Originally Posted by
Shygirl
So, these seats in white that I'm seeing for purchase would have been complimentary if I had selected Economy in the first place? ...
Originally Posted by
Shygirl
I should have went with delta/Jetblue/AA which was more money up front but would have been cheaper in the long run. They didn’t have all these caveat that you seem to have to navigate with united. ....
They also have a portion of the economy requing extra access fees.
Originally Posted by
Shygirl
So at check in the united economy seats will be available for me to choose and it's not going to be a case of United assigning random seats for me? ...
Conditional Yes, depends on if adjacent seats are available at that time
UA has four categories of economy seats
Economy Plus -- bookable for free by some elites or by subscription or occasionally by anyone if the rest of the seats are occuplied
Preferred -- "reserved" for corporate customers or elites, access able before checkin by anyone for fee or free after checkin
Blocked -- UA will block seats for those with medical needs or family groups (especially with minors) -- need to call for access
Rest of economy -- free for any non-Basic Economy passenger
BE passenger have no say in placement which could be in any part of the entire economy cabin (including E+, preferred or rest of economy)
Blocked and preferred seats will open up at check-in for any non-BE. Getting adjacent seats for a large group at that time will depend on how full the flight is.
Note is worth checking the flight from time to time as people plans change and seats may open up. Also at check-in and afterward "free seats" will open up for the above reasons and as elites upgrade or move into E+. There is quite of bit of seat churn closer to departure.