cynicAAl

AA's Premium Economy (currently limited to just the 787-900) is a separate cabin.

Oakshadow

Years ago on an almost full DL JFK-TLV flight I was seated in Comfort+ (equivalent to AA MCE) in an aisle seat in the middle section. Next to me was thankfully one of the only empty seats on the aircraft. For unknown reasons, a lady with a baby further back asked the FA if she could occupy that empty seat. My eyes widened with fear. The rather surly FA responded, “You can’t. That’s Comfort Plus where you had to pay extra to sit in.” I felt both protected by the FA and it affirmed the value of the extra payment to sit in that MCE-equivelent section.

But on a recent almost full AA MIA-MXP flight on a 777-200 booked in MCE (new configuration and seated in the Premium Economy section, more on that below), again I was in the aisle in the middle section on the aisle and the two middle seats next to me were empty. This was going to be an excellent flight. But after doors closed, the FA let four people from much further back in regular Economy sit in all the empty seats in the the MCE/PEY section.

I just don’t feel this was right right. With rare exceptions, no FA would condone self-upgrading to Business/First, but why should self-upgrading to MCE be any different? Part of being an elite and/or paying extra is to sit in a an area with more space and, I admit, there is a little bit of snobbishness involved knowing you’re not sitting next to the people paying rock-bottom prices unwilling to pay for extras.

Yes, I lucked out with the new PEY without paying the PEY price - it was only hard product while the soft product like Business meals where not in effect. But that seemed to make it even more questionable that folks paying only regular economy fares got a super-upgrade while those of us who paid extra got the same product they did whilst making our flight experience a little more uncomfortable.

Just my opinion and don’t mean to offend you.

Dave Noble

MCE is still just economy class , albeit that the seats have extra legroom ; it is not a separately ticketed cabin and so there is no upgrading when someone moves to a seat designated as MCE from another economy seat

FlyingEgghead

Extensive discussion of MCE self-upgrading here.

But OP is slightly unclear. Was this genuine PEY but sold as MCE? The other thread is about normal MCE. Let's first be clear on what we're discussing. If it was a genuine PEY seat, then it was a separate cabin, but its being sold as MCE on this flight (if the FA was aware of that) may have muddied the waters.

bse118

While MCE is not an "upgrade'' - FAs should still not allow people to just move in it to from regular economy as MCE is either a paid-for add-on or an elite benefit. It's a different product than regular coach and should be treated as such.

Dave Noble

If it was a different product, then it would not class as lowest cabin on a flight and be liable to the standard rate of APD for departures out of UK

There is not a charge to upgrade to MCE, just that MCE seats are more expensive seats in a seat selection iirc

It is only a separately ticketed cabin if sold as premium economy

If it was being sold as premium economy rather than economy , then the cabin crew member should no more be upgrading the passenger , than if moving someone from business to 1st

dstan

Please continue to follow this thread as it moves to the existing MCE Self-Upgrade thread linked above.
/Moderator

bse118

You are entirely hung up on the word upgrade.

If MCE isn't a different product..should passengers then be able to ask AA to refund the charge they paid for it, if the cabin goes out with empty MCE seats?

And MCE seats are not just more expensive seats - they are more expensive seats with more legroom. A materially different product than regular coach.

By your logic, a full Y fare is the same product as a G fare. It's not...

Oakshadow

It was not sold as PEY. As I stated I lucked into a PEY section on an MCE booking and it was only hard PEY product. This being PEY seating seems letting the self-ugraders from regular Economy even more questionable.

Dave Noble

It is simply a section of seats where to book in advance costs more - no different to other airlines that charge for seating - that there is a fee to select the seats in advance does not mean that others cannot sit there

G and Y both are economy fare bases , just that Y is likely to have less ticketing restrictions

no more so than you getting it

Often1

If you want to complain about the FA's action as a matter of helping AA protect revenue, go ahead.

If this is about whether AA may permit a passenger to sit in a seat which he didn't pay for ---- whether that is another ticketed class of service or simply something such as MCE ---- the answer is that it's an internal matter to AA.

Or, if you simply want to make trouble for the FA for doing something she probably should not do without a good reason (which she might have had and you don't know), complain as well.

Oakshadow

Not the same thing. Was not upgraded or self-upgrading to anyone else's section where anyone there properly paid for that location, unlike the self-ugraders to the MCE section on this flight.

rjw242

As already noted, these aren't upgrades.

Oakshadow

As already noted, these are upgrades. They're more expensive seats with more expansive legroom and, in some cases like the 777-300, more width.

CloudCoder

On your next flight, stop at a grocery store before the flight and buy 10 packets of M&M candies. Bring them aboard the plane. Pass the packets out to the people around you, saving one packet for yourself. But DO NOT eat the M&M's yet.

Instead, ask everyone to COUNT the exact number of M&M's in their packet. It's likely that some packets have more M&M's than others.

Lastly, if someone else has more M&M's in their packet, than YOU have in YOUR packet, scream "unfair" at the top of your lungs, and start a thread on FlyerTalk.

Let's understand what's happening here. It's okay for some people to get more than others. It happens all the time. It's normal ... as long as the person who gets more is MEEEEEE. Any other scenario is an outrage.