TIL I have been paying for seat selection on budget flights for 3 years and it has never once mattered
I was booking a flight from Dallas to Kansas City last Tuesday and the site asked if I wanted to pay $14 to pick my seat. I did what I always do and paid it, then a guy in line at the gate told me he never picks a seat and always ends up fine. So I watched the board on that flight and on the two after it. Every single time the gate agent called for passengers who did not have a seat, and most of them got put in the same rows I paid extra for anyway. One woman who skipped the fee ended up in an exit row with more leg room than my $14 aisle. The only time it seems to matter is if you are flying with a kid or need to sit next to someone, and even then the desk will usually fix it for free if you ask. So my new rule is no seat fees unless I am traveling with my sister. Has anyone actually been split from their group by skipping the fee, or is that just what the airline wants us to think?