username

I had a 5 hour (actual flying time) flight the other day. When I got to the gate (I was connecting), they were already boarding Group 2. My BP did not work and the agent said there was a seat change.

It was just 2 rows back but I went from a regular reclining seat to a before the exit no-recline seat. The woman who got my old seat said she was not travelling with company and she was originally sitting in a middle seat next to me (which a nonrev ended up taking). She said there was an equipment change and a lot of people lost their seats.

It was a 757-200 - the kind with big business class seats and seat back screens in Y. Do they have 2 configurations? Should I complain (1MM Gold)? Thanks.

WineCountryUA

Yes
https://www.united.com/ual/en/us/fly...t/757-200.html

Your choice but don't expect much if anything.

username

Thanks. The strange thing is the change went from the 42 in E+ to 45 in E+. Yet, they shuffled the seats...

WineCountryUA

7DEF goes away and Row 21 becomes E+ -- that's enough to scramble things a bit. if you keep the 7DEF folks in bulkhead they go to 8DEF, and where do the original 8DEF go?

chromedome00

I just wanted to report my experiences so far with United Polaris - and we are not even off the ground yet. I am Delta Platinum and past Diamond Medallion - I thought I knew how things worked....

We booked tickets (full fare) on United IAD - BRU as one leg of our journey. I have zero status on United, but I expected that paying full price (I admit they were really cheap though) and picking my seats in May would mean something. Apparently not. 3 of us on the same itinerary all picked window seats in a row on the A side. We have been moved around many times. Each time we discover we call United. One person says they can't do anything, often times their supervisor says no way "operations did this we can't change it" - but if you call back and get a helpful person, they will fix it again.

We got to the point that we were checking our seats every day - yes I know first world problems - but I don't want to sit near the bathroom or galley. The seats are not broken or out of service. I suspect we are getting move for someone with status. I have never experienced a seat change on Delta after I booked my seat. Is this common with United? Even paying on full price on United.com is no guarantee of your seat assignment in Polaris?

Really frustrated and half the people we talk to don't seem to care. Had to vent and share my experience. We have had our seats moved 5 times since May - and not because of equipment changes.

uanj

You're not being moved for someone with status, United does not do that. Are you sure there are no equipment changes? This is not common unless it is equipment changes.

chromedome00

100% sure - if there was equipment change why would i move from 7A to 14C? Get that fixed and 2 hours later another in our party in 8A is moved to 17D (can't remember exact numbers) - one time were all moved to random spots.

If there is an equipment change why would not all the people in 1A-8A wind up in 1A to 8A on the new plane? Seems to make more sense then random assignments - or wouldn't they try to keep parties together?

Does United actively monitor their complaint email - or is there a better contact? I just want to share my experience with someone that cares - even if it doesn't help for my current situation.

findark

The seat changes due to equipment swaps do not make any sense, and you could definitely move from 7A to 14C.

How far out is the flight when these scrambles are occurring, and what is the current equipment?

chromedome00

The current plane is a 777-300ER - I am pretty sure it has always been that - but I know for sure it has always been a 1-2-1 Polaris Configuration. If they changed anything they just went to a plane with more rows in Polaris. I think we were fine through May and June and the changes started in July. Happened twice in August and now 3 times in September - 2 times today. We got our original seats back by finding the right person to talk to - i had them notate our reservation each time after the first time.

Keep in mind, we never get any notice. We open the app to check and see our seats moved. So we have been checking daily through the month of September.

We are now checked in for our flight tomorrow, so hoping our paper boarding passes put an end to this nonsense.

But I agree - i never expected seats to be moved for someone with status, but I can't come up with any reasonable excuse for why we have been moved so many times with no attempt to keep us together. And, it is not like our flight was cancelled and they squeezed us onto a partially filled plane. This is the same flight and schedule we booked in may.

AirbusFan2B

It’s happened several times to me - I’m Premier 1K - even when there was no equipment change. I was moved from 1A to 2B a few months back. Since UA merged with CO and took over their reservation system SHARES, it is no longer possible for reservations agents to tell why a seat was changed, who did it and when. I’ve also had where they say the seat wasn’t changed even when it clearly was. It’s a bad situation for customers. There is a fair amount of members of this community that think it’s par for the course as the CoC says United doesn’t guarantee seat assignments. That may be the case but United policy forbids moving someone without a valid reason. By making the system opaque, United washes its hands of it.

chromedome00

I get that maybe they can't guarantee a seat in all circumstances, but if I pay for my ticket and pick a seat, it shouldn't be any different then a seat at a sports event, concert, or theater. Yeah, there are a lot of expensive seats up front, but I bought early so I wouldn't get stuck behind a column or off in the corner. My seat selection should mean something. If they gave me a valid reason, I could be forgiving. But no reason is just a reason to make me look elsewhere. Unfortunately I don't have many international carriers to choose from.

Is there a written clause that says they have to give a reason for a seat change? As we never had one, they are violating their policy.

One agent told us they thought there was a bug in the system. Maybe that is the case - i went to travelocity and pulled up the flight - seats 17G and 18 D&G are still available - one of those is one of us was moved to 30 minutes before check in. So it doesn't appear they swapped my seat for someone else, they just arbitrarily moved us elsewhere. Maybe they want to free up more desirable seats to sell for more money? AirbusFan2B finding the right agent has been the fix. My wife called one time, and they said there was nothing they could do. I called back another day, got passed to a supervisor and they fixed it. Another time, the woman we worked with contacted a different desk, and they fixed us. Today, my first call, the agent and supervisor said they had no control. Called back a couple hours later and a woman was happy to help. They have notes with our reservation and they can see we purchased these seats in the beginning of May.

You just have to find someone that is wiling to help and you need the time to spend on the phone.

Twitter was a waste of time.

Repooc17

77W does not have C seats up front, only A, D, G, and L

chromedome00

Sorry for the confusion - i said i couldn't remember the exact numbers, i meant letters too - we were basically moved from up front window to middle or rear center.

uanj

Were you not able to change the seats yourself using the app?

chromedome00

No - it shows most everything blocked out - only some undesirable seats in our opinion. Our original seats were just marked as unavailable each time.