bmwe92fan

Went to check in for my flight tomorrow to London -- have had seat 1A for a long time, and before that 5A -- at check my seat was changed to 1F -- called the GS line and they could do nothing -- in fact my call to them for an explanation has resulted in me speaking with three agents who all knew NOTHING -- they all said it was probably broken or crew rest....

Totally get it if it’s a pilot - but in the past seat 1A wouldn’t even have been available to select if that was the case….

Ari

DYKWIA!?!

bmwe92fan

Apparently not....

mike2003242

It could be another GS that spends way more than you and UA knows exactly who both of you are...

bmwe92fan

Very true -- but in all the years I've spent $200k I've never been offered a chance to boot someone else out of a seat -- of course it could be Mr. Pillows or Tom -- but I really doubt it as they would have told me....

United747

Isn’t 1A crew rest? At least for us ORD-based travelers, 1A is never available for selection. They must have needed it for an augmented crew.

bmwe92fan

I suppose if something unusual happened that's possible -- but I fly this route monthly and have seat 1A all the time with no issues.... A quick look at EVERY flight from EWR to LHR tomorrow shows no 1A blocks....

COSPILOT

Maybe tell them you drive a M3 and expect at minimum the same level of service as the dealership gives you?😄🤙

akonradi

1A is also a natural habitat of the Federal Air Marshal.

United747

Quick glance at ExpertFlyer shows 1A blocked on all flights tomorrow (11/1). Must be winds or something?

Of course, United should have a mechanism to alert you of this. But I’m guessing front line CSRs aren’t trained on this info and where to find it

dcsnowwake

1A is always backup for pilots. Do not EVER book 1A as you will get kicked. FAM is not 1A.

You have been lucky they did not kick you out of that seat and pilots have not needed it.

Lesson learned for ya

bmwe92fan

No - it's not -- on my flights to NRT 1A & 1D are interchangeable -- just depends on plane / crew rest needs.... I've flown 1A this year to LHR over 10 times -- this isn't the reason....

dcsnowwake

So why book either knowing that?
I know never took book those for years just in case. Book a seat that is not a question.
Not a GS issue. Being GS in the past, I know what could at anytime be swapped out for crew just to be safe for whatever reason. You lose to the crew 100% of the time.

Lux Flyer

"shows no 1A blocks". You have access to UA's system to verify this? Or using some other system to guess if it is blocked. This close in a blocked seat can just look like an unavailable seat on the map depending how it was entered.

1A is the crew rest seat for all of the planes they have operating that route (no it is not interchangeable with 1D, and it is set in conjunction with the FAA. The only plane with a D seat designated for crew rest is the 76C, and it defaults to 6D, the backup for double augmenation is any other D seat).

​​​​​​​Crew rest is more complicated than just a single flight in the pilot's schedule, but rather how that flight fits in among all their duty periods. EWR-LHR doesn't normally require augmentation which is probably why you have no issue getting 1A most times you fly. However if the pilots who end up assigned to operate the flight have something in their duty periods that doesn't meet the requirements for only 2 to operate the flight, UA is likely augmenting the crew to make it able to be operated on schedule. If they're augmenting the crew then they have to block 1A and kick whoever is in it out, that is unfortunately a risk that comes with being in that seat. The majority of the time it's going to be fine, but this time they needed it. Your other option is they delay the flight until they can operate it with only 2 pilots. I don't know what you care about more, being on time or having seat 1A. But I suspect the other hundreds of passengers would rather their flight operate on time.

luv2fly1st

Write them a letter.
You will get a $250 ETC.
In 2020 I booked a mileage run LAX-EWR-LAX (red-eye OUT and daytime flight IN) one month in advance and selected 3A Polaris seat on each leg legs.
2 days before flight time, with no equipment change my seats were gone and I had no seat assignments.
Wound up flying in noisy and bright 1A on the red eye and didn't mind 1K on the return daytime flight.
Expressed my disappointment politely and told them I had spoken to both 3A PAXs on each flight; they had booked just 10 days and 5 days earlier respectively.
Got a $250 ETC,explaining while that seats assignments are never guaranteed, kindly accept this goodwill gesture.
I was OK with that.