I don't know if I just haven't flown enough or if I'm too poor. Recently, on both Etihad and Southwest, online check-in doesn't let you choose a standard seat yourself. Even for flights departing within 24 hours, online check-in charges a fee for standard seats. What's even worse is that after boarding, even if there are empty seats, Southwest now doesn't let passengers move to other empty standard seats.
Could it be that the ticket you bought was just the most basic tier?
If you want to dig deeper, start by checking the fare class and membership tier on your ticket, then compare that against a screenshot of the airline's official seat selection policy. The catch is you'll need to still have your booking confirmation email—otherwise the discussion tends to turn into a battle of impressions. Once you have the specific fare type, everyone can judge whether this is a broad tightening or just an isolated case.
I want to follow up on an edge case: if all the standard seats are locked during online check-in, but you're told at the airport counter that you can select one for free, does that count as the airline deliberately shifting the pressure to the in-person counter? Conversely, if the counter also charges a fee, is there any chance a passenger could push back by refusing to pay and demanding a seat be assigned according to the fare contract? Also, is Southwest's rule of not letting people switch to an empty seat written into the conditions of carriage, or is it just something flight attendants handle on the spot at their own discretion? Without clarifying these details, it's hard to judge which charges are legitimate and which are gray-area practices.
As for China Southern's claim that you can't switch to an empty seat, it's best to double-check whether that's a general rule or just specific to certain flights.
If you're flying soon, it's worth checking the seat selection terms on the booking page ahead of time rather than getting caught off guard at check-in. If you run into a paid seat selection at the airport, you can politely ask whether it's due to your fare type, and keep your receipts and a record of the conversation. Later, comparing notes with a friend on the same trip can help you figure out whether the policy has changed or it's just being applied inconsistently.
I think the core issue is that airlines treat standard seat selection as a value-added service to sell, rather than a benefit included in the base fare. It used to be that you could pick whatever you wanted during online check-in, but now they charge even within 24 hours, which shows they've figured out that passengers have little room to negotiate right before departure. What makes this really tricky in practice is that the rules can differ depending on fare class, membership status, and route, so ordinary passengers find it hard to figure out whether they actually have the right to choose a seat for free, and in the end they often just pay to get it over with.