Flew CVG-SFO return over the holiday weekend. I was on a regular economy fare (bought the ticket about a week before they were selling BE on the route), but seems like there were BE folks in both directions. Not sure how many. But, what I did notice was that there was plenty of bin space on both flights, at least near where i was sitting (row 8 on 320 in both directions). I can't 100% say BE was the reason why, but its the first flight in a long time where the bins weren't relatively full, so I suspect this was a big part of it.
Also of note, GA in CVG on the outbound announced the flight was full and they needed to gate check 7 additional bags. I was boarding at the time I heard that announcement, and so didn't see what happened outside after that and they were forcing folks. However, I did notice that after a few minutes - it was only people walking in with carryons. But again, lost of bin space, so not sure why the announcement.
Originally Posted by
denuaflier
I just had my first BE experience. I don't get not letting 1K change a seat and giving that to no status standby. These people just don't have thinking capacity.
The idea is that UA doesn't want people who value things like standby and seat selection to buy these fares - they only want people to buy it who wouldn't otherwise fly with UA. 1K doesn't fit in the latter category. So if you want to choose a seat, you have to pay for a regular fare. There is all sorts of discouragement for many people to buy these fares - no seat selection (or guarantee of sitting with others in the same party), no changes to the itinerary, no ability to buy up/upgrade, no standby, no PQM, etc. The idea is if you value any or all of these things, then you'll pay the $15, $20, $25, etc. extra each way to get these kind of features.