> It allows those who care to be charged for caring, and thus subsidize the tickets of those who don't care...

I don't for one nanosecond believe that the people who don't care are getting cheaper tickets out of the deal. I'm sure the companies are only too happy to pocket the extra money.

Businesses already charge as much as the market will bear. If they could charge more money and provide nothing extra in return, they would. They don't need an excuse. That's how the free market works.

It follows that competition is creating negative price pressure. There is no other explanation for why they don't charge more money already.

I worked in the industry (albeit for only about 6 months…). I completely believe that people who don’t bring bags or choose seats are saving money. Hell, if you don’t care when you anrrive you can get the anirline to pay /you/ in the form of a voucher for a later flight. Even in the face of inflation the base-price of an airline ticket has remained relatively constant for half a decade.

What has changed is that you get less and less convenience for your $ in coach. Most flights make most of their money on the 5 business travelers who pay 5-10x the minimum seat price the day before the plane leaves.

Many people use Google or Expedia or Kayak or similar to buy their airline tickets rather than the airline's own site, and almost reflexively clicks on the cheapest ticket. Especially the type of person who will refuse to pay a convenience fee.

Any airline that pockets the fees rather than using it to lower fares is going to lose a lot of business on competitive routes.

Except choosing your own seat costs the airline absolutely nothing. The competitive pressure you speak of does not require them to cut this particular corner in order to be able to race to the bottom, it is simply greed on the airlines' part.

Airlines' margins are so low, and price competition is so intense, that I'd bet it really does mostly work out that way in general.

That said I doubt they're directly making much money from people paying a la carte for assigned seats. I bet they get a lot more value out it letting them turn free seat selection as a perk to entice people to sign up for their credit card.

> and thus subsidize the tickets of those who don't care

I think that most people care about their seat assignment, either because they want to sit near someone, or they prefer aisle or window, or they prefer to sit away from the restrooms or towards the front of the aircraft, etc.

In my opinion, the real purpose of this is to obscure the all-inclusive price of the ticket.

You don't have to fly much to know some seats are better than others. I wish I could afford to fly first class everywhere. Aisle seats let you stick your legs out when nobody is coming by and so you get more legroom. Window seats let you see outside. Seats near the engines can be loud.

I long ago decided I'd pay extra for economy plus (or whatever the airline calls it) the cost isn't much more and the legroom is nice. My wife doesn't care (she is short so doesn't need legroom)

No, what it allows is for the airline to nickel and dime those of us who actually have extra money to spend on these things, while those who can only barely afford the airfare itself (an increasingly large percentage) are made to suffer.

Most people care. Most people who don't pay care, too—they just can't (safely/comfortably) afford to pay.