goodeats21

Exact same thing happened to me this week. Bumped out of 8E due to an equipment change, but ended up flying the same equipment as before. Ended up in 8B, so could have been much worse.

mloradites

I had 1A on UA340 on Wednesday which was supposed to be a 777-200 with Real Polaris. Appears it was just swapped for an older 777-200 and I was moved to 6G. Load shows 45 of 48 booked so I'm guessing that means none of the old first seats will be open on check-in. Would it be worth my time to call and complain at all? I don't expect a seat change, but I'd gladly take a credit of some type.

findark

You could probably get a few miles if you write to Customer Care, but unless you end up in a middle I wouldn't bother personally. (I got 10k proactively when my seat assignment on 340 was blanked and lost in Jan as part of the snafu with the new seatmap).

StuckinITH

But 6G is a middle seat. It's important that the OP keep checking the seatmap to try to get to an aisle or a window. Also, the OP should check-in exactly at T-24 for if a seat in the former First Class area is selectable then. Edited to add that the former First Class area is all occupied. There are still two windows but not good ones in the last Business cabin.

mloradites

Yeah based on the math, it appeared the first class is filled. I'll be hot on the check in button today to see if anything changes. I saw the two window options but being backwards I'm wary. I've never done that on a plane and going backwards can trigger motion sickness for me.

I did end up in the middle so 10k is worth it if offered.


Thanks to both for the info!

expressboy

I got randomly kicked out of my middle aisle 23F (carefully selected to have the higher possibility of getting an empty set next to it ) on an upcoming SFO-SYD flight next week and there are no more aisle seats left. Really getting pissed off with these changes. It is not like there was an aircraft swap. Hopefully somebody in an aisle seat gets upgraded .

findark

My mistake.. I can never remember which the letters on the 4-block are

StuckinITH

Yes, when in the last two days before my flight, United swapped my plane from a pmUA 772 to a Polarized 772 to a pmUA 772 to a pmCO 772 I got crossed eyes from looking too much at seat maps.

chavala

You really can't tell the difference except for take-off/landing. Sitting backwards would be WAY better than a middle any day.

gre

DEN-IAD, 7/19.
I've taken hundreds of UA flights over the years and never had my seat changed without knowing why.
There was no change of equipment.
I did not checkin until 2 hours before the flight; could that cause them to give my seat away?
I checked out the guy in my seat and he appeared to be maybe 20 (not a kid) or so and maybe flying with an older woman in 5D, mom, granny?

Kacee

You've been lucky! Random seat changes to UA itineraries after having an assigned seat [Consolidated]

LIH

Even happens to me as a GS occasionally. Most of my swaps have likely been due to Federal Air Marshalls but I have also been shifted around for emotional support animals or, frankly, what seem like shenanigans for other GS members. I was moved from Global First to the business cabin on a LAX > ORD flight two months ago clearly to accommodate another GS' wife and their family dog (the husband basically told me as much when we were disembarking). All-in-all, if that's the worst I have to deal with in my weekly travels, I can manage.

nomad420

As others noted you have been lucky. I just had a horrific experience with a random seat change and already posted the issues here (on FT). Basically all I was told was "the computer did it".

gre

Really, I was just trying to figure out the reason. I think air marshals sit in aisle seats, I was in a window. My first thought was the granny was the wife of a GS member and she wanted to sit with her grandson. But can a GS member automatically bump a lower status pax from his seat simply by asking?

LIH

I think this type of thing "shouldn't" happen but occasionally does. I actually chatted with the couple in my instance of getting bumped from Global First (I didn't really care as it was a short 4 hour flight). They had a relatively large golden retriever and he said a GS agent got them in GF instead of in the 8-across business cabin due to that. GS desk actually ended up reaching out to me with compensation for the "downgrade" where they said they had to "accommodate someone with disabilities".

I don't think this is normal operating procedure but in an ecosystem this large I do think things like this happen based on trying to accommodate one traveler at the expense of another. I have never asked to have someone moved but I seem to remember something similar where I upgraded a friend on a flight we were both on and he somehow ended up in the seat next to me even though I was pretty sure it was taken on the seat map.