ksingh0311

^

pruss2ny

soccerdad1995....
i'm just saying i really don't think he's wrong...and i think its pretty clear by the rules that he isn't wrong based on seemingly apparent fact that the airline owns the seat and class of service, not the customer...and i'm going to cut him some slack that depending on circumstances he may or may not stand up for himself (everyone is jumping on him for denying uniformed soldiers an fc seat...i don't think he is suggesting that)....my point it he's reserving the right to stand up for himself and so far the responses are:
- "i'd sit in fc and flip u off"
- "u have to be a riot to sit with"
- "do u work in law enforcement for hoa"
- believe there were some other more aggressive responses that have been edited
like, cmon..who's being petty?

bocastephen

Aside from the snide personal attacks in the thread, I stand by my opinion and my actions. There is a process to be followed, and if I'm in line for that upgrade, it's not up to a passenger to decide who sits there especially as there is a process for a customer to follow to opt-out of the upgrade either automatically, or after it clears.

If someone is upgraded before they even leave for the airport and they already know they are traveling with someone they want to sit beside, why wait until boarding to sort out the seating? Call UA and have everything adjusted before hand so you're not disrupting the process and can be assured of adjacent seats in Y. If left to the last minute, I have no sympathy, sorry. I also do not companion-upgrade strangers of any kind when I know other customers are on the upgrade standby list, that's just common courtesy.

ryman554

Boy, I'm missing something here:

From this, HUSBAND wanted to trade his first class seat so he could sit next to wife in economy.

And then the WIFE sat in F.

So the HUSBAND indeed traded with the WIFE.

How can you reconcile that rules must be followed when trading seats with a stranger versus trading seats with a wife? Why were you not just as outraged -- after all that WIFE *still* stole your UG?

I do get the fact that people should just not UG when they know they really want to sit in Y. But what if they don't know until doors close?

bocastephen

The FA was aware of that trade, and exchanging seats between members of the same family or group has often been discussed here and is approved, provided the swap is for the duration of the flight.

ButenUnBinnen

While you are right that the process should be followed, the OP asked about the etiquette.
The answer to that should be that you do not split your PNR from your spouse, so you do not get upgraded separately from her when you had booked seats together in Y. If, for some reason, you got split and upgraded separately, then the only practical recourse is to swap with the person who got assigned to your seat (which likely happened because you did not follow the etiquette) - you may involve the GA, if she is not too busy, but making her undo seating assignments and moving people around is time consuming and impacts everybody on the plane. So the loss of the upgrade to another person from a person who was ahead of you in the list is a relatively small price to pay for the overall good of the flight.

bocastephen

If the person was upgraded against their intentions, they should call UA as soon as it happens to request a change back to Y and a seat with their travel companion, not leave it to the end. If they are on the list and not yet cleared, but likely to clear, they should ask the GA to remove them from the list. That is the correct procedure, and really the correct etiquette as well.

zombietooth

Are you OK with a seat being given away if an upgrade instrument was used, e.g. a RPU/GPU?

On one occasion, I gave my biz seat from NRT to someone who needed it more than me. I didn't ask permission under the presumption that it was my seat since I had paid for it with a GPU, but I did tell a front cabin FA what was going on.

bocastephen

That's an interesting question...I can only offer my opinion because I don't know what UA's policy would be in a case like this, especially in the BF cabin. I would say this - if I was to buy a F seat outright and decide to swap with someone in Y to sit in Y (poor example, I hope no one is dumb enough to do this) with a companion, then I believe I should be able to do so. It was not an upgrade, it's a seat I bought and paid for outright.

For a GPU upgrade in BF, my initial thought is you should not swap with a stranger if there are people on the upgrade list - but more to the point, you should downgrade in advance and request the return of your GPU or miles. If you're swapping with a family member, that's been covered before and is OK to do provided the swap is for the entire trip duration.

AirMiles2001

This thread says more about peoples generosity than United's upgrade policy.

I have been known to switch my international biz seat halfway through the flight with my wife. This seems to be borderline acceptable but I never had an FA have an issue with it. However based on some peoples opinion I should fine the next person that was on the upgrade list, which of course isn't going to happen!

scottsam66

No offense, but that is ridiculous. You prevented a couple from sitting together, and you are still in your same seat. Yet, you are "happy the rules were followed". Sad, sad, sad. Like a two year old, who holds his breath, when angry.
In the streets, they have slogans, about what snitches get...(purely, joking, and only added for humor's sake)

AirMiles2001

I think one day your position will backfire against you when you need a little slack in the interpretation of the rules. Karma has a way of balancing the world.

Some people are just "mean".

bocastephen

Regardless, I was next on the upgrade list and my seatmate appeared to be listed right behind me - if the person did not want their seat, it should have been returned to the upgrade pool, simple as that.

I've written multiple times already about what that person *should* have done well before boarding to ensure they sat with their wife and did not cause a disruption...it seems some folks are more interested in my willingness to speak up vs the factual and logical process that any sensible person in this scenario could and should follow.

Do you feel that a person upgraded before their flight date who wants to sit with their companion should do nothing and wait until boarding to create a disruption vs calling in advance to fix the problem ahead of time?

pruss2ny

One other angle not hit yet:
Sometimes my wife and I just sit apart on flights, as opposed to playing seat swap:
Not really concerning the op's topic, but does highlight that it's possible that others don't see it as a crime against humanity that a couple might sit apart...especially on shorter flights. Nothing out of spite, and if people want to sit together that's cool...just I know I've been asked to take a clearly worse seat so 2 "businessmen" could sit together, and frankly I politely declined. Again. Not completely on point, but relevant to the kind of first world problem vs atrocity that is being discussed

AirMiles2001

I am guessing you are either:

- Not married\have a partner
- Don't travel with your spouse
- Wouldn't like to sit next to them anyway? Or maybe they wouldn't want to sit next to you!

I can think of many occasions where the GA\FA leave it up to spouses\companions to reorganize themselves in F so they can all sit together. I don't see that this is so different from that except it spans cabins. Like I said before if this scenario happened to me and someone piped up a complaint I would just stay in F, nobody wins but everybody knows who the jerk is.