Originally Posted by
7Continents
As a business traveler of late, AA cut NYC-ORD to barely 1 every 3(ish) hours. My last trip was B6 out and UA back. I'm allowed to buy lowest economy that includes seat selection. I didn't have to be back of the bus either way (and have gotten UA group 2 boarding with no status or up fare for a front seat). After most of my AA flights this year being minor to moderate disasters and then two very good flights on other carriers, I see how AA could concentrate on just charging the minimum amount they can to give each and every pax a good experience. This rather than a race to the bottom. I was shocked at how many people got on the UA flight at the end of the line and would have swore on a stack of bibles we would take a delay for bags. But those were all no bag on board fares and the FA's actually took small bags out of the overheads to fit big bags to get the flight out. I've NEVER seen that on AA.
I have mixed feelings about UA's policy on that. On one hand, yes it fits more bags on board, which is especially necessary since they haven't gone through and refit with the larger bins like AA has on most of their aircraft. Otoh, for those who travel with just one bag so they can have the legroom that they may need, being forced to put that one bag under the seat in front of you when you have already checked one is frustrating. It also opens the FAs up to liability from either dropping and breaking a pax's bag or breaking themselves. While I don't agree of AA's FAs making pax get up to grab/move their bag (when they do ask), it at least sets in a method of "if you don't want to have to get up again, put your bag in the right way the first time". Plus, the last time I let an FA move my bag (on YX, so contract regional), I ended up with a broken laptop screen as they shoved it in a place it couldn't fit.