Smack Dab In The Middle With You

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NOTE: Spellchecker fritzed, again.

Northwest Airlines is offering a new promotion. It's called Coach Choice. On Tuesday, the promotion earned the airlines MSNBC's Countdown's  not -so - coveted "Worse Person In The World Award."

I love Keith Olbermann but perhaps he should make sure his producers do a bit more research before they hand out their awards  See, the award is a bit premature. Coach Choice is a  "pilot" program--affecting  just 5% of seats. On their website Northwest says they are simply "testing' the concept.

One can assume if it succeeds, then we'll see more widespread upcharges for "preferred seating." And, I would imagine in the rollout , it will impact more than 5% of the seats.

When that happens, if the producers think the concept is so awful, let them bestow any award they want.

But to listen to the report, you'd think starting today, if you want to get an aisle, exit or window seat you need to start coughing up the extra $15 per tushy touch.

If that were true, would that really be so awful? I guess it's how you see the situation.

Do you see an old lady or a young lady? One picture. Two very different images. Depending on how you look at the situation.

Having once enjoyed the perks of a silver status frequent flyer, I continually pout that I no longer get to board the plane early, that I don't get those first class upgrades, and I no longer earn extra points for every flight I take.

Having sat smack dab in the middle between two super-sized travelers that literally made it impossible or me to sit back in my seat, I say Hooray for Coach Choice!

That was a very long and very full flight from L.A. to Minneapolis. Feeling very abused at that time ,and getting a back spasm from having to sit at a 45 degree angle for the entire flight, I said something to the flight attendant that I deserved financial compensation because I physically could not use my seat because my supersized companions were invading my 'shoulder area'(that I contended , I paid for).

She was sympathetic but said, there was nothing they could do.  I  did write to customer service but never heard back.

Everyone who flies knows all seats are not created equal.  There's that awful seat in the back of  some flights that prevent you from moving your seat back at all. And there's the dreaded middle seat.

If you are not flying on an expenses account and you did not get the rock bottom price, can you honestly say that it didn't cross your mind that you should pay less for the inconvenience of sitting in the middle?

Personally, I love the idea. of Coach Choice. If I want an aisle, at least i can get it if I'm willing to pay the $15 ( and in most cases, I will pay)  Is it really any different than choosing seats in a theater? There's all sorts of tiered pricing  for concerts. Is this any that different?

If I'm in frugal mode, I can pay less and sit in the middle or gamble that I pay less for the middle seat and it won't be a full flight.Then, I can move over to the window or aisle. In that situationI'll feel really good about my decision not to pay extra for something I got for free ( sort of).

Anyway, Northwest Airlines has a lot more to worry about than consumer reaction to their Coach Choice promotion. Here is the headline in this morning's Star Tribune.

"U.S. investigators target NWA pension fund". Turns out the feds want to know how the fund was underfunded by $5.8 billion.

So do the math. How many seats selling at an extra $15 does it take to make $5.8 billion.

Oh and about that optical illusion. To find out how to see the Old Lady, just click here. However, even with the clues, I have a hard time seeing her.Which is not so different from the various perspectives on Northwest's latest move.