Midwest Airlines Midwest Miles - Signature seats on the E-19

Does anyone know what these are like? As I look at the seat map on the Midwest site all the seats are 2x2 so what will make the signature seats different.

Great question. I meant to ask this myself. If the whole aircraft is 2x2, all they can really do is increase the legroom. I can't imagine the seat width (or the seats in general) would be much different, if at all.

Maybe they should offer free liquor or free wi-fi or something to make up for the difference...or maybe make the upgrades cheaper?

I believe they reduced the upgrade fee to something like $20-$40 on the new E-190s...

I just called Midwest and asked my question. The agent said that it was 2x2 seating... bigger seat and more leg room. I asked if the aisle would have to narrow there and she hesitated and said "I guess so". I am still not so sure... has anyone flown on these planes? I also saw nothing on the web site about lower prices.. it's still at an extra $50.00 per signature seat.

The First two planes have 1X2 seating. The rest of the fleet will be configured in a 2X2. The company has not said how they will be different but that they will be. All planes will be configured in the 2X2 ratio by next year.

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Midwest_Airlines/Midwest_Airlines_Embraer_ERJ-190.php

At least at the moment, these are the fees to upgrade:

$20 MKE-MCI
$35 to the east coast from MKE or MCI
$50 MCI to the west coast, MKE to Florida, Phoenix and Vegas
$70 MKE-LAX

Who knows what (if anything) the E190 2x2 Signature seating will gain beyond significantly more leg room. But it sounds more along the lines of United's Y+.

Blue, do you know offhand how United handles the Y+ in terms of fees, upgrades, other perks, etc?

At least at the moment, these are the fees to upgrade:

$20 MKE-MCI
$35 to the east coast from MKE or MCI
$50 MCI to the west coast, MKE to Florida, Phoenix and Vegas
$70 MKE-LAX

Who knows what (if anything) the E190 2x2 Signature seating will gain beyond significantly more leg room. But it sounds more along the lines of United's Y+.

Blue, do you know offhand how United handles the Y+ in terms of fees, upgrades, other perks, etc?

I used to fly UA quite a bit, and at that time, I often found myself sitting in an economy plus seat without paying anything, either because I was flying standby or because the back just got too full, and a number of passengers got the Y+ for free.

This message appears on the booking page:

Signature Seats
Leather Recaro seats with adjustable headrest and footrest, with two seats on either side of the aisle. Ample legroom.

The message appears for E190 flights with all 2x2 configuration, as well as the first two E190s with 1x2 Signature configuration. No mention is made of wider seats, just "ample legroom."

Since the Saver configuration is described as

Saver Seats
A great combination of comfort and value. Leather seating in a three-by-two configuration with generous legroom.

I believe that they just transferred the 717 blurb and forgot to edit to reflect the E190 differences.

On the surface, from pictures we've seen, they are NOT Recaro seats. 7" additional inches of pitch and 2"wider.

United's E+ offers 2" of additional width and pitch. The last time I flew United, (4 years ago) I asked the GA for a seat further forward and he moved me to E+ no questions asked.

I did some hunting online, including seatguru.com and united.com, for more information on United's Economy Plus.

(1) According to SeatGuru, it looks like 3-5 inches more leg room than regular coach. The width is identical to coach, however, and I think they can't do too much about that. Unless you have fewer seats abreast (which they do not) then the seats can't get much wider without encroaching on the aisle. Narrowing the aisle, even a small amount, probably gets the kibosh from the FAA.

Here's what SeatGuru indicates for pitch / width

777
F 38" / 21.0"
+ 35" / 18.0"
Y 31" / 18.0"

757
F 38" / 20.5"
+ 36" / 17.0"
Y 31" / 17.0"

A320
F 38" / 20.5"
+ 36" / 18.0"
Y 31" / 18.0"

737
F 38" / 20.5"
+ 35" / 17.0"
Y 32" / 17.0"

E170
F 37" / 20.0"
+ 34" / 18.25"
Y 31" / 18.25"


(2) Elite level frequent flyers and high-bucket coach fares automatically get to choose Economy Plus. Or, you can optionally buy an annual pass which qualifies for upgrade.

(3) Other than the conditions described in #2, you can buy an upgrade at purchase, check-in, or at the gate. The other day at MSP they has a sign at the gate that $24 bought more leg room to O'Hare.

ORD-MCI $14 (YX MKE-MCI $20)
ORD-BOS $39 (YX MKE-BOS $35)
ORD-MCO $49 (YX MKE-MCO $35)
ORD-LAS $54 (YX MKE-LAS $50)
ORD-LAX $39 (YX MKE-LAX $70)

Clearly they don't price exactly by distance (and perhaps there are promotions going on which makes the ORD-LAX upgrade so comparably cheap).

The upgrade fees are very similar to what Midwest charges, so if YX only offers more leg room it's not really out of line with United's Economy Plus. However I'd like to see the elite-level upgrades, similar to how elites can pre-reserve exit row.

I did some hunting online, including seatguru.com and united.com, for more information on United's Economy Plus.

(1) According to SeatGuru, it looks like 3-5 inches more leg room than regular coach. The width is identical to coach, however, and I think they can't do too much about that. Unless you have fewer seats abreast (which they do not) then the seats can't get much wider without encroaching on the aisle. Narrowing the aisle, even a small amount, probably gets the kibosh from the FAA.

