher Elliott

    @Mollee, nice work. I searched the entire site for the price (“$9″) but it didn’t show up. Now I see that the USA3000.com site uses what appears to be Flash to display some information. Which doesn’t appear to be searchable, at least in the same way.

    Still doesn’t explain the non-smoking.

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  • http://everything-everywhere.com Gary Arndt

    Where are the murder-free seats???? Why is USA3000 pro-murder??? I’d gladly pay money for a murder-free seat. They should consider offering this service.

  • Mike

    The bill as shown charges for a non smoking seat. Given that seats were non smoking since the late 80s and the internet as we know it didn’t really come about for several years later, i would have to say that the airline is screwing the customers over on this one. I would call the state AG and let them know of this practice.

  • jerry

    Following onto Mike’s comment, US 3000 began operations in 2001 and the smoking ban for US flights began in 1988. Unless they bought a pre-existing booking engine, there’s no rational explanation.

  • http://www.clarksburgtravel.com Geoff

    A non-smoking seat is one that no smoker has ever sat in. It does not stink when they get up and is as fresh as a baby’s tush. If it only existed.

  • Nobody

    A service charge for seat assignment? Does TicketMaster know about this? Do Concert-goers blog about service charges on concert tickets, especially when they buy the tickets in advance at the venue box office?
    How does Orbitz stay in business?

  • Ernest

    to Heather Collins March 22, 2010 at 1:17 pm
    It violates the agreement the MERCHANT signed..which stated that by
    signing the agreement, the merchant agrees to the “no charging fees for using
    a credit card” or “requiring a minimum before a credit card can be used” rules.

    I wished I lived in your world. I have seen multiple ‘charges’ for using a credit card. I was under the impression as you stated that it was not allowed but MasterCard and Visa both told me it was up to the issuer (wellsfargo) to determine. Quite frankly, they didn’t care so if it is against the rules, it does not seem to be inforceable.

    Do you actually get results from your complaints? I would be intertested in your information. willyard4@hotmail.com

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  • Mark K

    Heather, the ban on discounts for cash is no more. There were several court cases that went against the card companies that changed this. The merchant just cannot post a sign saying “pay cash and you get a discount.”

    Ernest, I think the fees you refer to are the ones your bank, the one that gave you the credit card, are charging you. Annual fees, over limit fees, card reissue fees, statement mailing fees, customer service contact fees, fees for just about everything but they are not MERCHANT fees. Not sure where you have been using your credit cards, but I use nothing but cards and nowhere have I been charged an extra fee to use the card to buy anything.

    You can’t really blame a merchant from wanting to charge extra to accept your card. The fees they get charged for accepting your card, which all goes directly to the card issuing bank as profit, keep jumping every year even though the cost of the service goes down for the issuing bank as more people use their cards. Not saying it is right, or that a merchant shouldn’t just quit accepting cards if the cost is too high, but I understand the frustration.

  • Ernest

    @ Mark K

    Actually the only fees for using my card that I have ever paid were to a travel agent that tried to get me to use another form of payment other than the card. I should have listened to my instincts and found another agent for my trip but I paid the fees and used the card. I thought it was important to have the protection of a credit card in case something didn’t work out, which it didn’t. When things went south, I was able to dispute some charges which means I only lost about $3K instead of $12.

    Now I am a believer of using a credit card and of never using another travel agent. I am sure that there are a lot of honest ones out there but the three thousand dollar loss was a good lesson. I now do all my own travel planning and I have not cheated myself yet.

  • Rob

    NSST is a generic special service request (SSR) code meaning “non-smoking seat.” Since airline computer systems date from the 1960s, there still exists (though not used) SMST (I think) code for a “smoking seat.” All the invoice did was read the SSR and print it out. So Betty can blame her confusion on a 1960s era computer system. These codes are used by airlines all over the world so that they can understand one another as airlines and travel agents book across multiple carriers now.

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