Aer Lingus seat selection.

Can someone who flies with Aer Lingus and chooses the seat selection clarify the following? Flying to Brussels.

Are the seats in the first 5 rows that are charged at €10 bigger in any way, leg room etc than the remaining rows, charged at €5, excluding the exit seats that are charged at €15? The first 5 rows are listed as Premium Seats.

Rows 6 and 7 are listed as unavailable. Is there a reason for this? Are there seats in these rows or are they just blocked off?

Are all Aer Lingus planes A330 type aircraft?

Is it possible to choose the premium seats online when checking in online without having to pay a charge or are they always held back?

How soon can I chek in online with Aer Lingus before my flight?

Thanks

You can check in on line up to 30 hours before your flight and change your allocated seat to whatever is avialable.

I did so this morning for a flight tomorrow and was able to select row 6. Everything infornt of this was "unavialble". Don't think they confer any particlar advantages other than ease of entry/egress.

1234 said:

If you're flying to Brussels then I would imagine that you will be flying on either a A321 or A320.

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That is very interesting. When I go to their web site, key in my flight number to purchase a seat it suggests to me that I will be flying on one of the larger planes to Brussels. They refer to their first number of rows as "premium" seats with more legroom etc but it appears that this is not the case, you get the bog standard seats. Even the picture of the seats shown suggests that the first half dozen rows are somehow different to the remainder of their seats.

http://www.aerlingus.com/i18n/en/htmlPopups/seat_selection_help.html

This is what I get when I click on the price tag per seat on my particular flight where I make my selection.

I fly to Brussels regularly....no difference in seats in rows 1-5. I normally check in the day before the flight and usually end up somewhere in rows 6-10. I prefer an aisle seat and always get one. Same with the return.

Staples said:

I did so this morning for a flight tomorrow and was able to select row 6. Everything infornt of this was "unavialble". Don't think they confer any particlar advantages other than ease of entry/egress.

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It appears then that you cannot get rows 1 to 5 for "free" when you check in inside the 30 hours. Do you think that everyone sitting in those rows have paid a premium for those seats?

Looking at my flight details it looks as if all these seats are still available and nobody has paid for them...yet.

They are exactly the same seats as all the other rows - with the exception of Row 1 which is the bulkhead seat, however the legroom on this seat is also very tight especially on the A320 aircraft so not really much advantage sitting there anyway... The only real advantage these seats have is that you get off the plan first.

I believe that it's not possible to check in online into rows 1-6 (without paying)... but you can check into those rows if you check in at the desk in the airport (not sure about the kiosk machines)