This drives me crazy too. The price you see on Google Flights almost never ends up being the real price once you get to checkout, especially with kids. By the time you add seats so you’re actually sitting together, the “deal” is gone.
The worst part is exactly what you said. You don’t even see the seat fee until you’re deep into the booking flow. Enter names, birthdays, passports, then boom, another few hundred dollars. It makes comparing airlines a chore.
At this point I just mentally add around $75 to $100 per seat when searching and decide if the base fare still makes sense. It shouldn’t be this opaque, but it feels pretty universal now unless you’re booking a legacy fare that bundles seats.
Not missing anything. It’s just the system working exactly as designed.
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