United MileagePlus (Consolidated) - UA upgrade system/Seat map treats A319 as a A320

I was CPU'ed to a flight which was listed as A319 at booking. Three rows showed up in OLCI so I didn't bother to double check the aircraft type and moved my seat from 1A to 3F. Next morning I ended up without a seat in F. At the gate, GA gave me 21E (the only seat left in Y at that time). Another strange thing is during boarding, a lady was looking for her 20A seat. Why didn't the scanner beep since there isn't a 20A on a A319? She ended up sitting next to me since 21F didn't show.

Now I'm in another similar situation. I booked a 4/8 flight two days ago. Yesterday I got CPU'ed. United.com lists this as a A320. Top left of Seat Map says Airbus A320 as well. However the seats displayed only show 2 rows in first and 4 seats in row 20. Now it looks like Y is sold out. I originally had a E+ seat. Will I be likely to be IDB'ed?

Had something similar happen yesterday on flight UA526 SFO-YYZ.
It started out as a A319 with 8 seats in coach, then 3 days before flight looked like A320 with 12 seats, then 2 days before it said A319 with 8 seats, then day before it said A320 with 12 seats (and at that point, UA premier support said it was an A319 with 8 seats!?)
In the end, it was an A320 with 12 seats and I got the last upgrade (as a 1K from XN, i.e. award ticket). I asked the guy who got the second last upgrade, and he said he was 1K.
There were 9 upgrades on that flight, all GS/1K/Y-up - wow!

Rule number 17 from LAXOGG playbook. Never book row 3 on A320 if possible due to possible plane swaps (and now possibly because on mis-information on UA.com). Happens more often than you can imagine.

I'm flying SEA-SFO tomorrow and the flight is listed as an A320, but the seatmap is only showing 2 rows of F seats. I looked at the fleet page and it looks as though all UA 320s have 3 rows of F.

Just a seatmap error? :confused:

I would guess seat map error or they are changing the flight to an A319.

my "a319" had three rows of F, was subbed to a A320. The A320's and A319's are frequently subbed for each other.

Which flight are you on as unitedcargo (http://www.unitedcargo.com/utilities/cp1/frtSchedDisp.jsp?OriginStnCode=SEA&OriginAirport=&DestStnCode=SFO&DestAirport=&FlightDate=12112012&Submit.x=0&ULD=NO&DptTm=&FromDesc=Seattle/Tacoma,+WA-SEA&ToDesc=San+Francisco,+CA-SFO) shows both a 320 and a 319 flying SEA-SFO on 12/11

SEA SFO 842 Dec 11 11:50 14:00 A319
SEA SFO 750 Dec 11 18:33 20:43 20D

my "a319" had three rows of F, was subbed to a A320. The A320's and A319's are frequently subbed for each other.

and thusly why its a good idea not to book Row 3 on a 320, since if a 319 is subed in then Row 3 will end up sitting in Y most likely

Mobile site confirms that 842 SEA-SFO tomorrow is N831UA, an A319.

and thusly why its a good idea not to book Row 3 on a 320, since if a 319 is subed in then Row 3 will end up sitting in Y most likely

Is that really how they do it? Just move Row 3 to Y? I would have thought that paid F and status would be the determinant.

Is that really how they do it? Just move Row 3 to Y? I would have thought that paid F and status would be the determinant.

How do you know there are no other paid F and GS pax on the flight ?

Is that really how they do it? Just move Row 3 to Y? I would have thought that paid F and status would be the determinant.

The only time I had this happen was pre-merger. I had been upgraded on a flight that was switched from an A320 to an A319. I had a seat in row 2 but was still downgraded to Y since someone in row 3 had a paid F ticket.
By the time I arrived home (5 hour flight) there was already an apology email in my "in" box and 9000 miles had been deposited into my account.
I doubt the "new" UA is so generous!

Is that really how they do it? Just move Row 3 to Y? I would have thought that paid F and status would be the determinant.

These days on UA, someone in Row 3 would be lucky if they still had a seat assignment even in Y in the event of a 320 to 319 plane swap...

...Well, not really. But far stranger things have happened post-3/3.

my "a319" had three rows of F, was subbed to a A320. The A320's and A319's are frequently subbed for each other.

Which flight are you on as unitedcargo (http://www.unitedcargo.com/utilities/cp1/frtSchedDisp.jsp?OriginStnCode=SEA&OriginAirport=&DestStnCode=SFO&DestAirport=&FlightDate=12112012&Submit.x=0&ULD=NO&DptTm=&FromDesc=Seattle/Tacoma,+WA-SEA&ToDesc=San+Francisco,+CA-SFO) shows both a 320 and a 319 flying SEA-SFO on 12/11

SEA SFO 842 Dec 11 11:50 14:00 A319
SEA SFO 750 Dec 11 18:33 20:43 20D

I'm on 842. That explains why my upgrade hasn't cleared!

The only time I had this happen was pre-merger. I had been upgraded on a flight that was switched from an A320 to an A319. I had a seat in row 2 but was still downgraded to Y since someone in row 3 had a paid F ticket.
By the time I arrived home (5 hour flight) there was already an apology email in my "in" box and 9000 miles had been deposited into my account.
I doubt the "new" UA is so generous!

I had the exact same scenario pre-3/3, but I had to call in twice to get my RPU back and compensation I was offered on the first call (10K miles). Nothing was automatic.

These days on UA, someone in Row 3 would be lucky if they still had a seat assignment even in Y in the event of a 320 to 319 plane swap...

...Well, not really. But far stranger things have happened post-3/3.

The last few times FS-Dad has had an DEN-MCO A320>A319 swap, the GAs have printed the downgrade comp for him at the gate (it's been $250-$350) and given him an exit row seat.

I imagine seat retention might be an issue on a hub-hub, etc, with all of the seats assigned..

I doubt the "new" UA is so generous!

It would still count as a downgrade, so at minimum a 200.00 voucher plus refund of any miles/certs used to upgrade.

My wife and I flew BOS-ORD-IAH-SJC yesterday. We were upgraded (CPU) 72-ish hours prior for BOS-ORD and it was later changed from 320 to 319. We were in row 3 because those were the only seats together. One of us got moved to 1E and the other sent back to coach in 7A along with a $200 cert.