FA permitting a "self upgrade" to MCE/exit row after boarding door closes
Sep 10, 2019, 10:26 am
#181
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Yes.
On a per capita basis, I'd bet there are a lot more elites on AA than on United. AA gives away temporary status like candy on Halloween, but I've never seen United do that a single time. (United does offer challenges, but not on a random, mass-mailing basis like AA has been doing in recent years.) Beyond that, United polices its E+ seats after the cabin door closes while AA doesn't.
I’m a lowly Gold on AA, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an entire row of MCE empty let alone 3, and rarely even see anything but middles empty in AA MCE
Sep 10, 2019, 12:31 pm
#182
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Laguna Niguel, CA
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Posts: 6,988
I'm in MCE a lot. I've never seen the FA allow squatters. I do see the FA bounce people back to their seat when they self-upgrade. Last week, my upg cleared at the last second, I was already seated in 15D. When the GA came down and handed me my new BP, the guy behind me started to get up and said "I'll take your seat". The GA responded with "I'll need your credit card for that seat", and he sat back down. So, I do see AA protecting MCE from squatters.
Sep 10, 2019, 2:25 pm
#183
Join Date: Jun 2013
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Sep 10, 2019, 3:07 pm
#184
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 2,313
I'm in MCE a lot. I've never seen the FA allow squatters. I do see the FA bounce people back to their seat when they self-upgrade. Last week, my upg cleared at the last second, I was already seated in 15D. When the GA came down and handed me my new BP, the guy behind me started to get up and said "I'll take your seat". The GA responded with "I'll need your credit card for that seat", and he sat back down. So, I do see AA protecting MCE from squatters.
Sep 10, 2019, 6:19 pm
#185
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Sep 14, 2019, 7:25 am
#186
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A couple years have passed since this thread was hot, and we got bumped because UA was in the news for clearly stating that they don't permit self-upgrading from Y to Y+.
From where we sit now in 2019, having witnessed my share of piggish behavior on multiple airlines, I'm with UA on this one. The default position should be no self-upgrading - stay in your part of the cabin whether there's a curtain there or not.
If the flight is *very* empty and the FA wants to very prescriptively allow a limited amount of encroachment into Y+ without impacting any existing Y+ passengers, then fine...so be it...but it's clear to be that the traveling public cannot handle this responsibility itself. We're a bunch of selfish pigs, and that is the problem.
From where we sit now in 2019, having witnessed my share of piggish behavior on multiple airlines, I'm with UA on this one. The default position should be no self-upgrading - stay in your part of the cabin whether there's a curtain there or not.
If the flight is *very* empty and the FA wants to very prescriptively allow a limited amount of encroachment into Y+ without impacting any existing Y+ passengers, then fine...so be it...but it's clear to be that the traveling public cannot handle this responsibility itself. We're a bunch of selfish pigs, and that is the problem.
Sep 14, 2019, 11:13 am
#187
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Location: Miami, Florida
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I was on an AA flight earlier today and saw an FA decline a self-upgrader who wanted the MCE seat of a guy who was battlefield upgraded.
(The guy who was battlefield-upgraded appeared to be traveling with his wife and ditched her so fast her head spun. Haha.)
(The guy who was battlefield-upgraded appeared to be traveling with his wife and ditched her so fast her head spun. Haha.)
Last edited by joe_miami; Sep 15, 2019 at 4:34 pm
Sep 15, 2019, 4:20 pm
#188
Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: DSM
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 110
I was on a 3/4 full A320(?) a couple weeks ago, had the window in the front exit row with both seats next to me empty, and all three directly behind me were empty. After the door was closed and the FA had already asked us if we were "willing & able..." and had walked off, three PAX came up from a few rows back and sat in the empty row behind me. No one encroached on my row so I didn't mind (and I hadn't paid for MCE, free at T24 as Gold). Before we pushed back the FA came up and told the three that she had "already gotten (willing & able) confirmation from the exit rows, and these seats cost extra, so they had to go back to their seats. I just thought it was funny that she used the willing & able confirmation as one of the reasons they couldn't sit there, in addition to the extra $.