amonisis

This is like someone thinking they can just walk up to the front row at a baseball game and inherit the seat. There's a reason those are premium, buy it if you want it.

dw

No kidding. But I think we now know who tries to poach seats in F ;-)

alchemista

Because I will never pay (I said they have no chance at selling me, not people in general).

Yes - I started the thread saying I will take flak for trying to poach, and I'm not trying to defend myself about it. Just sharing the experience so people know. B6 is the first time I've ever been kicked out, especially in a completely empty row. I was amazed how they delayed departure a couple minutes as they were double checking passenger lists.

alchemista

We could get into a whole economic discussion on here, but the value of an item is only what someone is willing to pay for it. An empty seat becomes worthless at some point if nobody is willing to pay to use it and it's a time-limited use (like a flight, stadium event, etc). If they really wanted to maximize economic value they would decrease the price over time of the seat (full price before flight start, halfway through offer upgrades at 60% discount) - that would be pretty funny.

I understand their rules, and that's fine. I don't feel bad though attempting to take a completely empty row because it's not affecting other passengers' comfort. Personally, I'd feel bad taking a seat next to someone else who paid premium for it. I don't have an excuse though if they kick me out.

What was also funny on this flight was that there were some very late boarders that they clearly gave the premium seats free, after they had given standbys the remaining coach seats. So maybe with B6, wait until the very end to board and then ask nicely

amonisis

it retains the value if people are willing to pay for it in the future (which they do), when it loses value is if they allow people to do what you want to do

i do share this complaint however. They already allow the elderly and active military to board early, just give them these seats if available. Or upgrade mosaic members. Basically anyone except the last people to show up.

sbm12

Sure seems like you are.
Only works if it doesn't also skew future value of the product. If customers are trained to the idea that buying a last-minute ticket is cheaper they'll do that, reducing the value to the company overall. That individual seat on that specific flight might net nil in revenue but that's just one tiny part of the equation. It is about maximizing yield in the overall network over time, not just each seat on each flight.

alchemista

I've said multiple times that I violated the rules, don't have an excuse for getting kicked out, etc - just surprised at the tenacity of the B6 FAs and thought it interesting to post to FT. But good for them if they want to rigorously enforce their rules even when it results in completely empty rows. If it were my airline, I'd probably allow flexibility or maybe something cool like a lottery of upgrades during boarding - but I don't own an airline.

Yes, the future value is a good argument. Many economic papers have been written around the empty-seat airplane scenarios. There's not a precise answer for balancing perceived value of a seat vs. giving up potential last-minute revenue, so each airline has to decide their strategy. For a single flight, it would make sense to sell the remaining seats for just over marginal cost (which is low), but then that can damage perceived value which is harder to measure unlike the revenue gain.

Clearly the airlines have figured this out much better over the last few years with record profits. It's very obvious over the last few years that they have figured out how to fill up planes, more accurately predict how much to oversell, etc - way more 100% full flights than I ever remember.

OK - we have turned this into an economic discussion

vatraveler

If they don't enforce the rules, everyone who actually paid for EML seats is going to have ill will and request a refund.

RandomBaritone

It's fascinating, and you're a good sport for being so honest about it.

I also think it's an interesting contrast with the culture of the UA forum. If a thread there had drifted even slightly off-topic into a general economic discussion about scarcity and marginal value, a mod would have deleted the posts so fast our heads would spin, then posted a stern warning for good measure.

Of course there are exponentially more posts there per day, so a heavier hand is probably called for.

RWPrincess

I agree with your logic but I would amend "elderly" to those who need medical assistance and could physically benefit from the extra space. I only say this because I know many folks in the "elderly" age range yet you'd never know it by looking at them.

I would also add that it is possible the last minute boarders are non-revs flying standby. Perhaps they were just further down the priority list.

TomMM

Mind telling us where you work? I'd like to try to apply your logic there.

airplanegod

I take it the OP flies on WN and never flies on any other air carrier, this happens on every airline, saw the same scenario happen first hand on a couple of my AA flights a few days ago.

DrewBr

As mentioned they will sell an EMS seat once aboard if available after Mosaic upgrades.

A couple years ago, DCA to FL somewhere, I paid aboard for an EMS seat with the Jetblue Amex and it posted at 1/2 price. $25 instead of $50 IIRC
All purchases aboard with the cobrand card are 50% off.
I was surprised. Perhaps a glitch in the system? ? ?
Anyone tried this lately? Has the glitch been fixed? Is this an unadvertised perk?

TIA

BTW, I have never seen a $ reduction for EMS seats out of DCA after booking at any point fwiw. This summer I asked if EMS purchases aboard were 1/2 price with their card and the FA responded, "Not sure, great question. Would you like to find out?" I didn't on that flight.

joede224

literally had this exact same experience yesterday. 3 friends and I all doing our MR for the points match. on the way home two of us have broken IFE screens. My buddy messages me "hey the exit row is empty and the screens are working" so we all shift around. the flight atendant comes over and ANGRILY tells us we need to get back to our seats and we are not allowed to move. we explain both out screens arent working. he doesnt care and is kinda a grouch about it.

later in the flight the female flight attendant comes over and offers me a 15$ voucher for my broken screen which i take.

this makes no sense to me. they gave me 15$ in voucher for something that would have easily been solved at no cost to them. but after reading the thread i get some of your points, just have never experienced this on other airlines.

bbtrvl

I think if you had asked to move instead of doing it, you had a good chance of getting an OK since your IFE was out (not guaranteed though)

In addition exit rows are subject to more rules than ordinary EMS, the FA is supposed to check that everyone sitting in exit is willing and able to act in case of emergency and understands English. So poaching exit row is circumventing the FA's responsibilities.