Originally Posted by
TennisPro
I personally wouldn't count UA out, because as a tall guy, I really value E+. Even though this will become a benefit only at check-in next year, I have hope that 25K folks will still get a decent amount of E+. I guess we'll see.
It's hard to say and I'm sure it will vary heavily by route. I imagine 2P's will be often forced to decide between an E- aisle and an E+ middle.
Will UA create a 2nd standby list at the gate? As 1K/1P clear the F standby list, will they have an automatically-ranked list of 2P's not yet in an E+ aisle or window seat who automatically get reseated to the E+ seat the 1K/1P vacated?
If I always flew solo, I might not mind the UA situation so much. I fly a lot out of MCI where, if you avoid peak business travel flights, a 2P probably still gets an E+ aisle at check-in. But getting a couple seats together is probably somewhat more difficult.
I will likely avoid UA metal for 2012 unless I'm traveling solo and avoiding UA makes for a longer travel day. My native statuses in 2012 will be AA, WN, and US. So I'll look for those three plus Continental planes that haven't been retrofitted with E+ yet.