How Do You Spell Relief? Seat Assignment!

I booked my flight to Saigon on Cathay Pacific way back last September.  I got a great rate of $705 from Vancouver - Hong Kong - Saigon, then returning Bangkok - Hong Kong - Vancouver.  Because I snagged an ultra budget class ticket, I wasn't able to make seat selections for the flights when I booked.  I read on the Cathay Pacific website that they were rolling out a plan gradually to allow fliers to pay for seat assignments, but every time I checked my reservation, I was unable to select seats . . . .  until yesterday. Yesterday I checked the reservation and Walla!  there was an option available to select seats. 

I made it easy for myself - I booked 64D on the flight to Hong Kong.  The plane is a 777 and has a 3-4-3 seating configuration.  64D is the aisle seat on the middle section.  I figure I'll only have one person in the adjacent seat wanting to access the aisle whereas if I was in the three seat configuration, I'd have two people periodically scrambling over me to access the restroom or to stretch during the 14 hour flight.

My home for the 3 hour HKG - SGN flight will be 64A, window seat.  The equipment is Airbus 300, so seating is 2-4-2.  It's only a 2 hr 45 min flight, so the window seat should be fine.

BKK - HKG, it's back in 64A again.

Then, for the long haul back from HKG to Vancouver, I'm back in old familiar aisle seat, 64D.

All of this cost me the princely sum of $108, but you can't put a price on comfort, especially on a 14 hour trans-Pacific flight.