Continental puts a price on certain seats

By Joe Brancatelli

Continental Airlines has embarked on a “pizza strategy” — the odd theory that posits passengers will pay more on an à la carte basis for stuff on flights that is currently bundled into the airfares. Its latest initiative: selling exit row seats for mysterious prices that the carrier won’t reveal and admits will be on a what-the-market-will-bear scale.

Effective March 17, Continental says these so-called “premium seat assignments” on flights will be for sale because they have as much as seven inches of extra legroom. The good news: Gold and Platinum Elite members of OnePass will still be able to choose those exit-row seats for free at the time they make their flight reservation. The bad news: regular travelers and even Silver Elite OnePass members will be forced to pay. That’s assuming any of those seats are available 24 hours before departure.