ibrandsguest

I've noticed that we who fly on former US Airways routes after the phaseout of the US brand are getting the short end of the stick: we have to pay for upgrades (in effect, with 500-mile upgrade coupons) but, unlike people who fly on former AA routes, at least for now, there is no "Main Cabin Extra" other than, get this, bulkhead rows and exit rows.

So if you don't pay for an upgrade, your options for more space are just exit rows (as bulkhead rows aren't much more spacious). If you're a former Silver, you're up the creek since you don't get free Main Cabin Extra until 24 hours before departure, whereas before the merger, exit rows were available at any time.

Is anyone else irked about this "enhancement"? I'm Platinum (ex-Gold).

ty97

You will find that the pmAA planes have had the exit rows and bulkheads recoded as MCE as well. This is already in effect now for pmAA but was not the case earlier when MCE was first installed. In fact this change on pmAA did not occur until sometime this calendar year.

The very small glimmer of positivity (and I'm not suggesting it's a an even trade off, it's not) is that choice seats on pmUS go away so you at least can get a (non-MCE) seat near the front of your pmUS plane without having to pay for it.

IceTrojan

Don't forget the plan that MCE configurations are supposed to be standardized throughout the combine fleet. But yes, in the short term, you get the short end of the merger stick.

AtlanticX

It's a zero-sum change though. Every benefit that the pmUS Silver loses (they still get the 50% reduction) is to the gain of the pmUS Gold and up.

(i.e. less availability for the one, is more availability for the other)

JDiver

That short stick IceTrojan speaks of is like a baton at a very long relay race: it gets handed back and forth a lot for the duration of the race.

The "new AA" (HPdbaUSdbaAA?) hasn't entirely emerged yet; they haven't even made a definitive statement about MCE retrofitting, though they're using the MCE tag and income to hang on some LUS seats.

In the end, all of us will experience some gains, some losses. And what finally comes about is what it's really about, and how to best make use of it. Some of us will stick around and deal with it, nut I also imagine some will see how another airline might suit them better. Good luck to us all!

CLTUSCAPTIVE

As a current Gold (Ex US Silver), this was the one benefit that really meant something to me. So of course, they removed it. I was in an exit row seat today (23A on a CLT - SFO A321), and the person sitting in 23C was extremely unhappy with the "exit row" seat he paid for. He thought that exit row seats should have more room than most coach seats. Obviously, 23C on an A321 doesn't, and he was upset enough that the flight attendant threatened to have him removed from the plane. The passenger may have been a jerk, I didn't hear the initial exchange with he had with another flight attendant and don't know who if anyone was rude, but I can see how a paying passenger unfamiliar with the airline could be upset when he was charged $50 for a seat that is no better than any other coach seat. Does any other business treat their customers this shabbily? Not unique to AA, of course but still galling.

formeraa

Then again, with any business, it is necessary to do your research to make sure that you are getting value for your money.

A good example when booking reservations is to always check business class fares on international flights (even some domestic flights, too). Over the past few years, I have found several situations where business class is priced only $200 to $400 more than coach. In these cases, I chose to pay the extra fare to have a big seats, better meals, priority checkin/security, and lounge access. It was worth it! I even made AA Gold because of a low business class fare to PTY last year.

So, I would suggest that consumers go in armed with knowledge.

JDiver

Isn't that akin to US selling so-called "choice" seating, regardless of status? Two peas in a pod, IMO. Same CEO, so no surprises here. Elsewhere, airlines continue to enhance revenue by unbundling and creating new service categories, so it's even less surprising. BA "enhanced" Club Europe / regional business seat pitch to 30". Heck, even AMTRAK has hopped aboard and is charging for baggage. "Getting there is half the fun." Not any more.

swag

I'm looking at a 321 seat map for December, and only row 22 and 23AF are marked as MCE. 23BCDE are marked as preferred, the only suich seats behid row 18 with that designation.

And 10ABCF are MCE, but 10D is preferred (and 10E is not premium at all?).

The point being, it seems AAUS is no longer selling the standard pitch seats as MCE.