cmd320

Knowing this is now the official policy though, I suppose I should start waiting to buy up to Y+ and monitor EF to see if it even fills up. If not, why bother paying for it? Just board at the end and sit in Y+ anyway...

mvoight

Did they force you to downgrade?

cbn42

On the contrary, this may actually be helping AA get more revenue. By providing a "free sample", they may encourage more people to pay for MCE in the future.

If the seats are empty, it costs them nothing. Why not take the opportunity to provide better service and build customer loyalty? The odds that people who would have purchased MCE will stop doing so are very small, because as others have said, self-upgrading is not guaranteed.

What do the overhead bins have to do with it? Basic Economy is not a separate cabin, or even a section of a cabin. People who buy BE tickets are given seats in the regular economy cabin, they just can't select them in advance.

DenverBrian

UA uses stickers that say "Reserved for Economy Plus" - the "reserved" word is a thoughtful choice - and I've heard them make announcements in the main cabin during boarding noting that those seats are reserved, and if you want one, to see a FA to purchase one.

AA seems less formal about MCE.

wetrat0

Using this argument, why shouldn't AA allow me to walk up and "sample" a J seat if one is open?

ijgordon

Thats a highly speculative assertion.
Nobody needs to "sample" a couple extra inches of legroom.

cbn42

My guess is that because the difference in price between Y and J is much larger than the difference between Y and MCE, letting people "sample" it leads to too much lost revenue. An upgrade to MCE is relatively cheap so less money is lost by giving it out free, and more people who get it free are likely to pay for it in the future.

Of course it's speculative, like all discussions of airline finance on this board. I'm sure AA has analyzed it thoroughly, but their data is not public.

Many people don't even know that MCE exists, or don't know what it is, especially the people who generally book on OTAs. Letting them try it once for free is probably much more effective than running ads on billboards and in magazines about it. And again, it costs the airline almost nothing.

Adelphos

No - it wasn't forced, the FA just tapped me on the shoulder and said "come on back, we have a free row for you." Almost all other passengers on this flight were families or couples. And I don't really consider it a downgrade (aside from the one issue or being close to the lav). I got to lay my bags and such on the seats next to me, move them armrests up, etc. It was a better seat. As AA doesn't offer enhanced service to MCE (unlike Delta), I didn't lose anything. If that was the case, I would have asked if the FAs would have given me whatever MCE benefits (like complementary alcoholic beverages, snack basket, enhanced meals, amenity kit, whatever) I was owed despite being offered a "regular" seat in the back.

I guess the moral is that AA seems to try to spread customers out, as the twitter account indicated.

ijgordon

If this was *really* their intention, then they'd target certain pax to get the upgraded seat, not just make it first-come-first-served, which is probably the astute Gold that books the non-MCE premium seats right behind MCE so s/he can be closest to them when the door shuts.

aktchi

MCE is not an "upgrade" to a higher cabin, just better seats in the same cabin. Like Exit seats have always been even before there was an MCE.

Now it is true that some airlines enforce the rule that if you didn't pay for a better seat you can't move there (just saw this strict enforcement in Oman Air).

However, AA does not have such a policy. At some point all seats that are left become fair game for anyone---and that's the point JDiver made above, it is also possible that all may be gone and none left.

You decide whether you want the certainty of pre-booking one, or take the chance that at least one will be left vacant and you can get to it before someone else does.

aktchi

Usually such venues will have separate sections (equivalent of aircraft cabins). If you are sitting in the Gallery, you can move to a better and vacant Gallery seat, but not to the Main Floor or Boxes. Of course, unlike an aircraft, the rightful occupant might still show up later even after the intermission.

mikeyp224

In reality, AA is not leaving money on the table here. Once the door closes and those seats are unsold, that's it. They remain unsold until after the door opens again, and that plane is used for another flight.

I think it would be a little more relevant if MCE offered something like complimentary beer and wine; however there is none of that. For American, MCE is nothing more then 3-4 additional inches of legroom.

Also, there cannot be this double standard of "it's fine to move to preferred (paid) seats with the same amount of legroom", but "how dare someone move to an MCE seat they haven't paid for" simply because selling seats as "preferred" goes against your moral compass. Either people can move to seats they haven't paid for, or they can't. Pick a side.

chicagoflyer1976

Completely agree. I don't know why people keep referring to MCE as thought it's some type of an upgrade or better service. It's a seat with more leg room - THAT'S IT. And the number of seats are very limited.

If you are elite, you have access to it, if not, you can buy it. If you don't want to buy it, but want to try and wait until the gate to get it for free- then so be it. Who really cares? Why would the FA "police" this?

If I'm "stuck" in economy, and I can't get MCE at booking, I set up EF alerts. If nothing opens up, I'll ask at the gate, as maybe someone who is getting upgraded will vacate a seat, and I'll ask if I can have it.

But I really don't care if someone sits there for free.

MarkOK

I only fly about 25 legs a year, pretty much exclusively on AA the last 3 years, but I feel like its been a decade since I have been on a flight where the front 3/4 of the plane wasn't packed in (and hence arose my seating strategy to get a seat way in the back where I have a better chance of sitting in a row with an empty seat; a strategy, that I have about a 50% success rate with. ).

I feel like the paid seats in economy have always been nothing more than paying for the guarantee of a specific seat with some (trivial in my opinion) benefit. I don't think you are paying for the exclusivity of that (trivial) benefit to only those that you feel are worthy. The negativity expressed by the OP at fellow humans for getting something (trivial) just because they didn't 'pay for it' like the OP did, is just not in my nature.

I would much rather fly an airline that lets people spread out when possible (even to First class) compared to an airline that holds people down in their seats with a credit-card reader standing in the way from the airline performing a simple nicety. I wasn't aware that AA was unique in this regard, but knowing this makes me feel somewhat validated about my slip into brand loyalty towards them (which is really based on nothing more than AA actually services my tiny airport).

overdahill

just on news, doors close and empty seats are a free for all. Any coach can take one, if you can fight hard enough.
copied from article on msn: American Airlines Will Allow You To Upgrade To A Seat With More Legroom For Free. Who Knew link