Baze

It's a seat on an airplane and she got an equivalent seat. Sheesh, it's not the end of the world. And you even said she would have moved if asked, so what's the problem? I sure feel sorry for your wife if you let this rile you up this much through your entire vacation. Move on and enjoy your time off. Better things to fret about. You are not due anything from UA.

Often1

If the wife paid for E+ and got E+, she got what she paid for. If she paid for E+ and was moved to E-, she is entitled to a refund of the E+ seat fee. That's it.

That is the contract she agreed to when she purchased the ticket.

The rest is all a lot of nothing and is missing important details such as who accused her of being a "seat thief." If it was a crew member, complain. If another passenger, ignore it. If it didn't happen, don't rant here about it.

wolf72

I totally get how you feel. Especially after you have paid for that specific seat. I don't understand the logic of giving you a hard time.

Baze

Sorry, but you never pay for a particular seat, UA will tell you this, all airlines will tell you this. You pay for a certain type of seat. In this case they paid for an aisle E+ seat and that is what they got. Someone even posted the part about seats selection is not guaranteed.

And was the wife realy looked at as a seat thief or self upgrader? Or was that just how she felt? Did people glare at her? I assume it was a FA that had her move, the FA would know original and new seat were both E+ and there was no thievery or self upgrading involved. People get moved all the time. I have been moved. I NEVER felt or was made to feel like I was a seat thief or self upgrader. OP is blowing this way out of proportion to what it is.

mattack4000

I already said they did what Delta did to her.

Yes, that's why the electronic pass didn't match the paper ticket. That's why I know someone swapped it at the last second.

Did I say she was looking for compensation? She was just looking to find out why her seat was switched and she ended up looking like an idiot for sitting in the wrong seat.

I have no idea, but at least a few of you guys get my point. Thanks

You are totally right, they own everything. We are just little sheeps to them.

I should mention that when you are done paying for a specific E+ seat. Once you are done paying for it, switch to one row forward and see if they will charge you again. If they do charge you again, doesn't it say you did indeed pay for a seat selection, not just an E+ upgrade.

Baze

As her boarding pass did not cause a problem when scanned the seat was changed after she boarded. There is absolutely no reason to feel like an idiot for sitting in the wrong seat. Only she would get that feeling. Seats get changed. And I say feel not look as I doubt anyone thought she was an idiot for sitting in the wrong seat if a FA came by to give her her new seat assignment. Now if another passenger came by and said you are in my seat both have the same seat assignment there would still be no reason to feel like an idiot for sitting in the wrong seat. As far as she knew she was in the right seat. She was given her new seat and the reason will probably never be known. Can only speculate that it was a family that wanted to sit together so similar. Still no problem. Take new seat, get on with life, enjoy vacation.

Hipplewm

If you go all the way thru paying for it, it should zero out. It just looks like you get doubled charged.

caveat - I haven't tried it in quite some time, but long ago, that is how it worked.

WineCountryUA

No quite the same, the DL incident was moving a passagner to a non-equivalent seat -- lots more to be upset about.

wolf72

Yes, agreed but why was the seat changed after she had boarded. In Asia, the ground staff or cabin crew will approach a passenger seated to ask if it would be alright for them to relocate to accomodate a family (as an example) to sit together. There is a way to go about it without offending a passenger. 99% of the time, passengers will be accomodating and will switch seats. If you ask them nicely.

catocony

On narrowbodies, 20 is usually the first exit row, E+ but the seat doesn't recline. Row 25 is not E+ on any narrowbody.

Baze

OP has never stated route or plane type and did not give definitive seat #'s so I would not assume one way o the other that it was or wasn't a narrow body or even what the real seat numbers were. Was like pulling teeth just to get those seat numbers and they weren't even sure about them.

WalterSFO

I don't know how UA handles such complaints. (moving passengers to another seat without their consent)

However, I can comment on how British Airways handled it. I booked a World Traveller+ seat on the upper deck of the A380. It was the first week that BA's A380 started flying. I didn't have anywhere to go and my *only* reason for booking that flight was so that I could fly the A380 and take pictures. Weeks earlier, I booked and selected the starboard window seat in the first row of WT+. At the gate, a gate agent informed me that my seat had been changed because of "operational issues" and handed me a new boarding pass. I immediately saw that it was an aisle seat. I informed her that I would have no reason to fly that day if I didn't get my original window seat back(or any other window seat). She and her supervisor would not budge. I ended up taking the flight anyway and a nice older lady swapped seats with me for 20 minutes so I could take pics from her window seat.

When I got back, I immediately contacted BA customer relations. I got a canned response 2 days later. Another week later, I received a phone call. A very nice lady seemed confused about my complaint. I explained everything to her again. She said she would forward this "upstairs" and someone would get back to me shortly. Two days later, she called me back and said the BA would be fully refunding my entire return ticket, as well as provide me with Ł250 for my troubles.

Of course, UA is not BA, so I guess the OP won't get anywhere near that.. but it doesn't hurt to nicely complain.

WineCountryUA

OP's wife situation was quite different .

Was switched from one E+ aisle seat to another E+ aisle seat a few rows away. The 2nd seat was not the issue, it was the lack of consulting the passenger in advance of the change. Note, per the OP, the first seat was selected just a few hours before departure, so this wasn't a case the seat was the purpose of the trip.

Things probably would have gone over better if the passenger had been first consulted but there does not appear to have been a material change in seating arrangement (based on information provided so far).

malgudi

You can't come in here all steamed up if you can't even recall the exact seat she was moved to.

What aircraft?

silver_halide

Imagine I'm the other passenger. I am travelling last minute, got put on the plane due to IRROPs, or for whatever reason although I paid for E+, I didn't have an opportunity to get a seat assignment, or get my preferred assignment.

When I get to the gate, I explain to the GA that due to my medical condition, I need a bulkhead/to be closer to the washroom/to be beside my travel companion/etc. I may choose to disclose the exact nature of the medical condition to the GA to convince them that it is an honest need.

However, I would be upset if, while alerting the FA to the seat reassignment, the GA told the FA that it was for a medical reason, or details of the condition. I would be even more upset if the FA told the passenger I displaced those details. There is no reason for the other passenger to know about my health issues.

Leaving the world of the hypothetical, and back to the OP's wife, there may be a valid reason why your wife's seat was needed. What those reasons are may not be known to the GA/FA or they may/should not be at liberty to disclose. Asking her to move, gives the opportunity for her to refuse, which can then escalate, and we all know how that ends. On the other hand, telling her that her seat assignment has changed, will more likely get the needed move.

Now, there are a range of ways an FA could convey a demand to move, and we don't have any details to judge how it's was done, so I can't comment on that, but it seems to me, that telling her to move without further explanation may have been the best approach all around.

Alternatively, because we don't know how the demand was made, we can't guess how a respectful "I reserved this specific seat, and would rather stay here" would have be received. (Or the variation, if true, of "I reserved this specific seat due to a medical condition, and would rather stay here".)

I'm sorry she felt unfairly treated, but it may have been everyone trying to make the best of the situation.