Originally Posted by
Maz1982
Ah never heard of that. I'm tiny so just about fit in a seat 🙃
Ah I see. Guess UA is United Airlines, don'toften fly with American lines but we are no longer banned post covid. .. That sounds like PE in the UK with the extra space etc. All sounds like a good strategy. Now I know where to find decent J flights just need to make sure my bank account is full
It's not like PE in the UK. BA (for example) offers true PE on their long haul flights.
This is like getting an exit row seat on a flight from LHR to FCO. Both airlines will charge extra for this seat, but the difference is that the US carriers will give this a marketing name (like Main cabin extra, Economy plus, Comfort plus, depending on the carrier) and maybe include free drinks, dedicated overhead bin space just for those seats, and an earlier boarding group.
Also in the US, in addition to not paying for exit row (or similar) seats in economy, those with status will usually get space-available upgrades to first / business on domestic flights. So in addition to getting MCE on AA for free, I also end up in F about half the time, despite not paying for it. And while US domestic F is nothing special, it beats the hell out of economy (and euro-business for that matter)
The one thing that you don't get with status in the US is lounge access for domestic flights. They charge extra for that, and it's not cheap (the going rate is about $700+ per year, though you can usually get it slightly cheaper by signing up for a credit card, or buy day passes for $60 or so each). A lot of people swear by lounge access but I don't bother. You still get lounge access for international flights. Personally I prefer this to the EU model (I would rather upgrade my inflight seat than upgrade my preflight seat) but not everyone agrees with that.