FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Purchasing Economy Plus - Website Glitch?
Old Dec 2, 2013 | 10:15 pm
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emcampbe
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Originally Posted by lurkgoddess
Hi, first let me start with the obligatory 'if this has been posted before, I'm apologize' apology. Seriously, I searched but got no where so...

... with that out of the way, can someone clue me in:

I have been attempting to purchase an economy plus seat on one of my flights - this particular leg being from Melbourne to Houston on Oct 21, 2014. Segments of this leg are:

MEL-SYD UA840(for flight change)
SYD-LAX UA840,
LAX-IAH UA1180.

Since money is funny, no 1st class flying over here which is why economy plus in seat 21C would be fine.

In fact, right after I booked my flight, I noticed the option to purchase the economy plus seat from SYD-LAX for $10, but could not select anything in this section. So I moved to the MEL-SYD segment, and was able to purchase seat 21C for $10. I see now it was a waste of money because...

...when I went BACK to the SYD-LAX flight, I still could not purchase econplus. I was able to select seat 34A in economy. But now, when I go back to this leg of my reservation, I can't even switch this seat out to another economy seat on the plane now. I hit 'continue' and things just don't update.

So I called and the agent says that the flight is too far away to make a selection. I'm like, ok, whatever. It maybe true but it wasn't the answer I wanted to hear so I gave her a piece of mind. Actually, I just politely thanked her and hung up. lol


But I go to check my last segment, LAX to IAH, and I am able to purchase E+! I even tried to see if the same thing would happen if I purchased MEl-IAH as a one way by itself - not that I would - and the same thing happens: SYD to LAX is blocked out.


What is interesting though - and this is where I think it gets glitchy - the price of the econ+ seats for the SYD-LAX segment seem to depend on which other segment I click on first. Here is what I mean:

When I load my ACTUAL reservation, if I click on the first leg, all E+ seats are 'from $97.00'. Even when I move over to the SYD-LAX leg the E+ seats are also 'from $97.00'.

But, if I click on the last leg, the E+ seats change to 'from $47.00'! Then I go back to SYD-LAX, and although I cannot make a purchase, the econ+ seats now show as 'from $47.00'.


So I cannot understand:
1) why I cannot change the seats (or purchase an economy + seat) on my SYD-LAX leg and

2) if I am finally able to purchase the seats, will the price start at $9.00 or $47.00 or $94.00? Its no big deal if I can't but since I am not a frequent traveler, I thought I'd check here to see if this is expected behavior.

So, has this happened to anyone else? Any tips for this fresh newb?
Have no idea on the pricing dependent on which segment you try first. However, it should be by leg, but $10 for SYD-LAX is definitely way too low - even $97 seems too low. Should definitely be over $100 for SYD - LAX, maybe even over $150. I just tried a dummy booking on the same dates not logged in, and was able to purchase the E+ seats for the first and third legs, not for the middle, long leg, SYD-LAX.

This likely has to do with the direct flight with a stop - this can cause issues with the system UA currently uses.

My suggestion would be either to try and call again and see if another agent can help, or even web support. Another option might be asking them to split UA 840 on your itinerary, making them essentially two different flights in your reservation instead of 1 with a stop. In addition to likely solving the seating issue, it should also allow you to get a few more miles as you will get credit for MEL-SYD and SYD-LAX, instead of MEL-LAX.
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