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A family member of mine was booked on an int'l United flight in Economy (fare class L). When they logged on to the United website to check in, they were automatically assigned a seat in Economy Plus (even though the ticket still read "United Economy" for cabin information). After going through the check in process, the printed boarding pass reflects her E+ seat and now says "Economy Plus". Can this family member assume United will honor this welcome surprise? Or will they be disappointed tomorrow at the airport? Has anyone else experienced this before?

Thanks!

If you don't choose a seat in advance and all the regular E seats are assigned at the time you check in, you will automatically get a E+ seat.

You can't depend on it (by waiting until check in to get a seat assignment, you could just as easily get a middle seat in the last row), but it's a nice surprise when it happens. Tell your family member to enjoy the extra room.

Sound like a flight where E- was full and those without prior seat assignments were given E+ seating. And yes it will stick (assuming no change in aircraft) even if E- becomes available.

This is excellent news. Thanks, guys!

Been a while since I've seen someone get so excited by E+, the wheels of time are ch-urning...

And just see how they react if they are rebooked through irrop onto an airline that offers "real" Y+ seats and service (eg QF, CX)...

Don't think it has anything to do with time. For a family member who doesn't fly a lot, wasn't expecting this, and will be facing a 15 hour flight, this is very welcome news.

Hmm...the mystery deepens. My relative just told me that she asked her travel agent to select seats near the front when booking (months ago), and the travel agent was able to grab this seat. Any idea how that might have happened?

It's important to remember that going from E- to E+ is not an "upgrade" in the sense that the word is used in these circles. Whether in E- or E+, the ticket is still always going to say "United Economy." They're not separate classes of service.

If I was in that situation, I would call it an upgrade. The semantics can sit in E-.

The agent probably bought her E+ seats and charged her for it....

Certain travel agents can access premium seats without additional charge, but there's no way to make it stick in case of IRROP or schedule changes.

I understand it's semantics, but the OP was using it in a way that showed he thought it was a mistake on UA's part, and something that would have the potential to not be honored upon arrival to airport. If you know that E- and E+ are still the same class of service and that it's not an "upgrade" from one to another, then there'd be no reason to question a random or unexpected seat assignment in E+.

This sounds like the most likely scenario. Out of curiosity, do you know why certain travel agents have this ability?

The reason it felt like a "mistake" to me is because when I pulled up her reservation on UA's website, it showed that she was booked in E- and provided an opportunity to upgrade / buy-up to E+ for $X. At the same time, the seat assignment already showed her seated in E+. Seemed a bit glitchy to me.

This is similar to what happens when in other context where someone has gotten E+ for free but is not entitled to it on their own, e.g. when an elite calls and gets E+ for someone on a different PNR.