yeah I guess I've been getting away with it as a 1P for a couple years now


why should they offer it to Aeroplan SE's and E's????


Anyway, do we really have a market in Canada for a BA/VS style premium economy?

CO does not have E+, they will, but not yet.
They have ELR seats - exit rows and bulkheads - those are sold, but Gold+ can choose them at booking, and Silvers can choose them if available at checkin. Chances that there are any left (there is only like 18 seats on each plane) to be allocated to "foreign" elites are slim.

Because on Air Canada we offer them preferred seating as *A Gold members but yet on there Airline UA we get shafted and not put automatically in a preferred seat in E+...NOT FAIR at all!
Anyways UA can keep there sh*tty product and service anyways as far as I am concerned. When I flew on a 744 that was as old as I was on the weekend from HKG-SIN-HKG let me tell you..you then learn to re-appreciate AC a whole lot more!...HORRIBLE Food, Service and Planes IMHO.
Next time SQ all the way and pay a little more but at least worth it.

youre entitled to your opinion of UA.... based on one flight... but whatever.
Some of us have greatly benefited from free North American upgrades (havent missed one yet - 21/21 so far), one-way awards, and generous compensation, and at the very least, sitting with good legroom on longhauls.

Horrible food and service, yeah that would never happen on Air Canada in Y

Who's assuming? A LOT of E and SE would be willing to pay !!

Actually when I lived in LA for 5 years in 1996-2000 I was a1K on UA and yes then it was much better than today overall.
As for the Food in Y on AC let me tell you that UA doesn't even hold a torch to the food in Y on AC in Y Class...not after the dogs breakfast I was served on UA on an International 3.5 hour flight let me tell you, not to mention FA's that were very good at dissappearing for 3.5 hours, no water service like on AC, only 1 trolley service whereby you were handed a plastic bag with potato chips, a stale peacan cookie and a flattened ham and cheese sandwich! You don't that garbage served to you anywhere system wide on AC in Y.
As far as I am concerned if UA doesn't give us consistent access to E+ we should screw you guys over and block *A Gold members of UA/CO from being able to access bulkhead seats/Exit Rows etc on AC metal....FAIR is FAIR!

I agree with the fact that AC should screw people out of the exit rows. After all those are reserved for people who fly 100,000+ miles on AC, and as a reward for their loyalty get to see employees ride up front.

At least you got something for your 3.5 hour flight (but only because it was international). What does AC give you in Y on a similar length flight? how about... NOTHING...

Maybe this new E+ on AC will indeed be something with a meal - a la what NZ does with their short haul pricing structure.

And you said it yourself, intra-asia UA is a budget carrier, a well known fact, you want service, fly a real (Asian) airline and pay accordingly.

AC on an International 3.5 hour flight similar YYZ-YVR-SYD, the YYZ-YVR portion you will be served a hot meal, have a full bar trolley, water service during the flight, XMS Satelite Radio, Individual Power Supply, Individual PTV's on each seat back not looking at a Giant Start Trek Screen from the 80's like on UA!

I am not just talking about Exit rows I am talking about banning you from row 20 and onwards on all AC flights....no preferred seting at all to all UA members just as we are treated on UA...back of the bus treatment!

FYI, UA 895 and 896 are NOT intra-Asia flighst but rather are THRU flights from ORD-HKG-SIN and return.

YEP I would as well!^

Yes, it would seem very likely that AC will introduce Premium Economy on its 787s, with an eye on the long haul, not domestic market. It is my understanding that QF and NZ have had great success with this, and are adamant that it has not taken away from fare paying J passengers. It's absolutely not "E+" in Y seats with greater legroom.

Calin has it absolutely right (if a little late in the game) about "economy travelers who may be willing to pay something less than a business-class fare for extra legroom or a better meal" since many airlines have it.

And it will be at a higher cost, and you can bet not free to any grade of FFs.

To clarify.. yes I know that CO doesn't have E+..

My point is that on reward redemption, UA usually has us on E+, and the one time I flew with CO, they had us back of the bus and served last.

CO has a great entertainment system,. so our family enjoyed that.. and thankfully didn't fun out of their hot meal selections.. so enjoyed that.. and we were quite happy to get 3 seats together even though we couldn't recline.

Toast to UA for some reason is treating us well.. we will look to book reward flights with them first off, right after AC if available.

The only problem is that there's so many elites on UA (this includes CO elites too) that if any *G could book E+ on booking, the UA elites who didn't book a month ahead would be sitting in the back. Some days I'm flying UA on a route like SFO-IAD and it almost seems like everyone is elite. The only thing you can do is to credit a couple of longhauls to UA a year to get 2P and access to E+/UDU, which is what I ended up doing. UA is just cheap overall, look at award blocking for their own elites.

I really want UA to update its 747s too (it isn't Ryanair, why can't we at least get our own TV?). I had quite the surprise when I first switched my long-haul flying from CX/BA to UA this year, I think I nearly cried. That being said, free E+ has got me hooked to UA and I'm not thinking of switching back.

If AC introduces a Premium Economy product then it should be the "Business Light" quality of product that is found of QF and NZ rather than a half-arsed attempt such as the BA WTP product or the other North American E+ type products.

While this means that there won't be free upgrades for elites, it provides a genuine money making opportunity and a way to further differentiate from other North American carriers. The most important thing is to make sure that it is a properly differentiated product with ~40" pitch, less seats per row (2-4-2 max on 777) and J class (or close to it) food and booze.

I know I would buy it.

IMHO BA's WT+ is way ahead of the N.American type of premium economy as it's a separate cabin, not part of the economy cabin and the seats are larger (wider), which isn't the case with other economy plus products. To me WT+ is more "business lite" than economy plus but that's MHO and YMMV.

I agree with you. But also note that a HUGE draw of WT+ on BA is the ability to then upgrade it with points to J (and the points required are only 50% of the point required for a Y booking). So WT+ & 25,000 miles gets you a J seat to the UK. And a WT+ fare is normally only a few hundred more than discount Y.

How is AC going to handle *A upgrades with a premium economy fare?