Originally Posted by
hgdf
Let's not forget the event that precipitated this topic was the OP, an MVPG, booking a transcon 2 weeks in advance and finding only standard middle seats available. If those routes are so elite heavy that the front Y cabin fills up that fast, who's to say that you'd even be able to get E+ when you wanted it?
If UA could book their flights solid with elites the was AS does on SEA-DCA, the OP would still be in that middle seat. If UA has all those available F and E+ seats available at the last minute, that may be a good thing for you as a elite customer, but for UA it may be a sign of excess capacity. For now, I bet AS is happy to run with high load factors on these highly profitable routes rather than mess with a successful formula.
This is an excellent point. However, I'm not proposing that AS copy E+, simply providing more legroom and giving away seats to elites while charging non-elites for them. I'm proposing that AS create more of a premium economy product, something midway between Y and F, and that they charge everyone for it (with elites either given a discount or given a certain number of freebies per year). I would tune the pricing of this product (North of Coach) such that it typically didn't sell out weeks in advance, but rather that seats were usually available fairly close to the date of the flight.