Vunder31

Shortest pitch on LH: 30" on the AT7, 31" on other small aircraft.
Shortest pitch in E- on "proper" UA (not UX): 31"

How's that "about 4" less pitch"?

If you extend the comparison to include UX flights, there are plenty of aircraft with 31" pitch and 30" on the SF340.

weero

... and for the new intra-Europe configuration LH then increased the number of seats on the A320 from 150 to 168 by further lowering the pitch.

How this can be 'offered' without going significantly below 30" is a bit beyond me.

TechMarauder

Um "Every flight in this country" is not oversold. If so, I would have to start filing taxes for the vouchers that I received!

RBH58

Okay...so maybe a slight exaggeration. When the agent tried to find alternate flights on this trip, 4 of my 5 UA suggested options were "oversold" (the agents words not mine).

Anyhow...finally got home a day late but at least I got home. LAX>MEL was actually a pretty pleasant experience. Staff were nice, service was good, food/wine was reasonable, and I slept like a baby for 9 hours.

Actually, all of the UA staff were pleasant and apologetic throughout the whole experience. They all just seemed to be operating with their hands tied behind their backs with respect to UA policies, support and systems. I feel sorry for them.

weero

Yes. That is - in all likelihood - a consequence of this stinkin' UDU concept. That all C and F cabin are full of real-elites and mini-elites who did not even opt to be to upgraded.

For someone who travels in paid premium and experiences an IRROP this means in all likelihood coach and E-. Happens to everyone, even UA's own elites.

Hence I hate UDU even more than I hated it at the very beginning.

dinoscool3

What does UDU have to do with this?

weero

That:
IMO a very clear indication of the sins of UDU.

dinoscool3

Not really, "oversold" would mean it is oversold in Y as well, they can put him in Y if it's UDU. He can blame the overselling when they say "oversold and I can't put you in Y either", and he can blame UDU when they say "full in F, do you want Y?".

Vunder31

LH A320 162 seat configuration (27 rows, 6 seats per row): 31.3"
http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Luf...s_A320-200.php

If you add one row to make it 168 seats, the average leg room would be about 30.2".

How is that significantly below 30" or 4" less than UA E-?

elCheapoDeluxe

The seat map you're referencing is 26 rows x 6 seats = 156 seats. I think you're mistakenly adding the max coach capacity to the max first capacity. Or maybe you missed that there are no rows 13 or 17 in that config. Imagine adding one more row to THAT config.

Vunder31

I counted rows 1-28 and deducted row 13 and came up with 27 rows. I missed that there is no row 17. My mistake.
So we have 26 rows with 31.3" pitch. Squeeze in two more rows, and the average seat pitch is about 29.1".
Is that "considerably" below 30"? Yeah, one could argue that.
Is 29" 4 inches less than UA E- ? No, still can't see that.

It should also be noted that the tight seat pitch on LH A320 is only experienced on short intra-European flights, while UA will subject passengers to 31" seat pitch on 5+ hour transcontinental flights.

robyng

I will see everyone's $100 bet and raise you $50 in terms of who's bad. I submit that all travel today everywhere is subject to screw-ups or worse (think the bullet train accident in China) - and indignities. The worst we have had in recent years was security at CDG not knowing how to handle my husband's leg brace (he has MS). It had no private security screening room. And after much arguing back and forth in French about how to deal with the brace (he speaks ok French) - he simply dropped his pants. And the security people threatened to have him arrested. This in the priority first/BF security line. At 7:00 am! Everything eventually worked out ok - but I had a headache all the way home.

FWIW - I can understand the frustration of the OP - especially after spending $11k for a ticket! That's a huge amount of money for an airline ticket IMO. Which is one reason I spend so much attention collecting miles for long haul trips.

And perhaps I read this thread too quickly. But why didn't the airline pay for the OP's hotel? Because it was a weather related problem? Robyn

RBH58

I was looking for ANY options (including Y) to get to LAX.

dinoscool3

There ya go, UDU was not involved.

Hence it was the overbooking that cause the OP to hate UA even more.

RBH58

I guess they figured that because I declined an offer of flying Y home from LAX to MEL (like I'm going to accept that after spending $11k?!) that they'd done enough and the fact that I decided to wait 24 hours for my seat was my decision.

I do intend to write UA an incendiary "letter" however, and see what it gets me.