Once again, it appears that those north of the border have figured out a better way to raise money . . . charge for new services instead of ones that are currently free. The latest comes from WestJet, which has announced it will begin offering seat assignments for a fee.

WestJet currently uses a model we don’t see much of here in the US. You can’t reserve a seat at the time of booking on WestJet. But, when you check-in, you can pick your seat. This is different from Southwest which doesn’t ever assign a seat and just has you pick when you get onboard. Of course, check-in behavior for both airlines is the same. People try to check in as early as possible so they can get the best seats.

Now on WestJet, you will be able to reserve a seat any time prior to after booking for $10 (I assume that’s US or Canadian money.) For $15, you can reserve an exit row seat. Not a bad deal, huh? It’s funny how perspective changes how you view a fee.

If an airline currently offers me a seat assignment for free (or a first bag, or really anything), it makes it a lot more annoying when they take that away. It’s a reduction in value, and that doesn’t go over well. On the other hand, when an airline offers me something that previously wasn’t available, I think it’s great.

Legacy carriers in the US have a problem in that a lot more stuff used to be included in the fare than is the case with someone like WestJet. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Air Canada has done a great job of adding value by charging for things that previously weren’t available. Yes, they’ve charged for things that were free as well, but at least they’ve tried to add value.

So, is there anything bad about this? Well, I had one reader say that if you buy a sale fare, you can’t pay to reserve a seat. That doesn’t make sense. Charge more for sale fares if you’d like, but why turn away money? I’m not sure what the full story is there.

Other than that, if I fly WestJet, I’m probably happy about this, because I’d rather be able to select my seat ahead of time for that nominal fee. If someone doesn’t want to pay the fee, however, that person is probably not so happy because now all those people that pay the fee will take away seats that could have previously been had by checking in early. Still, it’s a net positive for the airline’s customers, and it’s a net positive for the income statement as well.

I’d like to welcome those of you who are visiting me for the first time thanks to my summer travel tips posted today on Nuts About Southwest. Take a look around, and if you like what you see, you can subscribe via RSS or email. Please jump in and join the conversation in the comments section while you’re here!

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After being ditched by ATA for that slutty bankruptcy court (I mean, who hasn’t been with her?), it looks like Southwest has found its next dance partner. The airline announced yesterday that it would begin codesharing with Canada’s WestJet next year. This is good news, but it’s more interesting as a symbol of what’s to come than anything else.

In short, nothing was really announced yesterday except for the intent to partner. In fact, it won’t happen for a long time. The release says that the “airlines plan to announce codeshare flight schedules and additional features regarding the partnership by late 2009.” So it’s a long way off.

When it does happen, you can probably expect a similar partnership as to what we saw with ATA back in the day. Interline baggage, frequent flier integration, and codesharing will all be part of this deal. What’s different?

Well, there is an interesting little bit noting that “southwest.com will soon become a distribution channel for WestJet’s existing Canadian and transborder flights, providing Customers the opportunity to purchase WestJet’s existing flights via southwest.com.” That IS interesting. So you’ll be able to book WestJet flights through Southwest’s website even if no Southwest flight is involved.

Not even the AirTran/Frontier partnership allows that. They still send you to the other airline’s site for booking. I suppose this seems closest to the Northwest/KLM arrangement. There is no KLM website in the US and there is no Northwest website in Europe. Then again, I doubt that WestJet will ditch their US site entirely.

This clearly seems like a win-win to me. For WestJet, it offers their flights on the most popular airline site in the US. I’m sure Southwest is getting a sweet commission deal out of this, so it’s good news for them as well. Nice little attempt at ancillary revenue, even if it is a pretty small opportunity. (Yeah Canada, I’m talking aboot you.)

So why is this so important? Well, as they mentioned in their blog post, Southwest’s exec team has spoken for years about how they wanted to be able to fly internationally. Though Canada barely counts, this indicates that Southwest now has (or will soon have) the booking capabilities set up to allow for international travel. I’d expect to see codesharing south of the border come up as well. Caribbean? Mexico? It’s coming. Europe? Maybe someday.

And that’s the really big news here. Southwest is no longer caged in the US. The airline is roaming free and is on the prowl.

A little bit of love for our friends north of the border . . .

Canada’s Globe and Mail is reporting that Westjet is looking to join the oneworld alliance anchored by American and British Airways. This is a pretty interesting move.

First things first. I’m neither a fan of oneworld nor of WestJet. For oneworld, it’s not that I don’t like the airlines in the alliance or the benefits involved. No. It’s that they are one of the many targets in my crusade against improper capitalization (or lack thereof). That’s the same exact reason WestJet has incurred my wrath. They have a great product, but that capital “J” just stares at me menacingly. This could be a match made in heaven.

With that off my chest, let’s talk about the actual news here.

Oneworld has lacked a Canadian partner since Air Canada swallowed up Canadian several years ago. With Air Canada in Star, there aren’t too many other options for a partner up north. It’s not a huge aviation market, but there is certainly a big hole without a Canadian partner. So for oneWORLD, going after wESTjET is a no-brainer.

On the westjet side, it’s a little more confusing. There is most certainly a great deal of traffic that can be routed to the airline through a global alliance. Also, the frequent flier program instantly becomes more attractive as a loyalty tool for Canadians who are looking for a solid alternative to Air Canada. But there are costs involved with joining an alliance, and that has generally kept low cost carriers out of them. The only low cost carrier in an alliance is US Airways, and they joined before they became a low cost carrier. Most LCCs have found that the increased costs and complexity of joining an alliance aren’t worth it.

So is WESTJET straying the wrong way or is this a great new idea? My initial thought is that it might work. If they really want to compete with AC, this is the way to do it. I’m just not sure that’s what their goal should be.