Originally Posted by
mikebor
I rarely if ever fly United but had to today. The flight was short and I had a seat all the way near the back of the plane. It also wasn't a very full flight.
I was about to board and I asked the guy scanning tickets if I could sit wherever I want since the flight isn't full. He said yeah I don't care. Then he printed out a new boarding pass for me and upgraded me to first class. I was pleasantly surprised.
Does this kind of thing happen often? I mean the flight was only 32 minutes but to get a first class upgrade with no status at all seems pretty darn cool. Maybe I should fly United more often if this happens a lot.
No, that doesn't happen often. You almost certainly got moved for weight and balance reasons.
If there weren't any premier passengers left on the upgrade list, and they needed to balance the plane, then somebody was going to get moved up front, and either they'd already selected you or he decided to do you a favor since you asked.