Originally Posted by
zoechow (Post # 1)
I am newly silver, and extremely inexperience. Past advice has been not to expect upgrades, and that the benefits are free E+ at checkin , free bag, and BG2.
But say you can expense any economy ticket, and you are very picky about seats, that is, willing to pay to make as sure as possible to get E+ and in particular an aisle E+. Is this so easy that I should buy regular E rather than E+ and just expect all to be well at check in? . . .
Still, should I have bought a fully refundable E (rather than E+) just to see if that immediately clears? (I just bought and so could easily cancel)
Originally Posted by
SeamusSA (Post # 10)
Just to clarify, E+ seating is not an upgrade. Upgrade is from economy /economy plus cabin to first class cabin. . . .
If you must have an E+ aisle seat, then buy it at the time of your purchase. On popular, elite heavy routes E+aisle seats are often gone by the time you are checking in for your flight.
Originally Posted by
jsloan (Post # 11)
That’s the best way to guarantee it, certainly. On routes where there are a few Premier members who do get upgraded, they’ll often get upgraded from desirable seats, so there is an argument for waiting in those cases, but it’s definitely not a guarantee.
As indicated above, the ability to obtain an E+ aisle seat at check-in depends initially on how many higher status MileagePlus™ Premier members are on the plane. Remote flights on less popular days of the week have a better chance.
As a long-time Silver, I usually check in as close to 24 hours prior to departure as possible. If there is no E+ aisle seat available, I will keep my regular "E-" aisle seat. Then I frequently check the seat map, looking for E+ aisle vacancies caused by higher status Premier members who got upgraded. The more often you check, the greater your chances.