Here's what SeatGuru indicates for pitch / width

777
F 38" / 21.0"
+ 35" / 18.0"
Y 31" / 18.0"

757
F 38" / 20.5"
+ 36" / 17.0"
Y 31" / 17.0"

A320
F 38" / 20.5"
+ 36" / 18.0"
Y 31" / 18.0"

737
F 38" / 20.5"
+ 35" / 17.0"
Y 32" / 17.0"

E170
F 37" / 20.0"
+ 34" / 18.25"
Y 31" / 18.25"


(2) Elite level frequent flyers and high-bucket coach fares automatically get to choose Economy Plus. Or, you can optionally buy an annual pass which qualifies for upgrade.

(3) Other than the conditions described in #2, you can buy an upgrade at purchase, check-in, or at the gate. The other day at MSP they has a sign at the gate that $24 bought more leg room to O'Hare.

ORD-MCI $14 (YX MKE-MCI $20)
ORD-BOS $39 (YX MKE-BOS $35)
ORD-MCO $49 (YX MKE-MCO $35)
ORD-LAS $54 (YX MKE-LAS $50)
ORD-LAX $39 (YX MKE-LAX $70)

Clearly they don't price exactly by distance (and perhaps there are promotions going on which makes the ORD-LAX upgrade so comparably cheap).

The upgrade fees are very similar to what Midwest charges, so if YX only offers more leg room it's not really out of line with United's Economy Plus. However I'd like to see the elite-level upgrades, similar to how elites can pre-reserve exit row.

Thanks for doing the digging, knope. You are correct about United's Y+. In all the times I sat in plus, it was always the same kind of seats, just with increased legroom. While that legroom was welcomed, I never paid extra for Y+, and I suspect a lot of others didn't either. I was never in high fare buckets...I was always just placed there through happenstance.

I think Midwest more strongly enforces the signature seat upgrade/high fare bucket concept than United does with Y+. That's probably the biggest difference between the two. It should also be noted that United appears to have more premium seats on each plane than Midwest does/will. For example, the E-170 has 16, while the current Midwest fleet has none. The A320 has 36. These are all in addition to first class.

I think Midwest more strongly enforces the signature seat upgrade/high fare bucket concept than United does with Y+. That's probably the biggest difference between the two. It should also be noted that United appears to have more premium seats on each plane than Midwest does/will. For example, the E-170 has 16, while the current Midwest fleet has none. The A320 has 36. These are all in addition to first class.

I've wondered if premium seats are planned for the Midwest E170. How about incoming A319 or 320? One would think Republic would want some uniformity among its fleet.

Blue, do you know offhand how United handles the Y+ in terms of fees, upgrades, other perks, etc?

Economy Plus on United is free for all elite level members, space permitting. Otherwise there is a charge for the extra room. The cost of the "upgrade" varies depending on length of flight. For example, I've seen ORD-STL advertised as $14 each way while some of the long-haul international flights can be $180 or more each way. United will also sell non-elite members a yearly membership to Economy Plus for a couple hundred dollars as well.

The main perk of Economy Plus is the extra five inches of leg room. One good thing is that United will begin assigning passengers in Economy Plus to either a window or isle seat. As the plane fills up, then the middle seats will start being allocated. I"ve been on a number of flights where regular economy was full but Economy Plus had most of the middle seats open. It's a nice benefit when it happens.

Other than what I described above, there really aren't any other perks to speak of. Economy Plus is definately not premium economy and you certainly won't be entitled to a free drink or anything like that.

In the past year or so, United has been doing a much better job of enforcing who can sit in Economy Plus. Generally, they won't allow people to move up to Economy Plus unless the upgrade fee has been paid. Besides announcements being made prior to depature, I've actually seen flight attendants force "self upgraders" back to their assigned seats.

Probably more than you ever wanted to know about Economy Plus, huh?

Probably more than you ever wanted to know about Economy Plus, huh?

United is pretty much a non-factor at MKE. I can remember the days (my age is showing) when you could fly MKE-LAX nonstop (late 1960's), those were the good old days of air travel.

United is pretty much a non-factor at MKE. I can remember the days (my age is showing) when you could fly MKE-LAX nonstop (late 1960's), those were the good old days of air travel.

Worse: I remember flying a UA DC-8 from MKE>SFO back in the mid 70's.

Worse: I remember flying a UA DC-8 from MKE>SFO back in the mid 70's.

If it makes you feel any better, I remember flying a full 757 between MKE-ORD in 1999.

Sadly, it went downhill after that. United pulled its last two mainline flights from MKE in June 2001 and has contined to slash capacity ever since.

United is pretty much a non-factor at MKE. I can remember the days (my age is showing) when you could fly MKE-LAX nonstop (late 1960's), those were the good old days of air travel.

Or when UA had several gates in the D Concourse and you could fly MKE to ORD on a 757 (actual flight time was only 13 minutes - it took longer than that to taxi at ORD - and altitude was under 10K feet).

Worse: I remember flying a UA DC-8 from MKE>SFO back in the mid 70's.

UA DC-8 MKE-LAS, in the 70's. IIRC it was flight 777.

Wow, did I steer us OT here.

I have actually paid for E+ on UA for LAX-HNL flights. The 4" of extra legroom makes a significant difference in my comfort level for a 5 hour flight. Plus, I always seem to catch an "E+ sale" which UA runs a few times per year. They had one recently and I upgraded my Xmas travel to HNL to E+ (and saved $10 in the process). It's the best $88 spent in the airline industry.

That being said, I wouldn't upgrade to E+ for any flight under 3 hours. It's just not worth the money.